Oh Vivi :D I do SO enjoy these little videos of yours, where you just sit and chat with us for a bit .... it feels like visiting a friend for a short garden talk , lol. Luvvit! Thanks so much for making the vids + Happy planting !
Hahahaha - no I've finished work you may have to listen to me all day!!!! Hahahaha. I, too, can't wait to see everything growing.....I have to remind myself that with my direct sowing/working with mother nature my plot doesn't really start to show until July........roll on summer! :-)
Never get sick of you Vivi! Enjoy every second of your time off. Don't wish April away though! It is my absolute favourite month of the year and is going waaaaay too fast. I'm down at the south east coast at the moment and the blossom on the trees is breathtaking. It gives me so much hope and makes me feel alive. 🤗 PS: You most definitely DO NOT look 65. Celebrate the last few months of your 40's then embrace being fabulous at 50. You laugh too much to look your age! 💋
Everybody that has subscribed......please pass along Vivi's youtube channel to your friends.....she is such an awesome happy gardener, full of knowledge. Once she hits a certain amount of subscribers, she may actually collect a "small amount of money" from RUclips....a great way to help her with her venture, because in a couple of weeks, she will be without income........come on people share Vivi's channel with everybody you know! I hope Vivi doesn't mind me asking this!
Me too! I had to see how Vivi and the allotment have developed over the years! Shame the ads are not 5 years old too, as I am bored watching the same ads from 2022 over and over again :-)
Vivi you are Beautiful and way to young for retirement in today s world people are retiring earlier than they once did tho so enjoy your garden and your new found freedom thank you for another great video xxxxx from Kentucky
Hoping you have fantastic crops this year, Vivi. Your seed selection is exciting (I know, we gardeners are odd). I wish you were able to get some free heavy-duty supports to be able to grow all your squash vertically. My gardening space is very tiny compared to yours and all my squash is done upwards. Even heavy pumpkins. It really helps get maximum food out of a small area.
i'll be looking forward to your whole garden growing but i will keep my eye upon the beans your mother gave you for christmas. thank you for such a great sit and chat👍
Vivi! you will LOVE the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin. It is a very old, heritage variety, that was nearly lost to us. The pumpkins are lovely, and last. I still have three in my spare room, so they did well all the way through winter. I am sure you will love them. And the seeds are wonderful roasted.
You seem to have created a lovely frugal lifestyle Vivi, so hopefully the savings last a long time and your plot provides sufficient abundance! We are very close to self sufficiency in all of our veg now and getting there with fruit too.
OMG Vivi gigantes beans are SOOOOOOOO delicious. Baked in tomatoes, onion, and oregano and topped with a pile of good olive oil and you're eating like royalty.
I'm a total Balkanite! I've had these sooooooo many times when I'm over there......but never grown them. So I'm totally chuffed to have got my greedy big mits on a handful. Can't wait to cook and scoff them!!!!!
Hi Vivi. Loved your video. I grew a variety of small butternut squash on a fence last year - worked very well. I also grew small pumpkins under my bean structure as you describe - also worked very well. By the time the beans had grown to the point where they were shading the pumpkins - the pumpkin plants were well underway although they did want to push out between the bean plants to get more sun. Happy growing!
You are a great story teller....... really enjoy listening to you! (story teller- is not me saying you tell great lies, simply that you hold my interest and can communicate really well, few I have found have that skill) keep on keeping on
lovely seed update, I can't wait to see all the different squash and beans. I keep thinking of things I want to grow but honestly I don't think I can cope with the amount I've got already . Happy gardening
Best of luck with the squash! I'm a little nervous now because you'll be depending on the garden this year more than ever. Hope everything grows well! And thanks again for the fabulous beans!
That is really good way to be organized! i just have a bucket and i chuck all my seeds in there! I hope you don't mind me copying you. Plenty of sun up here in Scotland. Can't wait for more videos!
I love it that you came up with planting your squash under your beans. A native American legend is the three sisters garden. Which was companion gardening with corn, beans and squash all grown together. Admittedly I tried it one year and things went awry, but I’m going to try it again.
Cheers Natalie.....I found that my squash didn't grow so well because, I think, the foliage on all the beans shaded them too much.......it may just have been my layout though. Good luck with your next try. 😊
Great idea having the seeds for each bed in the same envelope Vivi! Except my plans for my beds always seem to change as the growing season develops...it's all this thinking ahead business, it's the reason I can't play chess. :-D
Vivi I'm in my late 40's too and a stay at home Mom. I worked up until 8 years ago. I have people that ask me have I retired. I just tell them yeah for as long as I can...lol! So I don't think people think you or I look retirement age. I just think that they think you're doing well enough to retire. I have to be frugal so my "retirement" will continue. I call it staying afloat..lol. ✌🏼️❤️& Happy Planting!🌱🌱🌱
Greetings Vivi from way out in California's San Joaquin Valley. I have been following your videos for a little while now and love them. It's like chatting with a gardening friend over the fence. If I ever visit England I would love to visit your allotment. One question; the squash you said has "a hint of nutmeg" sounds quite interesting, but I couldn't make out the name. Can you respond so I can check it out? Looking forward to the next chat in the garden.
