A Members' Posts

Free: Beetroot seeds "Chioggia" (Hatfield AL10) Unopened freebie seed packet. From this year; sow by 2028 so should be fine next spring, though I say it's not too late to do a last sowing now. I think Monty grows these but I don't really like beetroot so I won't. Beetroot is basically the same as chard, which I do grow, and it is laughing at the drought, so I expect these of all things will do well this dry year. Though you will need to water well at first to get the seedlings established. After that they have really deep root systems and find the water amazingly well.

4d

Free: Young aster/michaelmas daisy plants (Hatfield AL10) I found some young aster plants which I'd potted up earlier this summer when I dug up some roots. The plants offered are not in flower now, but they flower really late so I expect they will flower this year. Asters are strong growing herbaceous perennial plants which flower really late and are a magnet for pollinators. They like sun and probably want sharp drainage, but in my garden they put up with heavy clay very well. I have not watered the asters in my garden once this year and they are starting into flower like nothing has happened. You would need to water these plants to establish them this year. They are clump forming, and reasonably well behaved, but will spread under the soil if they are happy.

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4d

Free: Verbena bonariensis plants (Hatfield AL10) Good in containers and quick to grow, verbena bonariensis is a beautiful hardy perennial with beautiful clusters of small purple flowers on tall wiry stems over a long flowering season. Flowers beloved of bees and butterflies (you can see a bumblebee in the corner of the photo if you look closely). Comes back from the base stronger every year and will self seed around if it's happy. Watch goldfinches try to balance on the seed heads next winter. Wants sharp drainage and full sun to be truly happy, but I have sticky clay and a fair amount of shade and it does fine. It's really loving the summer we're having. I have pots of established plants ready to plant out. Most seedlings have burned up in the heat, but there are still a few for people who can handle bare root plants.

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4d

Free: Lovage/maggi seeds (Hatfield AL10) Very satisfying to grow because it's so vigorous, with pretty pretty yellow flowerheads, very good for wildlife and doesn't need much looking after, lovage is a fully hardy herbacious perennial growing from nothing to 8ft+ every year. The leaves have a very strong celery flavour that survives cooking, and adding a few chopped leaves to soups, stews sauces etc gives a good extra background flavour. So much easier to grow that celery itself. I think you can also use the seed either ground up as a flavour power or to make a tea (though personally I can't imaging wanting to drink that flavour!) Mine flowered very well this year, and the seeds are ripening, but it's also flopping over a bit now so I'll have to cut it down. I picked a few seed heads (pictured), but if there is interest I could pick more before I tidy it up. (Another good aspect is after I cut it down to the ground it will produce another fresh flush of leaves lasting the rest of the year, though it probably won't flower again.) Wildlife benefits include the flat topped accessible compound flower heads which are visited by lots of insects including hoverflies and the hollow stems which give good hiding places which invertebrates like ladybirds use to overwinter.

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6d

Free: Tiny Christmas car biscuit tin (Hatfield AL10) Small, novelty, M&S branded, Christmas-themed, biscuit tin. Received as a gift with sweets inside. Anybody interested before this goes in the metal recycling. *Quite small* sorry I should have added something to the photo to show scale. Maybe this is smaller than you think it is! From memory, about 6 inches long so you can't fit many biscuits! It's got a hole in the top where you can attach other decorations etc. Not much good as a toy, but the wheels do rotate.

6d

Free: Honeysuckle plant (Hatfield AL10) Gifted On a whim I potted up a small rooted bit of honeysuckle this spring without any real intention of planting it and I can't really keep it in a pot especially in this drought. I don't know which species/variety this is but they are all roughly the same idea. Honeysuckle is a fairly vigorous, woody perennial climber, with stems that twist around other plants and any supports they can find. Usually yellow/cream honey-scented flowers in late spring followed by red berried darkening to purple/black as they ripen. Don't be afraid to cut it hard to keep on top of it, if it gets out of hand, it always responds with fresh new foliage. Will often root where it touches the ground, so very easy to propagate - you can usually look around and find separate rooted pieces like this one originally was. For an easy life plant it somewhere it can scramble around wherever it wants to. Typical for a climber it ideally wants cool wet shady roots and will climb up to flower in the sun. Fine on my heavy clay.

20d

Free: Sisyrinchium plants (Hatfield AL10) Propagated from a plant a kind fellow freecycler gave me a few years ago, I've got a couple left to give away this year (one shown). Since I have limited I'll probably have to wait a little to decide who to give to. Google says sisyrinchium striatum. These are easy to grow perennial lilly-like plants with pretty yellow flowers in about June. I think they want well drained soil and full sun but they are happy on my heavy clay in a little bit of shade. Fully hardy in UK and extremely drought tolerant. Just as well this year!

