News
How to Grow a Mango Tree From Seed, Germinate, Planting and Results / Gardening
This is a step by step youtube video guide on how to grow mango trees from seed, utilising the best method for mango seed germination, to planting, to what results you can be expected after a month (a 10 mango tree forest!).
These are the 10 mango trees after just 1 months growth from planting
How to Germinate Mango Seeds
Remove the Mango seed form the dry husk (after a few days left to dry on a window sill).
Next wrap the seed loosely in a paper towel
Now wet the paper towel wrapped seed and then place it into a plastic wallet or zipper bag, place on a shelf, then place on a shelf for a couple of weeks to germinate.
Two weeks later, the seeds have germinated into baby mango trees.
Now plant the mango trees into small pots
And here are the Mango trees just 1 month later.
The difference in growth rates suggests that the bigger the pot they are placed in the faster they will tend to grow.
Anika's Fruit Tree Garden, Mangoes, Banana, Apple, Oranges, Cherries, Peach, at Silverdale Sheffield / Gardening
This is my garden full of fruit trees and bushes at Silverdale, Sheffield including - Mangoes, Banana, Apple, Oranges, Cherries, Peach, Kiwi, Pears, Walnut, Grapes, Lemon, Raspberries and Blackberries. Also lots of nice flowers including scented rose bushes.
See our other videos on how to grow fruit trees from seeds.
"Come on lets see my garden"
Scarborough Sun, Sea, Sand Holiday and a Pirate Ship, Castle Video / Holidays & Outings
Scarborough sight seeing, the usual sun, sea and sand for the kids. Plus a pirate ship trip around the bay and a tiring trip to the hill top castle, the only thing missing was Scarborough fair.
Video served by Youtube.
Was a good and enjoyable summers day out.
How to Grow a Mango Tree, Germinate Mango Seeds the Easy Way - Video / Gardening
Step by step guide on how to easily germinate mango seeds that will be ready for planting as young mango trees with-in a couple of weeks in this entertaining and fun to watch video by the children in Silverdale, Sheffield - Dani, Sami, Adnaan, Zara, Anika.
Pigeons Attack! Green Park London - Video / Fun Time
Me and Sami on a trip to London were stopping off in Green Park on our way to Buckingham Palace, when a mass of pigeons attacked Alfred Hitchcock style, off course its more hilarious than horror.
By Adnaan Walayat
Copyright 2012 http://www.adnaan.net/ - All Rights Reserved
Anika Shows How to Grow a Mango Tree from Seed in Silverdale Sheffield / Gardening
Anika, several weeks ago showed how to germainate Mango seeds by wrapping them loosely in a paper tower, wetting it and then putting it in a sealed plastic wallet to germinate. Her experienced is that this ensures at least a 50% germaination success rate.
Now it is Anika's turn to plant her germinated mango seed in a pot.
STEP 1 - Fill a small pot with soil including a little plant food and water retention crystals (if available)
STEP 2- Place the germinated Mango seed in the pot with the roots in the soil and the stem pointing up, oops Anika seems to have broken the top of the plant off, never mind it should grow back.
Baby Mango trees can be expected to grow very fast, here are three that Sami and Adnaan planted just 10 days earlier.
How to Propagate Strawberry Runner Plants in Silverdale Sheffield / Gardening
Sami shows how to propagate strawberry runners into new strawberry plants the easy way.
Firstly what are strawberry runners ?
Strawberry runners are basically offshoots front the main plant that the strawberry plant uses to spread itself as in nature it creeps along the ground by shooting out runners which take root and grow into new strawberry plants which themselves shoot out runners and so the plant spreads and can in a relative short time cover huge areas of land.
The runners as the below photo illustrates consist of stems expanding stems from the mother to the daughter plant which feeds the new plant until it has managed to take root in soil and then the stem dies away.