Yay! Can't wait to give them a go.........better get building those frames! Thank you - it's always good to hear about a plant from someone who has actually tried it.:-)
Hi vivi, I love your videos. Very honest and practical. Can you do a pest control special? I'm curious to know your methods as I want to also live more off the allotment. For that reason I've given up growing carrots as the root fly us awful and it's windy site (near the sea!) so often protection doesn't stay in place!😀 thank you for your efforts so far
Flordia Gardener 75, I live about two hours away from Baker Seeds farm. If ever you get a chance go to their two day Spring festival. It's an awesome place with many garden vendors, garden speaker, and lots of good old mountain music entertainment. Jared and his family actually live there on the farm. His book that he has written that tells the story of how it all came to be is a awesome read. I really love there Spring catalog and how it's all laid out. It's my first place to go when ordering seeds every year. Have a great Florida Day Nebraska Dave
Really like your videos!! I grow my regular size butternut squash and spaghetti squash on a trellis and they do fine. Just make a sling out of material for them. just saying ...........
beans beans are good for your 💓 heart, the more you eat the more you ......... have less you to plant !! LOL had to say it i love love love butternut squash !!! i think you've forgotten something !! thanks for sharing and happy gardening !!
Hi vivi good luck with you seeds hope you got a good crop this year have you any tips on growing thai basil🤗 love it in cooking or fresh hope you give it a go one day 🌹
Vivi, love your videos and my local garden center is profiting from your motivating videos, I did not want to plant anything in my veggie garden ,because of the strict water restrictions we have here in Capetown,however I now have pea plants and moneymaker tomatoes ,various herbs and pansies in my boot, tomorrow is planting day and I am considering shade cloth covers to stem the condensation in summer, using only my bathwater and kitchen rinse water on the plants. We have a water allowance of 87 liters per person per day,and this includes everything , its difficult as you can imagine. Thank you for your effort ,its much appreciated :)
Oh I'm so glad you decided to plant after all! It'll be tough with so little water but it sounds like you're doing all the right things (I flush my loo with 'grey' water).......once the plants have had a soak try to get them mulched.....anything will do, shredded newspaper, cardboard, grass clippings etc.........it's really helped me this year. Happy harvesting when the time comes! :-)
I love Long Island Cheese Pumpkins! It's the first pumpkin I successfully grew about four years ago and has been my favorite every year. The flavor is delicious but they also just look so cool. They grow well vertically too if you need to fit them in. I'm still a ways off from being able to plant out squash seeds here in NY but seeing all your seeds has me so excited! XOKK
They will grow over anything that gets in their way, a trellis, your porch, slow moving dogs, etc. I had one grow out of my garden, across the yard and over my grape vine to produce a wonderful 10 pound pumpkin dangling from my grape vine. I think you are going to love it.
I spent $15 to purchase one packet of Coco de Paimpol from France :o .... Alsa's garden seed company I think. Been obsessed with them since your vid last year.
Danielle Diakoff-King I also purchased these from Alsagarden, shipping was a bit to me here in California. The packet was to have 100 seeds, It actually had about 70, so 30% short. No remedy from Alsagarden, but hopefully after saving my seed, I can pass on this variety to fellow gardeners. Mine have now been planted, and will hopefully be out of the ground soon. Thanks to Vivi for growing instructions, as I do not read French, from the packet. Good luck.
Oh yes Vivi, I will definitely be saving seed from these :). Boulder Creek Steve, I am also in California and my packet was about 70 seeds as well. (68 I counted eeek! Lol) Oh well, grow them out, make Cassoulet and keep lots of seeds for next year! 😁 With all this rain I hope they don't rot- they are so precious I am waiting a bit to put mine in the ground yet. I'd like to know how everyone's turn out!
Vivi, I've learned many years ago that if you really want to guess a woman's age, look at her hands. I guessed you to be late forties or early fifties which turned out to be right on. You are an amazing woman. I too like beans but haven't stored any away. I'm going to be trying to store some dry beans this year. My other main kitchen garden vegetable is potatoes. I do try to store them away but haven't been able to make it to the next year's harvest. I still have potatoes but they are long sprouts and squishy. They didn't rot but are very soft with long sprouts. I'm guessing as the season warms up outside my basement storage area isn't cold enough to keep them from doing that. I may have to come up with a different solution for storage. Spuds go in the ground this next week as well as the lettuce seedlings and radish seeds. Cabbage will be planted as well. The soil temp at last test was 15C (60F) which is well above the temperature for the cool weather crops. Now if it would just quit raining long enough to them planted. I bought a pack of Gardener's Delight tomatoes quite by accident and found that they are amazing. They were planted under the grow lights about a month ago and are about a foot tall and look great. I may have found a new favorite to grow. Even though frosts can occur until May 15th here, I plant six tomatoes in five gallon buckets which can be brought inside if forecast is for frost. It gives me early tomatoes before those that are planted outside. My go to tomatoes for that has been Early Girl in the past but the Gardener's Delight might have to replace the Girls. We will see which one gets the first tomato this year. Have a great day on the allotment. Nebraska Dave
Hahaha - my poor hands are done in from nursing and gardening. ;-) I'm glad you discovered Gardener's Delight......great little tom! I don't know Early Girl........I'll keep an eye out for that one. Have a grand day yourself sir. :-)
Vivi, You're fabulous! This is by far my favourite RUclips Channel right now! Did you try the bit of sand in your soil for growing the melons this year? I'm a HUGE fan in the Middle of the States, Nebraska, Zone 5 . Also huge fan of England! Love from the States!~Jenna
Cheers!!!!!! Did you mean my squash? I don't grow melons........for the squash I've added a load of loose compost material and a bit of chicken poo. Fingers (and toes!) crossed. Thank you for watching and your lovely comment! :-)
The Rouge Vif D'Etampes is the pumpkin used for Cinderella's carriage. So chase down a dormouse or five and rustle up a beautiful gown from your curtains and you're off to the ball mademoiselle. Hope you have fun! ;)
Thank you for sharing your organization method. It (my supplies)was getting a bit chaotic and out of control. I'm looking forward to using it to get a handle on my 1st garden. Pretty sure I have bought a bit that I don't have room for. Oops. :)
Hahahaha - I'm sure we all have more seeds than space for sowing!!!! I like to get organised before the season really starts so I have a chance to pass on the excess seed....... Have fun in your first garden! :-)
True viv the weather is getting warmer even though at night it's cold I also thought I. Would sow courgettes seeds today.l so I did then once I. Did that I started thinking I have carrots and radishes growing and they are winter veg so I am afraid the warm weather will.affect there growth now and I am.pray7ng I. Get a good harvest before the weather is completely warm
I wouldn't have thought so......I grow Autumn King which is a winter type......last year they had to contend with one of our hottest summers and a drought.....and they were fine. :-)
Fact of the matter is, we don't really retire. We just move on to the next job. There is always lots of work to be done. Doing lots of indoor transplanting now. The real work begins. Have you given any thought to growing your squash vertically?
