The 'What I Did Today' Archive - 2007

[yoanbob]

been surfing, got new muscles, thought somthing was wrong, never had swollen bits there before! then i realised what they were!

[Sebbster]

Over the weekend....

Frost on Monday and Tue has hurt my new pots and they are dying off on the top. I dug one up to see what was under and found a lovely batch of Annabelle ready to pick, so have been eating them ever since. Got enough for a couple of months but not sure how the plants will survive with the frost damage.

Pretty much all my Spinach had bolted so removed the emerging flowers. Took a cutting from the Spinach also as the leaves were fairly large around the outside. Not tried it yet but shall tonight, it's Bloomsdale.

Thinned the beetroot to their final positions and added the leaves to a salad, tasted quite strong for such a small leaf.

Broad bean pods are now 4 inches on my first sown batch so will have some soon, all plants are over 3 feet and the ones I've not pinched out are still growing so put some more string around as my plot is fairly open and windy.

Sprouts and Broccoli all getting large will soon have to remove the wondermesh as it's not big enough to give it more height. I'll stick some cabbage collars around then I think but the biggest worry is blackbirds, they've really hit my neighbours.

Put my runner support up and planted the beans. Glad I left it til now as most beans already out on the site have died with the frosts.

The half row of cabbage I put in has not germinated very well, not yet anyway but the row of Swede has almost all come up. Sowed the swede in between my Broad Bean rows as I spaced them a little too much.

Strimmed down the sides of the allotment and around the shed, it really was getting quite bad but looks alot better now. Have some weed suppresser to put down but didn't get the chance this weekend.

At home, Thinned the Kale in my roottrainers as had put 2 in each. Not much else growing there now, except chilli's and salad bits.

I'll add some pics to the blog later today.

[Shortie]

Hi all

FINALLY got down the lottie on Sunday and redug the bed for the tomatoes. Toms planted plus 3 rows of carrots. I feel we're starting to get somewhere slowly....

Then I met the two allotment secretaries and got a strong feeling I'm on the verge of a dirty plot notice, thank god they saw that I had been down there and I'd already enquired about a fellow plot holder digging over the rest of my plot for me.

Anyhow, I'm hoping my Dad can get down in the week toso some digging for me, and if the weather hold out this weekend (the chances of that? ) I'm hoping to get down there with him for a couple of hours on Saturday and a couple on Sunday (reeeeaaalllly learning today that I can't do much down on the plot now )

Anyway in true Shortie spirit, feeling stiff and painful I pulled up some weeds this morning in my back garden before hobbling off to work

Next weekends lottie plans are to tidy round the goosberry bush, plant out my cabbage (hoping there is a new bed for me to plant into ofcourse...) and also some brocc seeds in the rest of the bed, find some space for a wildflower mix to brighten the place a bit and chop the grass down that's currently making the place look like a jungle

[Kimbo]

Today, picked first produce from the garden some immature peas in their pods to have as mangetout (till the mangetout start producing - noticed they have started to flower today, good job the flowers are purple or I would never know which ones were which) and some baby spinach (the bits the snails/slugs actually left me with). I am having them with some rather nice beef, yorkshires, new potatoes (shop bought I'm afraid as mine arent ready yet) and some lovely gravy.

[Bex]

Today was a quick trip to lottie to check on the nine tomato plants I planted out on Sunday, they all look fine. I really don't know what I'm going to do about all the weeds that are taking over.

My son picked another handful of strawberries and yet again they never made it home. I've just spent half hour or so transplanted leeks into cells to take to the lottie tomorrow for the cloche to let them grow on abit.

[queen of the cobs]

I dug so hard I broke my fork!

I had a bed which was 3 feet high with grass and brambles and hadn't been used for years (I only took over the plot this year). I wasn't going to do anything with it this year but seem to have had a lot of success with sowing in the greenhouse and need more ground! I've cut everything back, dug over about a metre square, sifted some compost over the top of it and dug it in.

Feeling sore but 'appy.

[pigletwillie]

Today I lifted an minarette apple tree from the back garden, I know its the wrong time of the year but it popped out very nicely and is now in a fifty litre pot ready to go to the allotment. When it was planted behind our pond the gunnera was only knee high to a grasshopper, now its huge and crowding the tree out so it had to go. It leaves a nice space for some verbena or perenial hellenium to go in.

Some spring cabbage was sown in a pot (to prick out later) as was some more salads for filling in harvesting holes.

