# Gardening



## Veda DUK (Aug 9, 2022)

Are there any other Gardening lovers? During COVID I moved back home and began to fix our garden and make it look nicer. Recently I convinced my dad a raised bed would be a great idea for our vegetables instead of planting them in the soil on the ground where our cats kept digging them up, little did I know they now dig up the vegetables in the raised beds  We've now covered the beds with chicken fencing and our cucumbers and long beans are growing beautifully  What is everyone growing in their garden and what did you learn you didn't expect to?


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## Matchless (Aug 9, 2022)

Veda DUK said:


> Are there any other Gardening lovers? During COVID I moved back home and began to fix our garden and make it look nicer. Recently I convinced my dad a raised bed would be a great idea for our vegetables instead of planting them in the soil on the ground where our cats kept digging them up, little did I know they now dig up the vegetables in the raised beds  We've now covered the beds with chicken fencing and our cucumbers and long beans are growing beautifully  What is everyone growing in their garden and what did you learn you didn't expect to?


sorry if i am a bit dumb but what has gardening to do with diabetes ?


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## Veda DUK (Aug 9, 2022)

Matchless said:


> sorry if i am a bit dumb but what has gardening to do with diabetes ?


Hi Matchless, I understand the confusion but as this is on the topic of "off the subject" I thought this would be a great way to find other like-minded people in the diabetic community. However, if you go to this page on exercising when living with diabetes you will see gardening is one of our recommended ways to exercise: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/managing-your-diabetes/exercise#type


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## rebrascora (Aug 9, 2022)

My pride and joy is my apricot tree..... it was a cheapy (£4) Lidl purchase about 8 years ago and this year has produced about 100 large juicy fruits.... It provides pollen and nectar for my bees in March when there isn't much else available and the blossom looks pretty and then when the fruit develops many people walking past ask if it is an orange tree because the fruits are so large and vividly coloured. 
I also grow veggies and I am currently buried under a glut of courgettes. Got plenty of green tomatoes but no sign of any of them ripening yet and harvesting my first dwarf beans this week after extremely poor germination resulted in only 3 plants.  
I have come to the conclusion that I am totally rubbish at growing onions despite the fact that my Dad was a champ at them and frequently gave away onions the size of footballs to all and sundry who came visiting. 


Matchless said:


> sorry if i am a bit dumb but what has gardening to do with diabetes ?


Really surprised by your comment! 
Gardening is great for lowering BG levels just like walking. The produce is also good for whole food, healthy cooking/eating which can also benefit diabetes although my apricot glut is using up some insulin  
There are threads about exercise and holidays and people discuss politics on the forum so not sure why you question gardening?


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## Felinia (Aug 9, 2022)

I built gardening into my exercise program during the summer.  7x20 minutes each evening and 2or3 x60 minutes during the week.  Not a lot I know, but every little bit helps.  The cat likes it!


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## rebrascora (Aug 9, 2022)

Oh wow! Felinia, that is absolutely beautiful!


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## Veda DUK (Aug 9, 2022)

rebrascora said:


> My pride and joy is my apricot tree..... it was a cheapy (£4) Lidl purchase about 8 years ago and this year has produced about 100 large juicy fruits.... It provides pollen and nectar for my bees in March when there isn't much else available and the blossom looks pretty and then when the fruit develops many people walking past ask if it is an orange tree because the fruits are so large and vividly coloured.
> I also grow veggies and I am currently buried under a glut of courgettes. Got plenty of green tomatoes but no sign of any of them ripening yet and harvesting my first dwarf beans this week after extremely poor germination resulted in only 3 plants.
> I have come to the conclusion that I am totally rubbish at growing onions despite the fact that my Dad was a champ at them and frequently gave away onions the size of footballs to all and sundry who came visiting.
> 
> ...