My Dad retired when he was 50, so you don't have to be 65 to retire. You just have to be careful with your money. He made a middle class income and put 5 kids through college, never bought a new car in his life and lived in smallish houses. The other thing is I love beans as well, mostly because they are so easy. At my community garden you don't have to save them or plant them. They just come up from the ones that missed getting picked last year. In fact you have to pull some of them up to grow other things or the entire garden will be beans. I have no idea what kind they are but they are very very tasty. So what could be easier, all I have to do is water them and pick them. I do put poles up for them to climb some times.
Your dad sounds like a man after my own heart - good on him! I don't get random beans coming up but each year every bed produces it's own potato and tomato crop without me doing a thing! ;-)
Where might I find your videos from 2016 and older(if any)? I only see videos from 2017 and 2018 on this channel. I love going back and watching your older videos that I haven't seen, I only stumbled upon your channel a few months ago. Thanks a lot!
Hi Viv, love your videos - extremely informative and useful. In this video you are talking about beans, could you please tell me the name of the yellow bean you didn't like the look of- I can't quite make out what you are saying. Thanks ever so much xx
Thank you. I think you're asking about the 'Roquencourt'.......it's a dwarf french.......lovely waxy texture and great in salads (hot or cold). The seed I saved from last years plants has all germinated beautifully. :-)
Hmmmm....it varies depending on slug activity!!! But......it's between 60 and 100......which is enough to keep me going for late autumn, winter and spring before I start on the green ones again in the summer and early autumn.
Oh dear, don't be insulted. Here in Canada, retirement dir nurses is based on a combination of age and years of work with the health authority. In my world you might have only been five years ofd pension. But regardless, congratulations for doing what you need to do. It takes courage to make a big life change!
Hey Vivi, any suggestions for using dried Borlotti beans ? I've saved some from last year but unsure how to safely prepare them for cooking ! was thinking of using in a stew, but I'm sure you would need to soak them etc before cooking ?
You'll need to soak them overnight.......then boil them. There are some great guides on-line for boil times for various different beans......I do my borlottis for about 45 mins.
In the US some people have retirement plans that allow them to retire as early as 50 (public safety workers) so perhaps that is what they were thinking.
I grow a mix of climbing beans and bush beans.....the climbers tend to be more prolific....I try to grow about 100 of each. For drying I simply leave the pods on the plants as long as possible....often into October....and only harvest them if we're threatened with a lot of rain. Once they're all podded I spread them out in a single layer on trays at home to give them a final drying....usually for about two weeks or so. :-)
Can i also ask did you find it difficult to send seeds abroad? I did a seed giveaway competition and tried to send some to Canada and the states but i was declined at the post office but i was able to recieve seeds from canada? Who did you send your seeds through if you dont mind me asking?
What Vivi did next Strange that's where mine were refused twice! Told me i would incur a fine if i sent them and that the US and Canada had restrictions and wouldn't allow them in 🤔 Thanks for letting me know anyways Vivi 🖒
hey Vivi, retirement isn't about age it's about means, I decided to retire at 40, would rather scrimp and save than kill myself with a really stressful job. I'm not rich, far from it, but I'm stable and able to just about support myself from my meagre savings. Don't let the 'R' word make you think you are grey and spending the day knitting ! ;)
Hi Viv, watching your older videos. I had to laugh at what you said about people thought you were older than you are and you would try not to be insulted. I can assure you what they probably were thinking was did you find a way to retire at a younger age than 65 and they wanted in on it...I know I was thinking that.:)
Recently received my Baker Creek seed delivery, excited by unusual squash and beans. All my pea bean seeds failed last year, so looking forward to watching your develop. Also, take a look at www.realseeds.co.uk a UK based version of Baker Creek. I think they will be right up your street. All the best Vivi.