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20d

Free: Tomato plants (Hatfield AL10) Gifted These are plants potted up from side shoots from established plants, which have been rooted in water and established in their pots. Mostly not labelled which these are, but these are all from named varieties I'm growing myself. All cordons, mostly cherry types. It's said that cuttings fruit much quicker than plants from seeds - about the same time as their parent plant - so these should be absolutely fine [it is too late to start from seed, so don't bother]. They should grow away fast if you keep them in a sunny place, water and pot them into bigger pots as they grow then plant into their final place. Tomatoes are not really troubled by any pests (slugs, squirrels, birds, aphids). They love a nice hot summer like we seem to have this year. (You can't expect them to fruit well [or at all] if you leave them in the pots you get them in from me by the way. Tomato plants want big root systems. Plant them in the ground for an easy life and a bigger crop, but they're fine in big pots or growbags too.)

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20d

Free: Verbena bonariensis plants (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Good in containers and quick to grow, verbena bonariensis is a beautiful hardy perennial with beautiful clusters of small purple flowers on tall wiry stems over a long flowering season. Flowers beloved of bees and butterflies (you can see a bumblebee in the corner of the photo if you look closely). Comes back from the base stronger every year and will self seed around if it's happy. Watch goldfinches try to balance on the seed heads next winter. Wants sharp drainage and full sun to be truly happy, but I have sticky clay and a fair amount of shade and it does fine. It's really loving the summer we're having. I have pots of established plants ready to plant out, and also billions of seedlings if you'd like to try potting them up yourself.

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35d

Free: Empty compost sacks (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Reposting because there was sudden interest, so I don't give up hope someone out there might want more of my old compost sacks. Quite useful for holding other things, lining porous pots etc, but I accumulate a lot and and up with too many. Would you like to take some off my hands? I have quite a lot - tell me how many you'd like. Mostly 40 litre ex Melcourt Silvagrow multipurpose compost sacks (very recommended by the way). I gave away my most accessible batch, so if requesting you'll have to bear with me while I rummage in the deep recesses of the garage to find my reserves. It means I probably can't agree to same-day collection.

40d

Free: Tomato plants from cuttings (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Variety "Sungold" is my absolute favourite - produces orange/yellow cherry tomato fruits freely and is really really sweet. Always very reliable for me outside (no greenhouse or polytunnel) and never fails to give me a good crop. These are from side shoots from established plants, which I'm going through the stages of rooting in water and potting up. Today only sungold available. Talk to me if you're interested in other varieties - I might root one last batch of side shoots if there is interest... Technically all these pictures are from previous years, but the small plants are representative of what you'd get. It's said that cuttings fruit much quicker than plants from seeds - about the same time as their parent plant - so these should be absolutely fine [it is too late to start from seed, so don't bother]. They should grow away fast if you keep them in a sunny place, water and pot them into bigger pots as they grow then plant into their final place. (You can't expect them to fruit well [or at all] if you leave them in the pots you get them in from me by the way. Tomato plants want big root systems.) Tomatoes are not really troubled by any pests (slugs, squirrels, birds, aphids). They love a nice hot summer like we seem to have this year.

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43d

Free: Basil (thai basil & normal basil) (Hatfield AL10) Gifted I have some excess pots of basil grown from seed. Thai basil - slightly different flavour but the same basic idea and has the bonus of purple-pinkish flowers when it runs to seed (cut off the heads to slow it down and make it bush out and make more leaves if you like). Normal sweet Genovese basil like you buy in supermarkets. (And maybe a dark leaved basil if I have spare and you ask nicely.) Basil makes roots very easily if you cut off a shoot and put it in water by the way. You can easily multiply up your plants - from me or from shop bought.

54d

Free: Empty compost sacks (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Quite useful for holding other things, lining porous pots etc, but I accumulate a lot and and up with too many. Would you like to take some off my hands? I have quite a lot - tell me how many you'd like. Mostly 40 litre ex Melcourt Silvagrow multipurpose compost sacks (very recommended by the way).

54d

Free: Verbena bonariensis seedlings (Hatfield AL10) Gifted (Pictures in flower are from previous summers - plants offered are young potted seedlings which will grow quickly and flower this summer.) Good in containers and quick to grow, verbena bonariensis is a beautiful hardy perennial with beautiful clusters of small purple flowers on tall wiry stems over a long flowering season. Flowers beloved of bees and butterflies. Comes back from the base stronger every year and will self seed around if it's happy. Watch goldfinches try to balance on the seed heads next winter. Wants sharp drainage and full sun to be truly happy, but I have sticky clay and a fair amount of shade and it does fine. I have pots (like 3rd photo) and also billions of seedlings if you'd like to try potting them up yourself.

