What I did today 2020

[burnie]

Cut the grass before the predicted rain, too hot, not a good idea at all...…...………….siesta time......……...

[ameno]

I went to the allotment at 5am today to go slug hunting...
I almost wish I hadn't. Ignorance was bliss...
I'm utterly infested by the things; it's a wonder anything grows at all with that many of the damn things about. I killed well over 200 of them, and I probably barely even made a dent in the overall population.

[Shortie]

Today was mostly spent trying to now melt in the heat whilst on video calls with work. It involved opening as many windows and door as wide as possible. We do have fans but I can be a bit of a funny so and so about burning electricity if I can find an alternative. Kind of like a challenge?

Then when it had cooled down enough after work, I spent time deweeding around the pond again. Now the pump and water fall thingie have moved, I can get proper access to the side by the fence. It's had a problem with bind weed for years and I can now finally get in there and sit down to attack it. There's something oddly satisfying when you manage to pull up a long piece of root (it's mostly in between weed membrane and slate so can be easy to pull up).

Seeing the amount of roots that were under the slate was a bit soul destroying though.. I plan to spend time each evening when it cools down rooting around like a nutter among the slate looking for more roots

Tomorrow I need to weaver the tomatoes to the stakes

[ameno]

Planted out the purple sweet potato plant and the edible dahlia which arrived today.

Mulched one lot of beans with the manure i got a couple weeks ago.

[ameno]

Went 5am slugging again today.
Not nearly as bad as yesterday; I guess I really did make a dent with the 200+ slugs I killed. I also discovered that a slug's very favourite food is dead slugs - most of the slugs I found this morning were ignoring my plants and just eating the remains of the slugs I killed the day before.

I also pollinated 3 more squash flowers. All pink banana (the others aren't out yet).
If these pink banana squash produce fruits in the same way they produced female flowers then I'm going to have more than my weight in squash by autumn.

[Shortie]

Finally, today I mamaged to get out and stake my tomatoes. It started to rain whilst out there though, and by the time I'd grabbed my gloves, string and scissors, and pulled the garden umbrella down and in, I was soaked to the skin

Mind you, I'm not complaining. It's been so refreshing to be cooler and we definitely needed some rain

[ameno]

Planted out about half of my leeks in the back garden. The other half will go in at the allotment once the early peas are out (which shouldn't be much longer)

[MelanieSW]

Looked after the allotment trading hut for a couple of hours, did some weeding, and dragged a large dalek composter from a friend's garden (unwanted, left behind by the previous owners) to the lottie.

[ameno]

Pollinated three squashes and several melons.
Tied in my tomatoes.

[bikermike]

I dug up some potatoes (Sharpes Express look good, Charlotte very disappointing). Planted some butternut squash plants in the gap in the bed. Picked some courgettes.
Planted some peas and mangetoute plants and some extra seeds in a cleared bed.
Tied up my tomatoes (which are starting to fruit)

In the greenhouse, gave my tomatoes a haircut - armpits and cut back the foliage a bit

[ameno]

Pollinated some more melons.
Mulched more of my beans with manure.

[ameno]

Potted on my purple sprouting broccoli plants, and made some collars for the pots out of an old pair of jeans (my purple sprouting plants got cabbage fly last year whilst still in the pots, and died before I planted them out. Don't want that happening again).

[ameno]

Planted out the guttering of mangetout I sowed last month.

[Jungle Jane]

Yesterday I fed the plants with seaweed & tied two of the bean teepees back up I don’t know how the wind unties them,I’ve pinched the tips on some of them,some haven’t reached the top yet,lots of ants & aphids on everything growing I think. I went round mums today,we’ve got some good rainy weather forecast for a few days so I put the grass seed down on the front lawn,did a bit of weeding,pruning & fed the roses,it’s raining now that’s good

[ameno]

Pulled out all the broadbean plants and chopped them into the compost bin.
Took a lot longer than I expected to chop them up as they stems were so tough and my allotment secateurs are rubbish. Also completely ruined my right hand - it's just a mess of blisters now from forcing the secateurs through tough stems.