I use the Real Seed company already - love them!!!!!!!........you've got me nervous about my pea beans now!!! Hahaha - oh well, nothing ventured nothing gained. Happy growing to you! :-)
So kind of you.......but I have zero space left!!!!! Just yesterday I nearly broke my body trying to dig out a new bed! I am awash with lovely seeds. :-)
at 71 there are two things i have painfully learned over the years: never attempt to guess a woman's age (guaranteed to be wrong) and exclaim wow, when is it due!
So what are you doing now that you're retired, haha, actually you can retire at any age, you know that so I doubt anyone thought you were 65. But talking about money and retirement , I would love to know your actual food budget details and gardening costs, like how many pounds of everything. Id love to see a" shopping video" as well...I don't know about you but I get a really good idea of a country by a visit to the grocery store, ok I'm weird. Oh you forgot to grow Nettles.
I spend about £100 a year on the garden which covers rent, a couple of bags of chicken poo, compost to start the seeds and some seeds. Hopefully I won't be spending more than £10 on food from shops this year.......
How stupid can some people be obvcourse you dont look retirement age! And you made it pretty clear what your intentions are for this year just shows people are ignorant and don't listen properly! Cant wait to see all these beans being grown if i had the space i'd be doing the same 😊 take care
So many beans! And such lovely colour. I was tagged to do the 30 Things/Facts About Me Challenge and I tag YOU! I think you're such an interesting person, so I'd love it if you tagged along (see what I did there?) You can find the video here ruclips.net/video/R38-4oYQC9E/видео.html xx
Yeesh......I'd be talking for a bloomin' decade!!!!!! Really enjoyed your vid. Makes me wanna give you a massive hug. :D Send me the questions and I'll have a think on it. ;)
Oh Vivi :D
I do SO enjoy these little videos of yours, where you just sit and chat with us for a bit .... it feels like visiting a friend for a short garden talk , lol. Luvvit!
Thanks so much for making the vids + Happy planting !
Awwwww.......that's lovely. Thank you! :-)
I could listen to you all day Vivi. Can't wait to see everything growing and nicking all your ideas! 💋
Hahahaha - no I've finished work you may have to listen to me all day!!!! Hahahaha. I, too, can't wait to see everything growing.....I have to remind myself that with my direct sowing/working with mother nature my plot doesn't really start to show until July........roll on summer! :-)
Never get sick of you Vivi! Enjoy every second of your time off. Don't wish April away though! It is my absolute favourite month of the year and is going waaaaay too fast. I'm down at the south east coast at the moment and the blossom on the trees is breathtaking. It gives me so much hope and makes me feel alive. 🤗
PS: You most definitely DO NOT look 65. Celebrate the last few months of your 40's then embrace being fabulous at 50. You laugh too much to look your age! 💋
Ahhhhh.......the blossom down here at the moment is truly gorgeous!!!! Here's to laughter and never mind the lines! :-)
Glad I'm not the only one who goes over and over their planting plan in the winter :)
Hahahaha - I think we all do! ;-)
Everybody that has subscribed......please pass along Vivi's youtube channel to your friends.....she is such an awesome happy gardener, full of knowledge. Once she hits a certain amount of subscribers, she may actually collect a "small amount of money" from RUclips....a great way to help her with her venture, because in a couple of weeks, she will be without income........come on people share Vivi's channel with everybody you know! I hope Vivi doesn't mind me asking this!
Oh that's so sweet of you......!!!!! Thank you. I don't know how to put a heart icon here......but if I did know I'd add a big one!!!!!! :-)
❤ just had to pop back in time and watch the beginning of this crazy wonderful adventure of yours.
Aww, thank you lovely. X
Me too! I had to see how Vivi and the allotment have developed over the years! Shame the ads are not 5 years old too, as I am bored watching the same ads from 2022 over and over again :-)
Vivi you are Beautiful and way to young for retirement in today s world people are retiring earlier than they once did tho so enjoy your garden and your new found freedom thank you for another great video xxxxx from Kentucky
Cheers! :-)
Hoping you have fantastic crops this year, Vivi. Your seed selection is exciting (I know, we gardeners are odd). I wish you were able to get some free heavy-duty supports to be able to grow all your squash vertically. My gardening space is very tiny compared to yours and all my squash is done upwards. Even heavy pumpkins. It really helps get maximum food out of a small area.
I've got a bunch of wood left over from the shed fit out! :D
i'll be looking forward to your whole garden growing but i will keep my eye upon the beans your mother gave you for christmas. thank you for such a great sit and chat👍
Such a sweet gift.......she loved the gardens at Highgrove. :-)
Vivi! you will LOVE the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin. It is a very old, heritage variety, that was nearly lost to us. The pumpkins are lovely, and last. I still have three in my spare room, so they did well all the way through winter. I am sure you will love them. And the seeds are wonderful roasted.
I still have one left to roast. They survived all the squash borer attacks that killed my other squash. Love them!
I cannot wait to see them......and then get my teeth into them! ;-)
A kazzilion thank yous!!!!!!!!!! XXX
You seem to have created a lovely frugal lifestyle Vivi, so hopefully the savings last a long time and your plot provides sufficient abundance! We are very close to self sufficiency in all of our veg now and getting there with fruit too.
