The 'What I Did Today' Archive - 2007

[wellie]

Made a raised double 'Strawberry Bar' with 26 'Temptation' grown from seed last year, and 30 'Marshmallow' runners generously donated by Piglet.
That'll do for this years' Strawberries, which was nice!

[johnty greentoes]

Arrived at plot to be told, by an eagled-eyed neighbour that my plot has finnally been measured out by the Council and it has been decided that I'd overstepped into next door's wildernes by 10 inches so I had to completely uproot one raised bed and move it elsewhere

This necessitated me beginning to dig and de-doc/cooch another 10m2 today. So that took most of the day. I have a sunburned neck and builders-bum to boot (cuadros a petición).

Met lots of new friendly faces and learned that all the plots in my row are now spoken for. Excellent.

Half a ton of horse s**t was delivered by Bob for £15 and I surrounded it with scavenged pallets and tarpaulin.

Rooster manured raised beds and covered with weed suppressing fabric. Blagged bricks from Fred to keep fabric down.

Went to rescue a friend who is having internet problems. Turned out to be a wire unpluged from external modem. Get wireless FGS!

Home for homemeade, wholemeal pizza with fennel!

[wellie]

Hazel, honeybunny, have you been at the orange or blue smarties tonight?! I've only just done justice to the gorgeous Sunday Roast that Trousers prepared for me and the cat, and, what with my PM inbox being 90% full, and the bath is running, and I'm having a massage in my 'cheap seats' massage chair, and hey!
Guess wot? We don't breed canes as tall as that for any reason in the ROYAL, get that, Royal Forest of Dean. Bunnyards Exhibition grew way taller than I'd anticipated last year, even 'before' pinching-out-stage-to-reduce-blackfly. so this year I decided to put tall canes in, and well, just 'decorate them'. Everyone thinks I'm cuckoo round here anyway, because I grow stuff to be as pretty as productive, so I see no point in stopping where they'd expect me to. Ask Trousers... he's full of stories!

And, what you and Vicki want to know, is how you get ahold of those gorgeous little cane-toppers... Again, you can thank Piglet, as he brought them to my attention, and you can 'normally' get them from places like B&Q in the kiddy playpit section. Enough said I think.....!

[Flummery]

Spent an hour this morning on the veg plot planting Jerusalem arties and red sun shallots and Stuttgarter onion sets. Snuck in a row of Early Nantes carrots between the shallots and onions. I came in and made a vast pot of artichoke soup (you love it or hate it) containing onions and shallots from last year's crop. It will do me for lunch several days this week (worth opening a few windows for!) I'll have it with home made spelt flour bread. This is what it's all about isn't it? I wouldn't call the king me uncle!

[dexterdoglancashire]

I have been a VERY brave girl! I actually went to the dentist for a filling, 1. on my own 2. without taking tablets to calm me down first! Reward? just ordered myself a laptop! Yipee! can keep more in touch with everyone on the Vine!! Its due to be delivered on Friday - can't wait! Im a very lucky girl. DDL

[silvermam]

Today I send of all the rhubarb plants planted most of the seeds recieved from blue and green and waffler. Finished as much as I could of the herbbed planted the plants b&g send me made a rockery with all the chunks of concrete in the hope that the plants will eventually cover the uglyness that is concrete. and started sorting out the spot for my tomatoes all that with a 2y/o and very cats chasing the even more excited dog.
Will be doing more rhubarb swapping tomorrow with a lady from the farm up the road yay!
Big thanks to b&g and waffler for their generous supply of seeds in return for the rhubarb!

[Mrs Dobby]

Today I was mostly working on my Performance Management Agreement, in preparation for my Performance Review on Thursday, the results of which will decide my annual pay reward! At present I am slotted for a 'Good' performance grade (grades are Unacceptable, Adequate, Good, High and Outstanding, and only 1 person is on for a High, 6 of us are on for a Good grade, most are on for an Adequate, and 7 of 23 are on for an Unacceptable! No-one is on for an Outstanding!), which is better than most and has been hard work to acchieve, but will likely result in a pay award of about 2.75%, which is still below inflation! Those on for an Acceptable will probably get 1% and those on an Unacceptable will get nothing!

Tomorrow we are both off, so a quick trip to get some shopping, then down to the plot for a stress free day getting all dirty!

I'm taking a lieue day on Thursday, only got to pop to my local branch for an hour for the pay review, then back down to the plot again, along with Mr D who is also off on Thursday! Quality, 2 days on the plot this week, then a weekend off and more lottie time!

[Ratty]

Potted on my tomatoes and cucumber plants - they had shot away in the propagator - Now they're just on a bright, but not sunny window-sill.

Heeled in the Victoria Plum tree that arrived in the mail! Never had a parcel that big delivered before - It was like Christmas!

This weekend will be a busy one!

Need to fix the subsidence caused by ants tunnelling in the sand under one corner of the slabs my greenhouse sits on - Its noticably dropped and cracked one of the panes!