As you can see strawberry runners are quite numerous and a great advantage for gardner's as they make it relatively easy to grow new strawberry plants. The traditional method is to place the new plant whilst still connected to the mother plant in new soil. Sami is going to experiment with a potentially more convenient method which is to just snip the runner plants off from the mother plant and plant them on their own or in a row of new plants as will illustrated below.
STEP 1 - Snip the Runner plant off from the mother plant
STEP 2 - You will probably find that there is another shoot growing off the daughter plant, so snip that off as well so that the plant uses all of its energy to grow
STEP 3 - Place the plant onto soil, be it directly on the ground, small pot or some other container.
And that is the basic process, compete the process for all of the other daughter plants and in little over 10 min's from start to finish you will have many new baby strawberry plants.
Sami achieved 9 plants in some 10 minutes.
This method is much easier, and cleaner than the traditional method of leaving daughter plants still attached to the mother plant for several more months!
Whilst very useful for growing new plants, however if you do not intend on growing new plants then ensure you cut them all off at the earliest so as to ensure that the strawberry plant focuses all of its energies into growing strawberries.
Stay tuned for updates to see how this method of propgating strawberry plants turns out, as if it works it will be great news to strawberry planters all over the world!.
By N Walayat
Copyright 2012 Walayat Family - All Rights Reserved
Sami Coaches Adnaan's Weight Training Strength Building Sports in Silverdale School Sheffield / Health and Fitness
Adnaan continues his weight training programme to boost his strength before he starts Silverdale Secondary school in September. Now he is helped by his coach Sami.
"Come on Adnaan, just one more rep, you can do it!"
Pull down your arms adnaan not your body.
That's it Adnaan, no pain no gain!
Fresh Strawberry Picking in Silverdale, Sheffield / Gardening
About 13 weeks after planting, the first crop of fresh red strawberries is ready for picking and eating!
Sami is just the right height to be our chief strawberry picker.
Make sure you get all of the strawberries that are hiding away in the foliage
Great first crop that's nearly 30 strawberries!
How to Grow and Protect Strawberries From Being Eaten by birds in Silverdale Sheffield / Gardening
I planted a number of Strawberry plants in Late March to Early April that were expected to start producing crops of nice juicy FRESH strawberries during July.
Here's a timeline of how the strawberries grow to their first crop and lessons learned to ensure a better future crops.
Mid May - Planting Plus 5 weeks and the plants have flowers, with the beginnings of what will turn out to be strawberries in the middle.
Tip - Make sure that the strawberry plants are watered EVERY DAY that it does not rain, adequate watering is very important!
Mid June - Planting Plus 9 weeks - The berries continue to grow in size, and it's time to start contemplating protecting them from being eaten by the likes of birds
Tip - Protect your growing strawberries from birds with a Mesh
How to Grow a Mango Tree - Planting Germinated Seeds, baby Mango Trees in their first pot / Gardening
A few weeks ago Anika showed how to get mango seeds out of the hard husks and germinate the seeds by loosely wrapping then in a paper tissue, soaking them in water and then placing them into a plastic wallet for a about three weeks.
Now three weeks later and whilst Anika is away on Holiday, Sami and Adnaan will get to see how well the Anika's six mango seeds germinated and then to plant the new baby mango trees in pots.
First step is to see how many if any of the 6 seeds have actually germinated.
Looks like Sami has hit a home run, that looks like a great baby Mango tree!
It's like opening Christmas presents as Adnaan finds a good healthy baby mango tree as well
Great 3 of the 6 mango seeds have germinated and are ready to plant in pots.
How to Grow a Mango Tree- The best way to Germinate Mango Seeds / Gardening
Anika is going to show how to germinate mango seeds
First step is to get a box of nice tasty juicy mangoes.
After eating and cleaning the mango seeds, let them dry out on the window sill for a few days, this will make it much easier to get the seed out of the hard husk
Snip the D shaped edge of the hard husk to gain access to the seed inside, make sure you do not damage the seed.
Now carefully pry the seed out of the dried shell
One down, 5 to go!
