The 'What I Did Today' Archive - 2007

[Kimbo]

Well I actually did have breakfast in the garden. I then planted out my broad beans and the peas that were ready. I then sowed some more peas, beans and leeks.

Finally got to read my book

[madderbat]

Hi there Madasafish, glad to meet another kindred spirit - hope you enjoy it here on the vine.

Today i transplanted all my babies. The pomador and money maker tomatoes now take up nearly forty pots at three to a pot - we will be swimming in tomato puree at this rate.

I collected some bigger pots from Freecycle and washed them all ready to transplant the larger toms tomorrow. I never knew there were so many plant pot sizes! Can anyone explain why a 3 1/2 in pot might be 3 4 or 5 ins deep?

I now have a complete set of plant pots to cater with all eventualities (I hope). The ones that really confused me are the little titchy dinky ones that look like 1 in pond pots. What on earth would anyone grow in them?

[Mrs Dobby]

First Radish picked and scoffed!

Today worked, but Mr D was off, so he went down to the plot, and I joined him there at about 6pm!

He's moved all the broken glass from the plot into the skip the council have provided for the glass, organised the pallets, hoed down some of the beds, dug out the few bindweed that were growing back from roots that we'd missed, rotorvated the brassica bed, dug up the strawbs from plot 2 and packed them for the trip home to be planted into hanging baskets and oil drums (courtesy of the vine's very own PW), then started to burn some more of the weeds that have been drying for a while!

I watered everything on the plot, then we picked our very first radish of the season from the greenhouse, washed it and ate it within 30 seconds of picking, very nice, quite peppery and definitely much more superior to any bought radish I have ever tasted!

I now have 2 days off, hopefully it'll be down the plot and planting on / sowing for the next 2 days, with a barbie with YoanBob tomorrow night!

[Two_Sheds]

Sowing all morning, taking everything out of greenhouse to harden off, at lottie all afternoon, back to greenhouse 7pm to put everything back in again. Lovely day, up to 19 degrees. Sowed lettuce, radish and onions outside. Relocated lots of ladybirds (again). Why won't they stay where the greenfly is? Mine seem to be scared of them, big girls

[GeordieVik]

Spent a lovely couple of hours on the lottie - weeded my legumes bed, put all my spuds in (why did I buy 5 varieties when there are just 2 adults and one 3 year old to feed?) with some guidance from a lovely, lovely lottie neighbour (I asked him how deep I should plant them, he brought his dibber along & got me organised with string & rows, bless him.)

I weeded and mulched around my (just budding) raspberry canes, and was just about to start sowing some veg seeds when the little'un woke up (he'd fallen asleep in the car on the way up, so I left him in there while I worked) and demanded food.

I'll have to go back up there tomorrow to get them in, make the most of the decent weather!

Glass of wine and 24 now I think...

Vik

[GeordieVik]

oooh, I've just had a lovely surprise - while I was at the lottie, OH built me a new coldframe - it's fab (he's famed for making things very thoroughly & well, so it's not going anywhere!!)

Bless him!

[Two_Sheds]

I tried to make a coldframe for my carrots...it looks ok, but is a bit wobbly. It'll do, and it was free (bits of pine from a skip)

[Seabreeze]

Today was regrettably another case of got up early, and woke up late. Even the usual three, large mugs of tea in succession failed to get me moving. All I did, for the first hour or so - yet again, was to stand, next to the greenhouse, gawping at the timber raised-beds.

Decisions, decisions. Despite my forum signature below, I am still faffing, trying to decide if I am going to buy treated timber for the new bed... even after all GYO health warnings.

Untreated wood will indeed rot here. It can get very wet in winter. Treated timber won't... but instead, after ten years or so, it could (if the planks were dosed before 2006...) pollute our meals with arsenic!

Painting one lot of treated, raised-bed boards, would absolutely necessitate making over all the others to match. Completely unnecessary, I know, but that's just me.

New 'plastic' boards would cost a fortune for the area we want to cover. Then, even if one were to go down that road, there's always the chance that some well-meaning, scientific American will, six or seven years down the line, draw the conclusion, that these too, are bad for our health.

Grandad's gardening was never this complex. End of 'work' for today.

[Flummery]

Your cold frame looks the business OK 2sheds. Free sounds good too! Seabreeze, I hate difficult decisions! We edged our veg plot with pressure treated boards which were't too expensive, but we painted them in a fetching shade of sage green with one of those garden friendly paints. Doesn't look bad and I assume it covers the chemicals OK. Still here 5 growing seasons later (us AND the boards!).

Today I planted out my module raised kohl rabi. Always raised them in situ before (still got enough seeds to try for an in-situ crop this year) but the germination has always been patchy.

[heebiejeebie]

Yay! The onions are in!

Spent about 3 hours in total between forking, weeding and planting. The onion bed is in the far plot which was long grass a year ago, strimmed and dug over and hastily planted with whatever we had to plant. Result - a LOT of weeding. The onion bed is about 4ft square and every forkful turned up bindweed roots again and again as I forked and re-forked up to 5 times and picked bits out. Next thing to poke its little green head up will be carefully glyphosated (unless it's an onion).

Picked some leeks that have been overwintering. They're still small and smell wonderful. Cheese sauce or just butter?

[TonyF]

Odd day today. Put some courgette, chinese chive and welsh onion seeds in. Then had to shoot off to Bergerac airport to pick somebody up (but 3 hours out of the day) and when I dropped him off, picked up 4 pallets that he'd been saving for me for more composters. Back for lunch and then working trying to tidy up after all the strimming, sort out the yuccas and continued to reorganise the various compost bins.

Weather looks good tomorrow so digging over the rest of the beds and making new boxes I think, need to plant two gooseberries and some grasses I've had hanging about for a few weeks.

Just winding down, glass of kir and then onto the red I think.

[Pottypotter]

Discovered my nets had been pinched. Dug out more couch grass. Picked some leeks for dinner.

[pigletwillie]

In the greenhouse today, pricking out calendula, cornflower, rudbeckia, achilea, several varieties of lettuce and sowed cucumber, courgette, pumpkins, squash and beans, lots and lots of beans.

[willowstar]

Nice relaxed day today...I sowed some marketmore cucumbers, bush courgettes and some winter squash in little pots. I finished two raised beds and planted my seed potatoes, its funny I have been looking forward to planting them for so long, and made and painted the beds myself specially for them, and in the end they took about five minutes to plant! I have never grown potatoes before so I am really excited.

[johnty greentoes]

Have been worrying about buying a shed and trying to nab a freecycle one (thanks to Two_Sheds) without success.

Anyway...went to an ace garden centre today for garden type plants. Bought a Rowan, a Plum, 2 pyrocantha, foxgloves, hollyhocks, climbing hydrangea (love it) etc... Was feeling guilty about the expense with anticipating £250ish for a shed.

Visitied an old friend on the way home (trees sticking out of car windows, and he, unprompted, decided to give me his old shed. It is rustic charm personified. a side door, double front doors and a verandah! All for the price of a hire van.

Brilliant day.