Amazing, I must try planting an apricot tree too!! I had issues with tomatoes last year so let us know how they go or what you've learnt from planting them


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## Veda DUK (Aug 9, 2022)

Felinia said:


> I built gardening into my exercise program during the summer.  7x20 minutes each evening and 2or3 x60 minutes during the week.  Not a lot I know, but every little bit helps.  The cat likes it!
> 
> View attachment 21734View attachment 21735View attachment 21736


Absolutely beautiful! The cat clearly has great taste


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## Robin (Aug 9, 2022)

rebrascora said:


> I have come to the conclusion that I am totally rubbish at growing onions despite the fact that my Dad was a champ at them and frequently gave away onions the size of footballs to all and sundry who came visiting.


We’ve always grown onions, and I used to regard them as an easy crop, giving us enough to last all year til next season, but the past 2 years our crop has been dismal. This year of the two varieties, one just didn’t grow at all, and we've harvested teeny things not much bigger than the sets we started with. The others are Ok, but not as big as usual. I suspect they didn’t like the dry conditions, even though weve watered them, it’s no substitute for a nice moist soil.
My French beans did well, they like the heat, but the runners have only just started setting, and I suspect the crop will be poor. I usually reckon on one or other of the French and Runner doing well, but never both, they must like opposite conditions.


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## Bloden (Aug 9, 2022)

Matchless said:


> sorry if i am a bit dumb but what has gardening to do with diabetes ?


It takes our mind off it!


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## Robin (Aug 9, 2022)

If I take the heavy long handled loppers out, and prune stuff above my head height, I can guarantee my blood glucose will drop faster than with any other sort of exercise. The Libre comes in handy, because I can set the alarm to go off at 5.5, which gives me time to head off a hypo before it drops too far.


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## rebrascora (Aug 9, 2022)

Veda DUK said:


> Amazing, I must try planting an apricot tree too!! I had issues with tomatoes last year so let us know how they go or what you've learnt from planting them


Apricots are one of the earliest flowering fruits so they need protection from the frost. Mine is up against the south facing wall of the house, so it gets the heat from the house in the winter/early spring to protect the blooms when they set and the reflected heat to ripen the fruits in the summer. They also like quite limey soil apparently so do well next to the house wall where there is mortar debris. I can't believe how juicy the fruits are considering how dry it has been and how vigorous the growth is as well as the amount of fruit.... I have to prune it twice a year to keep it in check, just before harvest to let the light in to ripen the fruits and then again at the end of the summer because it has sprouted away again! No idea where it gets the nutrients from to be so prolific, especially when it is up against the house and therefore only half a root system! I have only given it 3 watering cans of water this summer and no feed. 

@Robin, yes, I just have tiddlers too but to be fair I put them in very late. I have fed and watered but the tops just went over and they are no longer growing at all, so I might as well harvest them as salad onions. I am guessing they will be strong flavoured though.


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## grovesy (Aug 9, 2022)

I am an avid  gardener, but this year here in Essex my back garden is looking more a desert though my front is still looking good.


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## Pumper_Sue (Aug 9, 2022)

I have a lovely south facing garden that has roses and fuchsias growing. I did have a lovely Lavender bush as well but my puppy decided it should be removed so had a game of tug with it and at 27kg, the bush didn't stand a chance against master Charlie.


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## Matchless (Aug 10, 2022)

Veda DUK said:


> Hi Matchless, I understand the confusion but as this is on the topic of "off the subject" I thought this would be a great way to find other like-minded people in the diabetic community. However, if you go to this page on exercising when living with diabetes you will see gardening is one of our recommended ways to exercise: https://bit.ly/3QvXMGh


I do not agree i would go to numerous sites about gardening if i needed   but i will say no more .


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## Bloden (Aug 10, 2022)

Pumper_Sue said:


> I have a lovely south facing garden that has roses and fuchsias growing. I did have a lovely Lavender bush as well but my puppy decided it should be removed so had a game of tug with it and at 27kg, the bush didn't stand a chance against master Charlie.


My dog Gwen likes helping out in the garden too - my mum planted a range of herbs in a pot, Gwen's obviously superior gardening knowledge led her to pull up the parsley and give it a good shake. This split the parsley into three smaller plants, which my mum then re-planted. Nice work, Gwen!  Maybe that's what Charlie was trying to do.