Brilliant - well done you guys! :-)
You are going to love those baby butternuts!!!! As for snow, it's snowing here right now... *sigh*
Ugh!!!!! ......hope the sun shines for you soon.....
OMG Vivi gigantes beans are SOOOOOOOO delicious. Baked in tomatoes, onion, and oregano and topped with a pile of good olive oil and you're eating like royalty.
I'm a total Balkanite! I've had these sooooooo many times when I'm over there......but never grown them. So I'm totally chuffed to have got my greedy big mits on a handful. Can't wait to cook and scoff them!!!!!
Hi Vivi. Loved your video. I grew a variety of small butternut squash on a fence last year - worked very well. I also grew small pumpkins under my bean structure as you describe - also worked very well. By the time the beans had grown to the point where they were shading the pumpkins - the pumpkin plants were well underway although they did want to push out between the bean plants to get more sun. Happy growing!
I can't wait to give it all a go. I'm more excited than a kid on Christmas eve! ;-)
Sounds amazing Vivi. Can't wait to watch it all grow :)
Cheers from Canada
Roll on summer! :-)
Vivi- I love your frugality!
:-)
You are a great story teller....... really enjoy listening to you! (story teller- is not me saying you tell great lies, simply that you hold my interest and can communicate really well, few I have found have that skill) keep on keeping on
Thank you.....thank you so much.......your words give me the courage to tell many more tales...........you'll love 'em!
Our winter is like your summer lol I'm planting out now. I'm also a nurse so can totally relate! Happy planting!
Happy planting! :-)
Awesome update Vivi I thank you for the bottom of my heart as even thought my garden is not 100% ready I am trying to grow in what i have got to use
Awww......thank you. Happy gardening in whatever space you have. :-)
your most welcome
lovely seed update, I can't wait to see all the different squash and beans. I keep thinking of things I want to grow but honestly I don't think I can cope with the amount I've got already . Happy gardening
Hahahahaha - the perennial issue of space eh?? :-)
Best of luck with the squash! I'm a little nervous now because you'll be depending on the garden this year more than ever. Hope everything grows well! And thanks again for the fabulous beans!
I can't thank you enough!!!!! It's toooooo exciting waiting to see what will grow!!!!! :-) XXX
That is really good way to be organized! i just have a bucket and i chuck all my seeds in there! I hope you don't mind me copying you. Plenty of sun up here in Scotland. Can't wait for more videos!
Wit's this about plenty of sun??? ha, ha.
Yay to sunshine!!!!! :-)
The beans look like chocolate candies. You have a gorgeous complexion.
Beautiful little seeds right? Thank you.
I love it that you came up with planting your squash under your beans. A native American legend is the three sisters garden. Which was companion gardening with corn, beans and squash all grown together. Admittedly I tried it one year and things went awry, but I’m going to try it again.
Cheers Natalie.....I found that my squash didn't grow so well because, I think, the foliage on all the beans shaded them too much.......it may just have been my layout though. Good luck with your next try. 😊
Wowwweeee! Ying and Yang beans.
Exactly! :-)
Great idea having the seeds for each bed in the same envelope Vivi! Except my plans for my beds always seem to change as the growing season develops...it's all this thinking ahead business, it's the reason I can't play chess. :-D
.......hahahahaha!!!!!! Me toooooooo. I absolutely CANNOT play chess!
Baker Creek Seed company is my main scorce of seeds Vivi! Thank you for using them and I hope your successful this year.
I think these smaller, less commercial seed companies are doing a great job! :-)
I agree!
Vivi I'm in my late 40's too and a stay at home Mom. I worked up until 8 years ago. I have people that ask me have I retired. I just tell them yeah for as long as I can...lol! So I don't think people think you or I look retirement age. I just think that they think you're doing well enough to retire. I have to be frugal so my "retirement" will continue. I call it staying afloat..lol. ✌🏼️❤️& Happy Planting!🌱🌱🌱
Happy floating to us! ;-)
What a harvesting are out going to have I got an allotment too is lovely I grow lot of chili's
Yay! I can't wait to get the harvest in. Hope you have a lovely harvest too. :-)
I am going to watch some of your videos
Thank you. 😊
Greetings Vivi from way out in California's San Joaquin Valley. I have been following your videos for a little while now and love them. It's like chatting with a gardening friend over the fence. If I ever visit England I would love to visit your allotment. One question; the squash you said has "a hint of nutmeg" sounds quite interesting, but I couldn't make out the name. Can you respond so I can check it out? Looking forward to the next chat in the garden.
I'm so glad it feels like chatting with a friend. :-) The squash I mentioned is Sucrine du Berry.......gorgeous!!!!
Hi Vivi, I grow the Baby Butternut squash and highly recommend both for flavour and size for those of us who are single :-),enjoy!
Yay! Can't wait to give them a go.........better get building those frames! Thank you - it's always good to hear about a plant from someone who has actually tried it.:-)
Hi vivi, I love your videos. Very honest and practical. Can you do a pest control special? I'm curious to know your methods as I want to also live more off the allotment. For that reason I've given up growing carrots as the root fly us awful and it's windy site (near the sea!) so often protection doesn't stay in place!😀 thank you for your efforts so far
I'm sort of covering pests as we go along.......for example : ruclips.net/video/Lp7wdWL4dgs/видео.html
Didn't see that one yet! Lovely 😀
I go crazy with Baker Creek seed company!