Need to replace the broken fence panels that have been propped up since the last strong winds.

...and general tidying - There seems to be rubbish everywhere!

[poozie]

What I did today...........

I can't get to allotment today but at the weekend we erected our windbreak which immediately reduced the wind that howls onto our allotment which is on the crest of a hill. I also weeded my onions and garlic and planted some last minute garlic, some Twinkle peas and Bunyards exhibition broad beans. The sun was really hot.

Last weekend my husband and our friend Alastair (who we share plot with, along with his wife Chi) erected a 6 x 4 shed bought off a fellow allotmenteer, tore the old shed apart, which had been a freebie and had spent the winter in a pile on the ground and various parts kept having to be retrieved from far flung places after gales. They burn't the shiplap, kept the frame and door and it has now formed a very servicable 8x6 greenhouse covered in polytunnel plastic. I kept away from plot that weekend as i had a cold but i was amazed by the franctic activity.

We got our plot last march and spent year digging out weeds, but finally this year we feel like we can head into the growing season prepared and a bit more organised. And our cars are no longer sheds on wheels. Hurrah!!!!!!!!

[clarelouise4]

Today I managed to get my red onion and white onion sets in and also some shallots. Finished digging the bed that the potatoes are going in and did some weeding near the new raspberry bed. Oh and fed the japanese onions.

Clare

[Hilary]

Feeling smug....

First posting ever on here.... been finding loads of great info, so its time to join in!
Had a busy couple of days...
potatoes moved around for the chitting.
spring garlic planted - from Garlic Farm, Isle of Wight. Fantastic service! Solent white - good for the north - and Languedoc - supposedly fab. these join the autumn planted garlics already coming through.
Planted five thongs of horseradish in a newly created contained area with railway sleepers - as they will become a weed! loads of great manure in there too.
turned the compost heap into an empty one - ready for a new batch.
fed all the ericaceous loving babies as they were all showing alkali.

sowed four rows of red onion.
propogators now have red peppers - chillis - aubergine cucumbers.
greenhouse have nastursiums planted ready to do battle by the carrots....oh yes - two rows of carrots under a polytunnel.

asparagus bed weeded and fed. this will be year three - so we are ready!!!

Planted a fig tree from Dobies against a southfacing wall in a big container.

have top dressed all patio containers and sprinkled with a feed.
Booked scarifier for weekend to start on "The Lawn Project".

eaten four scotch pancakes and three pints of builders tea. Fantastic feeling! Now have to get dressed in suit and go to work! Rather be here....

[Nicos]

Hello there Hilary!! ..and welcome to the Vine
Sounds as if you are more organised than me !!!
Today I got on with sowing a few more seeds for the propagators...Was REALLY pleased to see that 3or 4 chilli Hot Tepin seeds have germinated ( after 3 wks) using the damp kitchen paper and cling film technique.(left them ontop of the radiator). None germinated last year in the propagator on the windowsill last year!
Also spotted frog spawn in the pond!!
Magnolia now in flower so am awaiting the frost!!

[roitelet]

Oops posted in the wrong place Today I dug all the trenches for the tatties, all 36 meters of them Added Compost and Dung ready for planting on 1st April according to the moon

[Mrs Dobby]

Got down to the plot after lunch for a few hours, unfortunately the glorious blue skies and sunshine that was about first thing this morning had been replaced by clouds and a cool wind by the time we'd finished our errands!

Managed to check everything in the greenhouse, now have about 18 radishes, 3 celery and 5 lettuces come up in there! After that we uncovered another of the large beds, raked it over and put in a compacted soil path down the center (its 36' long by 9' wide, so we need access down the middle of it!), then we spent some time taking care of the few perennial weeds that have started to come through after our double digging! Considering its a full plot and it was 8' deep in nettle, dock, dandelion, couch, bramble and bindweed, we've only had about 7 or 8 dandelions growing back from roots we missed and about 10 bits of bindweed surfacing, which have been fairly easily dug out!

Checked on the garlic (86 bulbs growing well now) and the onion sets, (276 plants now showing) but nothing showing yet from the parsnips / radishes mix, nor from the 5 varieties of carrot we sowed last week, but then again, perhaps I am being a tad impatient!

Off again on Thursday (apart from an hour and a half meeting about my pay rise with the area manager), so hoping to get back down on the plot and plant the 10 broad beans we've got growing inside, then hopefully start to turn over the beds on plot no2!

[pigletwillie]

Help, I need more room.

A shed load of pre-germinated parsnips were sown in dunny rolls and put outside the home greenhouse. Also some 280 "Jolant" and "Bleu de Solaise" leeks were pricked out into trays (40 to a tray) which will be taken up to the lottie greenhouses tommorow.

Spring onions were also sown in modules (6 or so seeds to each) and these will be planted out as clumps when big enough in the raised beds.

Tommorow I need to collect some more compost and start planing out the flowersthat require sowing.