The 'What I Did Today' Archive - 2007

[Flummery]

Sowed climbing French beans (empress) bush (Kenya safari) and yin-yang. Also sweetcorn. It was such a gloriously hot day I hoed and by tea-time all the little villains were wilted and dried up. YES!

[heebiejeebie]

Yet more forking and weeding.

Put netting over the onion bed as there are pigeons nesting in the trees nearby.

More tattie shoots are up

[yoanbob]

today the nephews came over, weeded their plot with very little help, planted their seeds in toilet rolls, watered them, four times, we're doing pumpkins, corn and peas, they had a great time digging and breaking up soil, then their ma an pa came over for a spot of bbq lunch. very good day all round, even the chooks and ducks enjoyed themselves, the boys were giving them dandilion treats. then bob burnt another ants nest. and had more ale!

[rustylady]

Went to the lottie to dig a new bed - TOO HOT! Our site is really sheltered. Did manage it in the end, but had to keep hiding in the shed to cool down. Got surnburnt I think - my face feels really hot. Not moaning, honestly!

[pigletwillie]

We had relatives around for the weekend and after they left and watching the Tigers beat the Ospreys in the cup final, we got down to the plot at 7pm after the worst of the heat had gone. It was a case of watering the seedlings and planting out tomatoes into the new tunnel along with sweet pointy peppers.

Earlier I had managed to sow gigantes and blue lake beans, courgettes, melons, pumpkins and squash of varying sorts.

[momol]

Just plant some herbs ( lemon thyme, melissa and terragon ) and some flower ( irish, anemon, gladiolas dahlias, corn flower, zinnia and pot marigold ). has top up the compost soil as mulch, has fertilized pear tree and plum tree with some manure. has been moving the lady bird around to aphid infected plants.

Momol

[Percy T]

Well finally I have had a day which I think could warrent an entry into this thread.

When to the allotment with my neighbour this morning, he got the cultivator out and sorted three beds.

I planted a row of earlies and second early pots, two rows of carrots and a row of parsnips

yes yes I know they are all late in but fingers crossed

Chatted to the very experienced gardeners at the allotment and gained some advice.

Came home sorted all my seedlings and put them outside as suggested by the gardening guru's of the allotment.

Pricked out 150 odd carnations, 20 odd pansies, 20 odd stachys, two other trays I cant remember, Toms, and started on the celery only think there is over 300. yes yes I know I have been over zealous with the sowing of my seeds.

[wellie]

Today was as lovely as yesterday, and I managed to plant Calabrese 'Olympia' into one of my raised beds, which, given last years' notes, should mean I can harvest end May/early June, to give way to more tender crops in their place. Likewise, with the mini-cauli plants planted yesterday....
I also planted a perpetual Rhubarb (label is outside and I'm cosy warm in the living-room, so I'll tell you what variety some other time?!) along with Pot Marigolds, Cornflowers, Borage, Californian Poppy and Alyssum in my raised Fig Tree Bed, against a south-facing wall. We've got at least ten figs coming for this year that seem to grow every time you look at them!
Dead 'Citing....
Oh, and I also declared war on slugs and snails in my big greenhouse, having lost one of my prize chillies and an aubergine plant over the last two nights.

Trousers has planted Sarah Ravens' today, and is looking forward to them with great delight! No, don't ask....
Thank you for listening.

[Seabreeze]

Hazy mist over the sea on Sunday, and the temperature up to 35C, (in the sun -that is).

I started bright and early by planting out a row of Tagetes plants on the edge of a raised bed where carrots have been sown. I have nipped out the flower buds of most of these to allow the plants to grow stronger and settle in properly.

As I 'pottered' I heard my first Yellow Wagtail and Whitethroat for the year. A Ringed Plover called overhead. Common Buzzard and Peregrine soared high; the raptors' presence only being given away by the screaming calls of agitated Herring Gulls.

I also planted out four Orelia (yellow) courgette plants, and later sowed three rows of Kestrel second-early spuds, and a line of tomato plants.

Keeping a careful eye on the watering.

Some of the nectarines have formed up to a half an inch long, on the small tree I bought earlier this year. It's in a large terracotta pot on the south side of a large stone shed that's to the north of our new mini-orchard. There is new shoot growth about five inches long already. Something tells me the tree might be better in the ground next time around.