Flordia Gardener 75, I live about two hours away from Baker Seeds farm. If ever you get a chance go to their two day Spring festival. It's an awesome place with many garden vendors, garden speaker, and lots of good old mountain music entertainment. Jared and his family actually live there on the farm. His book that he has written that tells the story of how it all came to be is a awesome read. I really love there Spring catalog and how it's all laid out. It's my first place to go when ordering seeds every year.
Have a great Florida Day
Nebraska Dave
I want to visit!!!!!!
Really like your videos!! I grow my regular size butternut squash and spaghetti squash on a trellis and they do fine. Just make a sling out of material for them. just saying ...........
Yay! Can't wait. :-)
beans beans are good for your 💓 heart, the more you eat the more you ......... have less you to plant !! LOL had to say it i love love love butternut squash !!! i think you've forgotten something !! thanks for sharing and happy gardening !!
LOL!!! ;-)
Hi vivi good luck with you seeds hope you got a good crop this year have you any tips on growing thai basil🤗 love it in cooking or fresh hope you give it a go one day 🌹
Hmmm....haven't ever tried it.......maybe you can have a go and let me know? :-)
Vivi, love your videos and my local garden center is profiting from your motivating videos, I did not want to plant anything in my veggie garden ,because of the strict water restrictions we have here in Capetown,however I now have pea plants and moneymaker tomatoes ,various herbs and pansies in my boot, tomorrow is planting day and I am considering shade cloth covers to stem the condensation in summer, using only my bathwater and kitchen rinse water on the plants. We have a water allowance of 87 liters per person per day,and this includes everything , its difficult as you can imagine. Thank you for your effort ,its much appreciated :)
Oh I'm so glad you decided to plant after all! It'll be tough with so little water but it sounds like you're doing all the right things (I flush my loo with 'grey' water).......once the plants have had a soak try to get them mulched.....anything will do, shredded newspaper, cardboard, grass clippings etc.........it's really helped me this year. Happy harvesting when the time comes! :-)
Thank you for the advice, I will do the mulch for sure, makes perfect sense of course.
Love your enthusiasm! We buy most of our seeds from Baker Creek--good seeds! :)
I've had a few from them - love them. :-)
I love Long Island Cheese Pumpkins! It's the first pumpkin I successfully grew about four years ago and has been my favorite every year. The flavor is delicious but they also just look so cool. They grow well vertically too if you need to fit them in. I'm still a ways off from being able to plant out squash seeds here in NY but seeing all your seeds has me so excited! XOKK
Ooooooh.....can't wait! Good to know they can grow vertically.....I may need that! Thank you. :-)
They will grow over anything that gets in their way, a trellis, your porch, slow moving dogs, etc. I had one grow out of my garden, across the yard and over my grape vine to produce a wonderful 10 pound pumpkin dangling from my grape vine. I think you are going to love it.
Oooooooh.........I'm REALLY excited now!!!! Outta the way foxes and cats!
I spent $15 to purchase one packet of Coco de Paimpol from France :o .... Alsa's garden seed company I think. Been obsessed with them since your vid last year.
Gosh........I hope you enjoy them after that spend! Don't forget to save yourself some seed of your own! :-)
Danielle Diakoff-King I also purchased these from Alsagarden, shipping was a bit to me here in California. The packet was to have 100 seeds, It actually had about 70, so 30% short. No remedy from Alsagarden, but hopefully after saving my seed, I can pass on this variety to fellow gardeners. Mine have now been planted, and will hopefully be out of the ground soon. Thanks to Vivi for growing instructions, as I do not read French, from the packet. Good luck.
Looking forward to great updates from everyone on their Cocos! :-)
Oh yes Vivi, I will definitely be saving seed from these :). Boulder Creek Steve, I am also in California and my packet was about 70 seeds as well. (68 I counted eeek! Lol) Oh well, grow them out, make Cassoulet and keep lots of seeds for next year! 😁 With all this rain I hope they don't rot- they are so precious I am waiting a bit to put mine in the ground yet. I'd like to know how everyone's turn out!
Good luck! I had only 10 seeds last year and they did really well so hopefully we can all get decent crops from 50+ :-)
love you Vivi!
:-)
video idea. I'd love to see and learn how to grow squash vertically. I've avoided them for years due to space.
Will do. :-)
Vivi, I've learned many years ago that if you really want to guess a woman's age, look at her hands. I guessed you to be late forties or early fifties which turned out to be right on. You are an amazing woman.
I too like beans but haven't stored any away. I'm going to be trying to store some dry beans this year. My other main kitchen garden vegetable is potatoes. I do try to store them away but haven't been able to make it to the next year's harvest. I still have potatoes but they are long sprouts and squishy. They didn't rot but are very soft with long sprouts. I'm guessing as the season warms up outside my basement storage area isn't cold enough to keep them from doing that. I may have to come up with a different solution for storage. Spuds go in the ground this next week as well as the lettuce seedlings and radish seeds. Cabbage will be planted as well. The soil temp at last test was 15C (60F) which is well above the temperature for the cool weather crops. Now if it would just quit raining long enough to them planted.