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55d

Free: Tradescantia/purple heart big&small (Hatfield AL10) Gifted One for the inside gardeners. Tradescantia has other names including "purple hearts" (probably because of the pretty purple back to the leaves) and "wandering dude" because it grows on long trailing stems. They are perennial houseplants, very easy to grow and root very easily from cuttings. They have interesting variegated leaves, almost sparkly in the sun and contrasting purple backs. I think they cope quite well with relatively low light and for me they don't get any pests. Theses individual plants are from stems rooted earlier this spring. People grow them as houseplants. You could probably put them outside in the summer, but they would definitely not survive the winter, so you would take them back inside in autumn. Or just keep them inside all year round. I may limit to one (each) per person if there is demand, but honestly you don't need more than one - if you want more, just chop off a bit and put it in a jar of water and it will form roots very quickly.

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63d

Free: Verbena bonariensis seedlings (Hatfield AL10) Gifted (Pictures in flower are from previous summers - plants offered are young seedlings which will grow quickly and flower this summer.) Good in containers and quick to grow, verbena bonariensis is a beautiful hardy perennial with beautiful clusters of small purple flowers on tall wiry stems over a long flowering season. Flowers beloved of bees and butterflies. Comes back from the base stronger every year and will self seed around if it's happy. Watch goldfinches try to balance on the seed heads next winter. Wants sharp drainage and full sun to be truly happy, but I have sticky clay and a fair amount of shade and it does fine. I currently have just a few pots (see 3rd photo - will split between multiple people if there is demand) but there are billions of seedlings (e.g. see last photo) which I will pot up with a bit more lead time by arrangement.

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63d

Free: More real lawn turf (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Squares of real lawn turf - therefore comes with the standard wild flowers and moss you find in old lawn. Better for filling in small areas than laying a large area of new turf. I.e. cut by hand with a spade, so not in the form of rolls like new commercial turf. Lifted Sunday 19th and would need collecting fairly soon. I stacked it neatly in a cool dark corner so it will last as long as possible. Some of this is promised, so maybe enough for 4ft x 4ft is still available. There's also about another 4ftx4ft not yet lifted if you'd like to contact to arrange that if this week is not convenient. A lawn with a mix of clover, yarrow, daisies, buttercups etc etc stands up better to bad weather and foot traffic than pure grass does, as well as being much better for wildlife.

104d

Free: Real lawn turf squares (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Lifted Saturday 11th and would need collecting fairly soon. I stacked it neatly in a cool dark corner so it will last as long as possible. Squares of real lawn turf - therefore comes with the standard wild flowers and moss you find in old lawn. Better for filling in small areas than laying a large area of new turf. I.e. cut by hand with a spade, so not in the form of rolls like new commercial turf. A lawn with a mix of clover, yarrow, daisies, buttercups etc etc stands up better to bad weather and foot traffic than pure grass does, as well as being much better for wildlife. Makes an 8ft x 4ft area if you could piece the jigsaw back together. You can have as much or little as you would like.

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112d

Free: Jasmine plant (Hatfield AL10) Gifted I was pruning a few months ago and I found some rooted stems which I potted up. Jasmine is a vigorous twining perennial woody climber, with slightly ferny leaves and white star shaped heavily scented flowers followed by a few round black berries in a good year. Especially heavily scented on warm summer evenings. Not troubled by pests and not fussy about soil. This is Jasminum officinale (i.e. common jasmine, not winter jasmine [j nudiflorum] or star jasmine [trachelospermum])

118d

Free: Mint plant (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Very easy to grow and good for teas/cooking or just to smell the leaves as you brush past. This one has been in that little pot since autumn - it will grow away vigorously if you pot it into a larger pot or plant in the ground. Break it up into several plants if you want more more quickly. Unfussy but prefers damp soil - it will delight in nasty sticky clay. Mint can be invasive in the ground, so take care if you plant it out with other plants. Very happy in pots as long as you can keep it damp and maybe feed or repot from time to time. Mint does flower - and is good for bees then. If you prefer to keep it for yourself, or whenever it goes a bit ratty, cut it right back for a new flush of fresh bright green leaves.

118d

Free: Adidas trainers (Hatfield AL10) Gifted UK size 9. Given to me as a "while you're here" by a kind freecycler but I found them too small.

118d

Free: Washing up drainer (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Non-slip washing up drainer. Stainless steel frame with white silicone on some of the bars to keep the bowls etc in place. On the small side - 14in. Found this languishing in the cupboard the other day. Nicer than the naff plastic ones I ended up using - but for me this was too small to be practical.

118d

Free: Sisyrinchium plant (Hatfield AL10) Expired Propagated from a plant a kind fellow freecycler gave me a few years ago, I've just potted this one up to encourage it to grow away and flower this summer. These are easy to grow perennial grass-like plants with pretty yellow flowers in about June. I think they want well drained soil and full sun but they are happy on my sticky clay in a little bit of shade. Fully hardy in UK.