Anika How Does Your Rose Garden Grow? / Gardening
I planted three rose bushes in Mid May, (see here) this is how my rose bushes have grown over the next 6 weeks.
Rose Bush Planting Plus 4 days - It's been hot and sunny so what my rose bushes need is a good watering.
Rose Bush Planting Plus 4 Weeks - Starting to see flowering leaves.
Here's a close up
Rose Bush Planting Plus 6 Weeks - Plenty more leaves are appearing, the flowers can't be to far away.
By Anika Walayat
Copyright 2012 WalayatFamily.com - All Rights Reserved
How to Plant a Rose Bush by Anika in Silverdale, Dobcroft, Sheffield, S11 / Gardening
Today I am going to show you how to plant and grow a rose bush, in fact I will be planting 3 rose bushes which my dad bought from Asda. They are Galway Bay (pink), Casino (Yellow) and Red Devil (red)
First thing to do is to dig three holes for the rose bushes
This is very hard work, Dad can dig the holes for me?
Now we need to soak the roots in water before planting.
Now we need some good growing compost to make sure the rose bushes get a good start.
Flying From Manchester Airport on Emirates Flight EK018 - Anika's Pakistan Adventure P1 / Holidays & Outings
I am off for a trip to Pakistan with my mum.
I am flying on an Emirates Flight from Manchester Airport, Terminal 3.
Bye bye to Sami and Googie
The plane is now going to take off and I start my adventure.
By Anika Walayat
Copyright 2012 WalayatFamily.com - All Rights Reserved
Bored in Pakistan - Anika's Pakistan Adventure P2 / Holidays & Outings
I made to Pakistan fine, but its too hot here in Karachi, I can't go out! I am stuck inside for most of the day.
I am bored, but my mum says we will be going to a wedding tomorrow
By Anika Walayat
Copyright 2012 WalayatFamily.com - All Rights Reserved.
Uncle Irfan's Wedding in Karachi- Anika's Pakistan Adventure P3 / Weddings
It's Uncle Irfan's wedding day and I get to dress up, and put makeup on (Don't tell Daddy!).
The married couple look very nice.
That's one wedding done, not to prepare for the next which is a long way away in Lahore.
By Anika Walayat
Copyright 2012 WalayatFamily.com - All Rights Reserved
Traveling from Karachi to Lahore by Train for Shiasta Baji's Wedding - Anika's Pakistan Adventure P4 / Holidays & Outings
We are going to travel over 1000 miles by train from Karachi to Lahore for Shiasta Baji's wedding.
About 15 people went to Lahore with me.
I slept with my mum on a bunk bed for most of the time.
It took most of a day to get to lahore.
Once there we waited for the Coach to take us to the hotel
By Anika Walayat
Copyright 2012 WalayatFamily.com - All Rights Reserved
Shiasta Baji's Mendhi in Lahore - Anika's Pakistan Adventure P5 / Weddings
After a few days rest it was time for Shiasta Baji's Mendhi
Family members and friends took it in turn to perform the Mendhi ceremony
I had to sit quietly and watch for most of the time - I was bored!
Though Habib-Ul-Rehman would help keep me entertained at times.
By Anika Walayat
Copyright 2012 WalayatFamily.com - All Rights Reserved
Shiasta Baji's Wedding in Lahore - Anika's Pakistan Adventure P6 / Weddings
They booked a big hall in a posh hotel for the wedding.
The wedding hall soon started to fill up with people as we waited for the bride and groom.
Wow! Shiasta Baji looked like a movie star!
We took it in turns to sit with the married couple on the stage.
After the stage we were ready to line up to go and eat.
That's my Haji Mamoo, with Shiasta and me, he will be flying with is to Dubai on the way back to England
By Anika Walayat
Copyright 2012 WalayatFamily.com - All Rights Reserved
Flying Back to England, Manchester Airport Terminal 1, Emirates - Anika's Pakistan Adventure P7 / Holidays & Outings
After a few more days of sight seeing it was time to fly back to England on an Emirates plane.