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## SB2015 (Aug 11, 2022)

Matchless said:


> sorry if i am a bit dumb but what has gardening to do with diabetes ?


Like others I find it interesting to know more than their diabetes of those on here, 
A good distraction for those that want to engage with it, and by having the ‘off the subject thread’ people can choose whether to look in there or not.


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## SB2015 (Aug 11, 2022)

Felinia said:


> I built gardening into my exercise program during the summer.  7x20 minutes each evening and 2or3 x60 minutes during the week.  Not a lot I know, but every little bit helps.  The cat likes it!
> 
> View attachment 21734View attachment 21735View attachment 21736


Wow!! That is fabulous.

We have a small garden that wraps around the side and back of our house.  Just big enough for us and with a large pond that requires very little maintainable, we manage it.  Our grass is very dry now and some plants have not survived this dry weather (I know that that is down to us forgetting to water!!!).  I am never sure whether it is better to water and attract the roots up to the limited supply or go for survival of the strongest and get them to dig deep with their roots for the water.  However with a clay soil we have limited choices of plants.


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## Nige13 (Aug 11, 2022)

I have an apple and a pear tree, strawberries and tomatoes - all doing well up to now


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## nonethewiser (Aug 11, 2022)

Did back garden this morning, even though shaded from sun it was far to hot. 

Going to do front garden tonight when sun is at back of house & not as hot.


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## Ivostas66 (Aug 11, 2022)

Avid gardener here. My consultant says that it is one of the best things that a type 1 can do in terms of mental health, exercise and diet - if you grow some of your own veg. It runs in the family as my Great Grandfather was head groundsman and groomsman at a large house in Stowe-on-the-Wold who fought in the Great War - lying about his age in 1914 (he was too old and probably pressured by the owner of the house who joined the Queens Bays and would need his groomsman with him in the cavalry).

This year has been really mixed in our garden. A large cucumber each day from the 5 plants in the greenhouse; usually as long as your forearm. Our rhubarb, which was an off-cut of a plant that has been growing since the 19th century has died (most years it grows to about 5 feet in height with lots of stalks). 4 or 5 courgettes each day from the 5 plants in the garden. Runner beans are scorched and frazzled and our beetroot looks very odd due to the heat.

Really crying out for some rain here in deepest darkest Surrey!


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## Hannah DUK (Aug 12, 2022)

Our lavender seems to be a very large and ever growing monster in this heat! Not that I'm complaining, however it seems to be a big Bee trap which is lovely! Forget hearing the main road from my garden now, I just hear a chorus of bees!


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## everydayupsanddowns (Aug 15, 2022)

I’ve cut our lavenders back (again) to try to save it. These are 4 I took as cuttings from another we had, but no matter how carefully I try to follow the pruning suggestions I done end up with a nice mound... just 3 splayed out straggly stems!


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## Robin (Aug 15, 2022)

everydayupsanddowns said:


> I’ve cut our lavenders back (again) to try to save it. These are 4 I took as cuttings from another we had, but no matter how carefully I try to follow the pruning suggestions I done end up with a nice mound... just 3 splayed out straggly stems!


Maybe they just don’t like your garden! I’ve got loads of lavender, and I mistreat them cruelly, but they just keep coming back, and multiplying, and have been relishing the dry heat. I don’t have any secret to it, though, they obviously just like our garden, I've even cut one back to dead wood, which you’re always told is tantamount to murder, and they’ve still bounced back. I've got other stuff that’s turned up it’s toes and died, though, even though other people have told me they’re foolproof and they have great success with them.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Aug 15, 2022)

Ah that would be such a shame @Robin as I love lavender, and it is one of the few things that our prodigious slug and snail population don’t immediately consume!

I’ll keep trying though - there are loads of gardens around here with lovely Lavenders. I shall persevere!


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## grovesy (Aug 15, 2022)

I find sometimes thrive better in some places in my garden, but struggle in other places.


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## Pumper_Sue (Aug 15, 2022)

everydayupsanddowns said:


> Ah that would be such a shame @Robin as I love lavender, and it is one of the few things that our prodigious slug and snail population don’t immediately consume!
> 
> I’ll keep trying though - there are loads of gardens around here with lovely Lavenders. I shall persevere!