I bought a pack of Gardener's Delight tomatoes quite by accident and found that they are amazing. They were planted under the grow lights about a month ago and are about a foot tall and look great. I may have found a new favorite to grow. Even though frosts can occur until May 15th here, I plant six tomatoes in five gallon buckets which can be brought inside if forecast is for frost. It gives me early tomatoes before those that are planted outside. My go to tomatoes for that has been Early Girl in the past but the Gardener's Delight might have to replace the Girls. We will see which one gets the first tomato this year.
Have a great day on the allotment.
Nebraska Dave
Hahaha - my poor hands are done in from nursing and gardening. ;-) I'm glad you discovered Gardener's Delight......great little tom! I don't know Early Girl........I'll keep an eye out for that one. Have a grand day yourself sir. :-)
Hahahahaha. I'll be doing 'jazz hands' in all videos from now on!!! ;-)
Vivi, You're fabulous! This is by far my favourite RUclips Channel right now! Did you try the bit of sand in your soil for growing the melons this year? I'm a HUGE fan in the Middle of the States, Nebraska, Zone 5 . Also huge fan of England! Love from the States!~Jenna
Cheers!!!!!! Did you mean my squash? I don't grow melons........for the squash I've added a load of loose compost material and a bit of chicken poo. Fingers (and toes!) crossed. Thank you for watching and your lovely comment! :-)
The Rouge Vif D'Etampes is the pumpkin used for Cinderella's carriage. So chase down a dormouse or five and rustle up a beautiful gown from your curtains and you're off to the ball mademoiselle. Hope you have fun! ;)
Wonderful - I love that! Can't wait to see what will grow, :-)
Thank you for sharing your organization method. It (my supplies)was getting a bit chaotic and out of control. I'm looking forward to using it to get a handle on my 1st garden. Pretty sure I have bought a bit that I don't have room for. Oops. :)
Hahahaha - I'm sure we all have more seeds than space for sowing!!!! I like to get organised before the season really starts so I have a chance to pass on the excess seed....... Have fun in your first garden! :-)
How are you chaps handling soil depletion???
Add compost every year......use green manure......add chicken poo......rotate crops...... :-)
True viv the weather is getting warmer even though at night it's cold I also thought I. Would sow courgettes seeds today.l so I did then once I. Did that I started thinking I have carrots and radishes growing and they are winter veg so I am afraid the warm weather will.affect there growth now and I am.pray7ng I. Get a good harvest before the weather is completely warm
Oh fingers crossed for your harvest! :-)
@@WhatVivididnext thanks vivi but do you think the warm weather will.affect my radish and carrots growth it's first time they grew huge
I wouldn't have thought so......I grow Autumn King which is a winter type......last year they had to contend with one of our hottest summers and a drought.....and they were fine. :-)
@@WhatVivididnext thanks you that's very reassuring
Fact of the matter is, we don't really retire. We just move on to the next job. There is always lots of work to be done. Doing lots of indoor transplanting now. The real work begins.
Have you given any thought to growing your squash vertically?
Yes......as I mentioned I'll be growing the baby butternuts up some frames. :-)
My Dad retired when he was 50, so you don't have to be 65 to retire. You just have to be careful with your money. He made a middle class income and put 5 kids through college, never bought a new car in his life and lived in smallish houses.
The other thing is I love beans as well, mostly because they are so easy. At my community garden you don't have to save them or plant them. They just come up from the ones that missed getting picked last year. In fact you have to pull some of them up to grow other things or the entire garden will be beans. I have no idea what kind they are but they are very very tasty. So what could be easier, all I have to do is water them and pick them. I do put poles up for them to climb some times.
Your dad sounds like a man after my own heart - good on him! I don't get random beans coming up but each year every bed produces it's own potato and tomato crop without me doing a thing! ;-)
Where might I find your videos from 2016 and older(if any)? I only see videos from 2017 and 2018 on this channel. I love going back and watching your older videos that I haven't seen, I only stumbled upon your channel a few months ago. Thanks a lot!
I only started my channel at the end of March 2017.....just before stopping nursing. :-)
Hi Viv, love your videos - extremely informative and useful. In this video you are talking about beans, could you please tell me the name of the yellow bean you didn't like the look of- I can't quite make out what you are saying. Thanks ever so much xx
Thank you. I think you're asking about the 'Roquencourt'.......it's a dwarf french.......lovely waxy texture and great in salads (hot or cold). The seed I saved from last years plants has all germinated beautifully. :-)
That's it, thanks so much, didn't matter how I spelt it, it didn't come up on Google!!!
;-)
How many bean plants do you grow altogether roughly and do they last you the full year?
Hmmmm....it varies depending on slug activity!!! But......it's between 60 and 100......which is enough to keep me going for late autumn, winter and spring before I start on the green ones again in the summer and early autumn.
oops I may have gone overboard then I was worried i hadn't enough beans lol
Oh dear, don't be insulted. Here in Canada, retirement dir nurses is based on a combination of age and years of work with the health authority. In my world you might have only been five years ofd pension. But regardless, congratulations for doing what you need to do. It takes courage to make a big life change!
Hahahahaha - not insulted, just amused and confused!! ;-) Hurrah for opportunities for change! :-)
Hey Vivi, any suggestions for using dried Borlotti beans ? I've saved some from last year but unsure how to safely prepare them for cooking ! was thinking of using in a stew, but I'm sure you would need to soak them etc before cooking ?
You'll need to soak them overnight.......then boil them. There are some great guides on-line for boil times for various different beans......I do my borlottis for about 45 mins.
