Why a blog?

Every year I am frustrated with the amount of seeds I have to buy, at about £1.99 a packet, to get the dozen or so plants I might want.  Seed will keep (in a cool place) for a year or so but to be honest, when it comes to vegetable seeds, they are better bought fresh each year.  As I am gardening for two, hundreds of the same lettuce seed are not needed.  Multiply this by a couple of dozen different vegetables and I end up with thousands of seeds going to waste.

I am also a belt and braces type person and therefore sow double the number I need in case any any duff transplants need replacing.  For example I sow a dozen runner beans individually in pots for the six I really want. Multiply this by a couple of dozen and a few weeks later I have hundreds of beautiful baby plants going begging.

I need to find people locally who could make use of them.  How to find them?


A blog?  I've come up with the idea of a gardening blog for gardeners who live in and around Bury where we could arrange to swap seeds, plants, ideas, information etc..  

I have gardened for getting on for fifty years and am happy to help people with gardening advice and, hopefully, this blog will become a forum for helping each other.  It is the best kind of help because it is local.  Much of what you find on TV, in magazines, and on-line is very 'Southern' based; up here we are as much as a month behind their timing.  Also locally grown/sourced plants thrive much better and we have a knowledge of what does and doesn't flourish in this area.

I've started a collection of 'useful links' which we can add to.  I also thought people might like to recommend local companies who have proved reliable.  I'm very keen on Summerseat for example as my local garden centre but maybe you prefer somewhere else?  Have you had any landscaping done by a good company?  Do you have anyone doing gardening work for you on a regular basis that you could recommend?.... and so on.


As this blog is in its embryonic stage I'd love you to check it out and send me any suggestions as to how we can make it work.  Who knows, by next Spring, we can have something really useful up and running.