Inge Leonora-den Ouden

Chance Lunceford wrote:...

I just did this, and took some photos. See below:

I am very interested to see how this goes on! I never tried this. I only duplicated strawberry plants by using the runners.

Okay, this is off-topic, but I wanted to add this photo to my post here.
This is what the weather here looks today (August 5th, 2026). After some days of very sunny weather, the normal clouds are returning...

Ac Baker wrote:Thank you. PFAF.org is definitely a go-to mine of useful information.

ETA: Being in central England, we've been sort-of equivalent to Zone 8 but not quite. Frost is rarer and very rarely colder than -10 C. These days, our average last frost is around mid-May.  Our average first frost is late Oct or Nov.  Our summers are now a lot hotter, frequently reaching 30-40 C.

Still, this list of Perennial Vegetables, particularly in my case the section for for Zone 8, is a useful find from that other thread: https://www.epicgardening.com/perennial-vegetables/

I think European climates are not comparable to North-American climate zones. Especially close to the North-western coast of Europe (Ireland, UK, Iceland?, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium) there's the influence of the Gulf Stream (or 'Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation').

The result: higher winter temperatures than at the same latitude in North-America. But I think here (UK, NL, etc.) it rains more often than in the climate zone with comparable temperatures (about zone 8). When I read about the first and last frost date, they are very different too. Dutch gardeners always say: there can be frost until half May. So we plant our tomatoes, courgettes, a.a. in the garden after May 15th. That's a later date than mentioned in the official info on zone 8. And I remember very well I had a frosty night in September when I was camping once ... So frost is possible for more months ... but that frost is only a few degrees 'below zero' (Celsius). Winter here in general is only around that 'zero' point.

High temperatures, yes this year has some extremes. In 2019 there were some days of 40 C too. It might have something to do with 'el nino'. Or it's 'climate change'...

Interesting. I never heard this before. But it might be an explanation why the green beans I planted did not succeed (only one of them has grown out to be a plant, with a few beans): there was garlic in the same bed. Very close in distance and partly overlapping in time.

It's the season for road side stands!
Here are some from my region in the Netherlands.

Vegetables, jams and eggs (from free-roaming chickens)

 
'grandma's jams'


for the lovers of jam!

Mark Wyborny wrote:There really isn't a native anything. To lable and exterminate every living thing that doesn't stay where it is at a certain time period of your choosing as invasive/ noxious is certain extinction for all. The Earth is ever-changing and all subspecies are created by free movement. Ecological diversity is extremely important to the health of earthling lifeforms.  I totally agree 100 %. The New Wild by Fred Pearce is an awesome educational book on that topic without any useless filler.

I agree. Nature (and everything) is constantly changing. But that natural change goes very, very slowly. It takes thousands of years.

The problem nowadays is that people import certain species (plants, but also animals). They don't arrive in a natural way, by 'free movement', but they come suddenly.

Yesterday I saw Paul's youtube live. There was one subject that surprised me. It was the topic this thread is about: native plants.
I hope I can explain in understandable English what I mean ...

Paul told that there was (sort of) activism pro native and contra non-native plants. And that those activists were spraying herbicides to kill non-native plants.
I understand that, if that is the case, the herbicide producing companies are behind that idea. (And I understand what was said about actions against non-native humans ... )

It surprised me because here (in the Netherlands) there are groups promoting native plants, but they are not against non-natives. They promote native plants because of biodiversity. Because many (native) insects need certain (native) plants in their life-cycle.  They give information, telling that a native plant in your garden is not a 'weed' that has to be removed, but a useful (and often beautiful) plant. They are strongly opposed to use of chemicals (herbicides and other -cides).

Also there are organisations with nature parks, promoting more native species (plants, trees, insects and other animals). They do their best to slowly replace non-native trees (mostly monocultures of conifers, grown for their wood) with native trees and undergrowth.
If, in some nature reserves, there's a problem with 'invasive exotic plants' (f.e. Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam, giant hogweed), volunteers will come to pull those plants out, or other actions, but without the use of chemicals. If needed, as is the case with the giant hogweed, they will wear protective clothing and gloves.

Okay, there might be actions of local authorities against the Japanese knotweed using herbicides. Was that what you were talking about? (do local authorities count as 'good guys'?)

Andrés Bernal wrote:We are live!

Thank you for being 'behind the scenes'. And thanks to Paul, Ash, Derek and Samantha.

For a few years now there's an official 'food forest' in the park in my neighbourhood. Sometimes I work there as a volunteer too (it's part of our project Permacultuur Meppel, with a garden at the other side of the park too).
We found out people like to see trees ... but they don't pick fruits. Almost the only ones who pick fruits are the volunteers of the project.

It's the same in the garden, where we grow vegetables, herbs and some berries/currants. We are the ones who harvest and take home what we want. What we don't harvest will go on growing, flowering ... or rot.
Only the mint was picked by others, probably someone who likes mint-tea.

John Weiland wrote:...

But also to add, Inge,.....on occasion I have been one of THOSE Americans who could not navigate properly on foot between the throngs of bicyclists in Amsterdam.  On one terribly embarrasing incident, I found myself like a doe looking into the headlights of an oncoming car....only in this case it was a wall of cyclists having just departed from a stoplight.  It was all I could do to ultimately hold out my extended hand to 'aid' an oncoming cyclist in a full stop, her eyes rolling up in frustration at the interruption in her commute.  I apologized profusely and made note to be more aware of my street crossing protocol henceforth....

Amsterdam, yes, I had problems there too. It's a too crowded city. Too many pedestrians and bicyclists (both including tourists) in narrow streets.
But in other cities/towns bicycle infrastructure is just as good, or even better, but there are not as many people.