[Reverend Mother]

Oh ! Poor Snadgerkins ! There,s always somebody worse off than yourself...ME !.....I fell down the garden steps and broke my wrist ow ! ow! ow ! " There,s always somebody worse off than yourself " I keep on telling myself..."It might be Snadger with Tetnus ! aagh ! you,d better get that looked at old chum ! Reverend Mother

I do apologise, I should keep on the topic . Today I planted out two rows of gladioli bulbs and three bags of Dahlia roots ...these I bought from a local DIY store reduced down to 49p each bag at the weekend . Bargain ..I thought..hope I ,m not too late..will they catch up ...or maybe I,ll have to wait until next year .What do you think ? SO this seemed to be the best place to make a note of it . Reverend Mother

[Shortie]

Managed to bunk off work a bit early today even though I'm in the middle of month end and OH, little man and I went to the lottie and had a good water of the toms, carrots seeds and potatoes. Left the garlic alone.

Went a-hunting to discover the gooseberry bush has some bloomin' HUUUUGE goosegogs growing on it (shame we don't eat them... I'll be repaying my neighbours for the lovelyproduce they've given me before with these) and I seem to have a few rouge stems of raspberry (no idea if they are summer or autumn fruiting) what seem to have really healthy large fruits forming. Very impressed

Oh, and a resident fox hiding in the jungle of tall grass. Not sure who was more surprised - him or me when we met, lol.

My Dad has plans to go down to the lottie tomorrow for a bit of a dig - yeeeeaaaahhhh, then I'm back down for a few hours early Saturday and early Sunday to try and get on top of the grass with some shears. Even if I don't manage to get it pulled out, I can at least make it look more tidy

Have decided that leaving early mid week is a fab idea for a quick potter on the lottie, and as far as work need to know, I'm just having a midweek rest by leaving early... worked out today I have 11 weeks left until the new arrival

[TonyF]

The weather here continues changable to bloody awful with storms forecast for the rest of the week.

Yesterday had a general tidy up and picked some soft fruit for pies and tarts. I must be doing something right with the strawberries, picked another kilo and a half of the wild and cultivated straws and masses more coming on. And lifted my first helping of spuds from pot 1 and a few peas, HSL seeds, they look (black pods, stunning flowers) and taste wonderful. Tidied up the terrace a bit, planted a couple of dozen castor oil plants.

Getting me shopping list started for return to the UK next week - need to hit the RHS shop at Wisley, ordered my Lakeland jelly bag kit, started packing.

And managed to take myself out for lunch on my birthday as well!

Off to chums (1) and (2) today - it's cold, wet and more rain threatened so may just be flying visits with lists of jobs for them to do whilst I'm away.

[Mrs Dobby]

Yesterday I was on the plot for 930am, where I weeded for about 5 hours! I now have an aching back and legs, but we also have a much less weedy plot! Its now possible to see the germinated parsnip and carrots seedlings, the lettuce and beetroot seedlings, and the spring onion and leek seedlings! Only areas left to give a good weeding are amongst the mange tout and peas (behind the support netting) and the brassica bed (underneath netting), so I guess I know what I'll be doing at the weekend!

When Mr D got to the plot after work we fetched the second batch of cucumber, courgette, squash and pumpkin seedlings down and planted them out, the cucumbers we planted outside last month didnt do too well, only 3 left of the 6 we planted, so we thought it a good idea to plant another batch, which have been thoroughly hardened off! The pumpkins and squash went into plot2, which is getting full now, only 3 beds left to plant up now! Tho we do need to do something about the paths on plot2, as they are growing higher than the crops! We've borrowed a push pull mower for the moment, but once they've been cut I have a feeling some cardboard mulch is going to be a temporary solution for this year before we decide what to do about them for next year!

[Flummery]

Yesterday I lifted the first spud - just a small boiling for tea but oh, the flavour! We also had carrot thinnings (expensively marketed as 'baby carrots') and courgettes. I sowed curly kale and purple sprouting in modules.
This morning we had freshly picked strawberries with our breakfast. In my morning amble I found 2 peas and one broadie (all the size of my little fingernail but they'll grow!) I was particularly please with the broad bean as it is one which was pierced by the nectar robbing bees and I feared it would not be properly pollinated but there it is, the flower just still attached with its little hole in the neck end and a perfect titchy bean.

Summer is icumen in!

[moggssue]

Yesterday after work (you dont want to know about that part of my day do you!) I sowed yet another lot of amsterdam forcing carrots in the forlorn hope that the slugs will leave them for me, earthed up my tatties, sowed a second lot of 'Prince' french beans and a couple of 'Igloo's then fed and watered everything, a bit harshly on the lupins and roses to rid the aphids! Finally, we bbq'd thai chicken kebabs and dreamed of the day the salad would be our own!

[sticklebricks]

This morning at 6-00 am, before going to work, I was dropping off aggregate to form the foundation of a donated greenhouse. This will hopefully be used as a season extender.

[Shortie]

Picked some strawbs for little mans breakfast after his weetabix, then to work.

Since being home I've recovered the new lavendar plant that has been suffocating under a rhubarb that seems hell bent on regrowing so I'm just pulling the stems off when they start to shade other plants too much

Also did some general deadheading and watered my potted plants

Oh, and picked some more strawbs for little man for tomorrow