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119d

Free: Primulae (Hatfield AL10) Expired Maybe the most cheery representatives of spring, these freely flowering, shade tolerant plants are very tolerant of a bit of shade and cold claggy soil. They shine out at the first hint of sunshine and are visited by the hairy footed flower bee. Related to the native cowslip wildflowers and will sometimes grow into a damp lawn if you let them. (Actually maybe this is what these are? I'm confused by the different primula species.) You can get them in many bright colours, but I like the cream and white ones best so those are the ones I propagate up and that is what these are.

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119d

Free: Small variegated ivy (Hatfield AL10) Gifted This is a small-leaved variegated white & green variety of ivy. Presumably a named variety, but the original plant was given to me some years ago and I've used it as part of winter pot displays. This variety is more interesting and easier to deal with than the wild green one - being a bit white it will shine out in shady places which is where it would normally be grown. Also not as vigorous as the wild version, so it won't take over your house and shouldn't be too invasive in flower beds. Probably grow it up a shady fence, or trailing down the edge of a pot display (which is how I've been using it). Extremely tough and very tolerant of drought, ivy is virtually impossible to kill (accidentally*) once it's rooted in the ground - won't need watering in the hottest of summers. *doesn't have deep roots, so not actually that hard to dig out in my experience if you do want to get rid or keep it under control.

119d

Free: Twisted willow (Hatfield AL10) Expired This is is a plant with an established plant just potted up for your convenience. Contorted willow or twisted willow is an easy-to-grow hardy deciduous tree. It is grown for its interesting twisted branches which are brightly coloured (yellow-green or reddish orange) in winter. You can let it grow into a small tree, or cut it back hard every spring (pollarding, coppicing or stooling) to encourage even more vigorous young branches. It is a tree, so it will be big, but not massive like an ordinary weeping willow. It doesn't really flower, but it seems to attract its fair share of wildlife. It seems to be pretty unfussy when it comes to soil conditions and sun, but it's good to grow it somewhere the low winter sun will light up its branches. Unfortunately I couldn't find a photo of that, but you can google.

119d

Free: Seeds (Hatfield AL10) Expired Slightly random collection of seeds I decided I definitely won't sow this year. Deliphinium and basil are unopened. Tomato were new last year and I have very high confidence (tomato seeds last for ages). Catnep was opened last year and germinated fine. It's a creamy flowered one. The others I'm not so sure and might be too old - YMMV. I have newer non-commercial lovage seeds collected last year, and you can have some of those too if you're going for that. Will split if there is demand, so tell me which packets you're interested in.

134d

Free: Forget-me-not plants (Hatfield AL10) Gifted Forget-me-nots: young plants dug straight from the ground. Nearly starting to flower - will flower freely from April. I always have lots of forget-me-nots and I keep most, but they also come up in silly places such as lawn edges - those ones can be given away. They should move ok now while the soil is still cool and damp. Water in well. Forget-me-not are beautiful clear blue-flowered, easy going biennials, beloved of pollinating insects. Once you have them you should let them seed at least once, and then you will have them forever: they will seed around freely. They are not a problematic weed because they are very easy to pull up and have distinctive soft hairy leaved seedlings. I weed them out during the summer and start moving them to where I want them in autumn or spring.

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137d

Free: Verbena bonariensis plants (Hatfield AL10) Gifted (Pictures in flower are from previous summers - these are cut back to their base and not in flower in February. Last picture is now, showing strong shoots from the base. They will flower this summer.) Lots of established verbena bonariensis plants available. Will be dug straight from the ground by arrangement on the day of collection - a little ball of roots and soil. Good in containers and quick to grow, these plants will establish quickly and will flower for you this summer. Leave the flower heads next autumn and they will seed for you too if you're lucky. Verbena bonariensis is a beautiful hardy perennial with purple flowers on tall wiry stems over a long flowering season. Comes back from the base stronger every year and will self seed around if it's happy. Flowers beloved of bees and butterflies. Watch goldfinches try to balance on the seed heads next winter. Wants sharp drainage and full sun to be truly happy, but I have sticky clay and a fair amount of shade and it does fine.

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174d

Free: Plant hormone rooting powder (Hatfield AL10) Gifted It's an artificial version of a natural plants hormone they make themselves. You dip the root-end of cut stems in when taking cuttings and it's supposed to make them root much faster/more easily. I use it sometimes, but I have another pot - this one was acquired from my Gran's house. For rooting plants in compost or soil, not water - because the powder would just wash off the stem. It's quite old, but I assume it lasts indefinitely.

175d