Try a south facing spot to plant your lavender, I know mine grew very well there until Charlie pup decided to remove it


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## everydayupsanddowns (Aug 15, 2022)

Pumper_Sue said:


> Try a south facing spot to plant your lavender, I know mine grew very well there until Charlie pup decided to remove it



Alas they are already south facing. They have been a little ‘trodden on’ by the hounds this year, which can’t have helped - but my history with Lavender isn’t good. I don’t seem to have the knack of keeping them in shape, no matter how often I read online hints amd tips!


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## Pumper_Sue (Aug 15, 2022)

everydayupsanddowns said:


> Alas they are already south facing. They have been a little ‘trodden on’ by the hounds this year, which can’t have helped - but my history with Lavender isn’t good. I don’t seem to have the knack of keeping them in shape, no matter how often I read online hints amd tips!


I only trim out the dead heads as they finish flowering and any dead wood in the spring.


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## Robin (Aug 15, 2022)

everydayupsanddowns said:


> Alas they are already south facing. They have been a little ‘trodden on’ by the hounds this year, which can’t have helped - but my history with Lavender isn’t good. I don’t seem to have the knack of keeping them in shape, no matter how often I read online hints amd tips!


Perhaps it’s the variety, some probably keep a better shape than others. No idea what mine are, bog standard from a local charity plant sale, about 20 years ago, I think. Mine tend to self seed, because Im always late dead heading them, so when the parent plant becomes straggly, I just take it out and let the offspring carry on.


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## grovesy (Aug 15, 2022)

I find the English variety are better than the French variety.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Aug 15, 2022)

grovesy said:


> I find the English variety are better than the French variety.


Yes! Tried French once. Very pretty… but a disaster!


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## TheClockworkDodo (Aug 15, 2022)

You don't water your lavender, do you Mike?  It won't like that much (except maybe once a month in the weather we've had this summer!).

Just read through this thread, can't remember who was asking about tomatoes, sorry.  We always have loads of them, they seem to be completely foolproof so far as I'm concerned.  I grow outdoor varieties in planters though so mine are still green too - they usually ripen in early September.  If you have greenhouse ones and they are not ripening yet, have you remembered to pinch out the side shoots and tips, to stop them concentrating on foliage instead of fruit?  I don't really do anything else to mine except for giving them plenty of water and planting them in deep planters rather than in flat bags - I've noticed the deeper the planter the more tomatoes I'm likely to get.  I mostly grow them in bags meant for potatoes.

We actually have fruit on some of our fruit trees this year, we had none at all last year thanks to weird weather last spring, and I seem to remember a lot of other people here saying the same.  Can't find relevant posts, but I think it was probably on this thread - https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/in-the-garden.85377/


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## SB2015 (Aug 16, 2022)

Finally a bit of rain.  It won’t rescue some of the scorched plants for this year, but they will be back.
Our geraniums perked up last night even though the downpour was brief.  We shall see if we get another flowering,  as we do normally.


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## ColinUK (Sep 4, 2022)

Felinia said:


> I built gardening into my exercise program during the summer.  7x20 minutes each evening and 2or3 x60 minutes during the week.  Not a lot I know, but every little bit helps.  The cat likes it!
> 
> View attachment 21734View attachment 21735View attachment 21736


That’s some beautiful surrounding landscape you have there as well as a very pretty garden of your own!


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## everydayupsanddowns (Sep 4, 2022)

TheClockworkDodo said:


> You don't water your lavender, do you Mike? It won't like that much (except maybe once a month in the weather we've had this summer!).



Good tip. Not much usually, but this year has been a bit weird.

Perhaps our soil isn’t free draining enough though.

I gave them a hack after flowering and they seem to be bushing a little. I’ve also put a barrier up to prevent the digs from trampling them and snapping branches off


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## Hannah DUK (Sep 7, 2022)

We had horrendous rain in mid August and now it seems that the drought never happened. The grass has grown back even fresher than before. Did anyone else find this?


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