In the US some people have retirement plans that allow them to retire as early as 50 (public safety workers) so perhaps that is what they were thinking.
I hope so. ;-)
Heya, how many bean plants do you grow? Which is most abundant? Also, do you have a video on drying them? Thank you so much!
I grow a mix of climbing beans and bush beans.....the climbers tend to be more prolific....I try to grow about 100 of each. For drying I simply leave the pods on the plants as long as possible....often into October....and only harvest them if we're threatened with a lot of rain. Once they're all podded I spread them out in a single layer on trays at home to give them a final drying....usually for about two weeks or so. :-)
@@WhatVivididnext brilliant. I can't believe you can fit that many plants into your plot! Thanks for replying 😊
The great thing about growing so many climbers is they take up relatively little space....for a great yield. :-)
Vivi, did you plant the Indian squash and the little butternuts?
Yes I did. I have been enjoying the baby butternuts throughout the winter so far......I've yet to eat the Gete Okosomin. Can't wait.:-)
Can i also ask did you find it difficult to send seeds abroad? I did a seed giveaway competition and tried to send some to Canada and the states but i was declined at the post office but i was able to recieve seeds from canada? Who did you send your seeds through if you dont mind me asking?
I sent mine via the Post Office......
What Vivi did next Strange that's where mine were refused twice! Told me i would incur a fine if i sent them and that the US and Canada had restrictions and wouldn't allow them in 🤔 Thanks for letting me know anyways Vivi 🖒
It's all rather confusing! :-(
hey Vivi, retirement isn't about age it's about means, I decided to retire at 40, would rather scrimp and save than kill myself with a really stressful job. I'm not rich, far from it, but I'm stable and able to just about support myself from my meagre savings. Don't let the 'R' word make you think you are grey and spending the day knitting ! ;)
Hahahaha - cheers! It's good to know it can be done. :-)
If you use your beans dried, do you boil them up first to get rid of toxins, like a kidney bean? Thanks..
Yes!!! Soak overnight then boil for the required length of time. :-)
Hi Viv, watching your older videos. I had to laugh at what you said about people thought you were older than you are and you would try not to be insulted. I can assure you what they probably were thinking was did you find a way to retire at a younger age than 65 and they wanted in on it...I know I was thinking that.:)
Hahaha, I hope so! ;-)
Recently received my Baker Creek seed delivery, excited by unusual squash and beans. All my pea bean seeds failed last year, so looking forward to watching your develop. Also, take a look at www.realseeds.co.uk a UK based version of Baker Creek. I think they will be right up your street. All the best Vivi.
I use the Real Seed company already - love them!!!!!!!........you've got me nervous about my pea beans now!!! Hahaha - oh well, nothing ventured nothing gained. Happy growing to you! :-)
Vivi....where can we send you seeds? Do you have an address we can use?
So kind of you.......but I have zero space left!!!!! Just yesterday I nearly broke my body trying to dig out a new bed! I am awash with lovely seeds. :-)
No melons? Don't you like them? Just wondering:) Love your new show by the way and I thought you were late 30's early 40"s.
Hahahaha - thank you! ;-)......no, not a fan of melons. Also issue of space.......need another plot just for fruit!!!! :-)
at 71 there are two things i have painfully learned over the years: never attempt to guess a woman's age (guaranteed to be wrong) and exclaim wow, when is it due!
Hahahahahah - perfect!!! :-)
So what are you doing now that you're retired, haha, actually you can retire at any age, you know that so I doubt anyone thought you were 65.
But talking about money and retirement , I would love to know your actual food budget details and gardening costs, like how many pounds of everything. Id love to see a" shopping video" as well...I don't know about you but I get a really good idea of a country by a visit to the grocery store, ok I'm weird. Oh you forgot to grow Nettles.
I spend about £100 a year on the garden which covers rent, a couple of bags of chicken poo, compost to start the seeds and some seeds. Hopefully I won't be spending more than £10 on food from shops this year.......
I meant to say £10 per week!
How stupid can some people be obvcourse you dont look retirement age! And you made it pretty clear what your intentions are for this year just shows people are ignorant and don't listen properly! Cant wait to see all these beans being grown if i had the space i'd be doing the same 😊 take care
:-)
you don't have to be 65 to retire dunt be insulted Vivi.lots of peeps take early retirement I'm sure people don't mean to offend youx
Hahahaha - I took it in good stead......just made me laugh to think my job had prematurely aged me! ;-)
You don't look 65 Vivi! what a ridiculous thing for someone to say, LOL.
:-)
Far from retirement, just taking a gap year. Enjoy!
I'm loving it already! :-)
So many beans! And such lovely colour. I was tagged to do the 30 Things/Facts About Me Challenge and I tag YOU! I think you're such an interesting person, so I'd love it if you tagged along (see what I did there?) You can find the video here ruclips.net/video/R38-4oYQC9E/видео.html xx
Yeesh......I'd be talking for a bloomin' decade!!!!!! Really enjoyed your vid. Makes me wanna give you a massive hug. :D Send me the questions and I'll have a think on it. ;)
Consider yourself hugged :) Well, that's the tricky part! There are no questions! You "just" have to think of 30 things about you. Took me a while! xx
In which case........I think they'll just come out naturally as the year progresses. :-)