It breaks my heart to have to nip out flower buds on the Dordenfelder grape, planted last year, and the buds on some of the new fruit trees. However, our patience should be rewarded in the future - unless of course, judging by this weather, drought doesn't get them first.

Sweet Corn planted in pots in the greenhouse have germinated and are about an inch long. The melons have germinated there as well. I have not sown the squashes yet. That's one of the next jobs to do.

I'm very excited as one lot of my home-made, stackable, compost boxes is almost empty... and I can start all over again!

Keith

[TonyF]

Went off to a small local plant fair yesterday but was very well behaved, didn't buy anything as most of the traders will be at a much bigger fair next Sunday but made a few notes on who to see.

Apart from that and walking round a new chums garden last evening and putting in three trays of lettuce seeds (modules) for the chum's garden I'm working on, had a non-gardening weekend really. Benefit of being sort of retired is that my gardening can be my day job, can work indoors in the afternoon and then garden in the evening when it's too hot for me during the day - worth the 40 years plus slog to be able to choose how to organise my day.

Off to the chums this morning to finish their soft fruit beds and start preparing their long veg bed. Peas and beans of all shapes and sizes really romping away and want to get them in this week for them if I can.

Can see me ending up with a gardening business here if I put my mind to it ..............

[TonyF]

Blimey, following up my early morning posting!

I've had a seriously bloody brilliant day! Spent the whole day at my chum's place working on their renovated (by me) veggie and fruit garden. Got the thornless blackberries, more strawberries, rhubarb, more JAs, a couple of lemon verbenas and the kiwis in.

Plus have started getting the 4' wide strips sorted out for Friday so that I can start getting the peas and beans in, lots of paved path ways across the 2 meter central beds.

And having seen the work of their other gardener, I've been asked to help them out with the other bits, sort out their lake with them next year and generally get the site into shape. And I get a good lunch and decent wine at lunch time so I don't have to cook when I come home!

Weather forecast for tomorrow is good so up early and working in my garden, off out on a purchasing expedition and to pictures in the afternoon.

And the weather is just glorious though we did get a little thundery rain after I finished planting - thank you G!

[bramble]

Today I worked really hard. Fitted a capillary system in the greenhouse. Potted on my peppers and toms. Some peppers and toms with buds on. Never had them so early before. Planted up my first two hanging baskets with trailing Geraniums and trailing Verbena. Had a great day.

[heebiejeebie]

Alas, back to work today so had to content myself with half an hour's weeding in the front garden where the lawn will be. Decided it's too stony for grass seed and will need turf. Removed the last bit of weed suppressant sheet - it was ripped in places anyway - and dug out some of the weeds that had still managed to grow. More horsetail.

[Protea]

Cleaned a load of plastic pots so that i could pot on my chillies.

Potted on a good few Big Jim chillies, and some for another competition - some have got their first flower bud just about to open - how exciting!

Planted my remaining 40 red onion sets into modules (as a trial against direct planted ones i did 2 weekends ago) - i've got alliums coming ot of my ears this year, far too many!

Also pricked out some calabrese seedlings that had got rather leggy in the greenhouse, didn't have quite enough pots for them, but i'll do the rest another time. It was getting a bit chilly standing out in the garden at 6.30 tonight!

pottered about and watered anything that looked dry - i know this means we'll get rain tonight (it was looking a bit ominous in the distance but has come to nothing yet).

Greenhouse is filling up AGAIN - there's no end of re-shuffling and re-organising that i seem to be doing, and i see we're predicted some frosts later this week so god knows whrere i'll fit everything (lots of plants in the colf frame will have to come back in again )

[pigletwillie]

I sowed some more beans today in 3" pots, planted out 20 sweet pointy peppers into the new tunnel and fitted the catenery wires for tying the tomato canes to and also the grape vine that was planted last week.

Lots of rudbeckia, salvia, borage, calendula cornflower and cosmos was pricked out into 2" pots ready for going into the cold frame next week.

A top up of gravel went around the tops of our apricots and fig that are in pots and trained in full sun up the workshop and outside fireplace walls. The fig is heaving with about 40-50 figs and the apricot is just coming into flower. Piglette weeded out a raised bed full of garlic leaving it spick and span and watered the plot greenhouses.