We flew with Haji Mamoo to Dubai where we changed planes, he went on to South Africa and we to the UK
Landing Back on the UK at Manchester Airport
Now we have to wait for Daddy to come and pick us up from Terminal 1, Arrivals
Back home in Silverdale, Sheffield, just in time to watch the season finale of Grimm, with Daddy, Sami and Googie
By Anika Walayat
Copyright 2012 WalayatFamily.com - All Rights Reserved
Shaun Wright Labour South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Candidate Election Results / Sheffield Local News
The election results for the Labour postal ballot for candidate for South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner came in.
As expected it was a close race between the two front runners, Kashaf Walayat and Shaun Wright going all the way to voter third preferences of each candidate that was knocked out. Therefore greatly influenced by the leaflets sent out to Labour party members.
The three losing candidates Med Hughes, Kash Walayat and Alan Billings all took part in an gentlemanly and fairly played election. However the same cannot be said for the Shaun Wright who crossed the line several times by sending out leaflets that implied official endorsements that were not given such as from MP's, constituencies and Unions, as an example the GMB had NOT officially endorsed Shaun Wright as his leaflets implied but another candidate. How many Labour voters were influenced by such instances of implied endorsements ? 10%? 15%?, enough to have effected the outcome!
So, I guess the person who played the dirtiest ultimately won, though this election was supposedly for the cleaner than clean post of Police and Crime Commissioner.
At the end of the day, the PPC elections show how incompetent the coalition government is as Conservatives claiming to be the party of Law and Order have effectively handed over control of most of England and Wales Police Forces to the Labour Party.
By Nadeem Walayat
Copyright 2012 WalayatFamily.com - All Rights Reserved
South Yorkshire Police & Crime Commissioner Labour Postal Ballot Election Vote Results / Sheffield Local News
The postal ballot for the election to select the Labour candidate for South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner public vote to be held on 15th November 2012 ended at mid-day Friday 15th June.
Four candidates stood, however it is expected that it will be a very close run vote primarily between Kashaf Walayat and Shaun Wright, whom I forecast to each attain approx 1/3rd of the vote, thereby falling short of the 50% needed to win on the first ballot, therefore the second and possibly even the third preferences of candidates falling out of the election will decide the outcome of this election.
The results are expected by Monday afternoon, 18th June 2012.
N Walayat (16-6-12)
Kashaf Walayat, Prospective Police Crime Commissioner Expresses Thanks To Party Members
The internal Labour Party selection process for returning ballots has now closed for Police and Crime Commissioner for South Yorkshire.
I would like to thank all Labour Party members for participating in the selection process and give my special thanks to those people who have supported me in this campaign.
I would also like to wish my fellow South Yorkshire Labour Party Shortlisted candidates Alan Billings, Med Hughes and Shaun Wright best wishes.
The official Labour Party candidate will be announced on Monday 18/06/12. I am sure that whoever wins will do their best for the Labour Party and the people of South Yorkshire.
Kash Walayat
Help Dandelion Monster Weeds Ate My Garden, How to Kill Part1 / Gardening
Whilst Dandelions may taste nice in a dandelion and burdock fizzy drink. However in most gardens they are hideous weeds.
Don't make the mistake I made by ignoring the first few Dandelion weeds when they first started sprouting up in my garden, because within a matter of a couple of weeks they spread and literally took over my whole garden.
My garden went form this in Mid April.
To this in at the start of the May.
Queen's Diamond Jubilee Celebration in Silverdale, Sheffield / Special Events
The celebrations over 4 days included a quick trip to London, with Princess Anika afforded a special place amongst fellow royals as tens of thousands of subjects showed their appreciation of the Queen for 60 years reign.
Timing is everything, and with literally seconds to spare the Walayat Family grabs a quick photo op before the Queens carriage arrives.