The 'What I Did Today' Archive - 2007

[carlseawolf]

Started a winter progect this week ( my shed ) and have got as far as a base and three walls and hope to finish it at the weekend , i started it early as all the peices fell into place and enabled me to start early.
The project was made totally from scrap and things people where dumping and all i've spent is £30 on screws and nails AND I'LL POST PICS NEXT WEEK !

[scared55]

Finished preparation of my first ever vegie bed, planted broad beans open and spinach under cloche. Planted out spinach and swede seedlings. Oops - that was yesterday. Today I repaired the washing machine.

[Farmer_Gyles]

been rushed off my feet with kids going back to school and announcing they both needed new footy boots and trainers and shirts and stuff ...... so had a couple of days only watering the toms in the greenhouse
have now pinched toms out again - got another handful of cherry toms
pulled loads of brambles and weeds up - will have small fire to get rid of them and the blighted cherry toms
had a general tidy up around the veggie patch
sown more caulis in seed tray to grow on and overwinter

good news:
- first sweetcorn ready and will be picked and frozen tomorrow
- 2 more strawberries, only had a couple this year!
- rhubarb looks ready, only 4 stalks tho, but who cares!
- everything else coming on nicely
bad news:
- garlic stems got eaten and garlic not fully grown so binned

[pigletwillie]

Today I laid 4 more slabs along a path between one of our plots and a neighbours as the existing one is rough to say the least. In addition I cut 90 rooted "Aromel" strawberry runners free from the mother plants and put in the cold frame and whilst in the strawberry bed picked a big punnet of them. I am very impresssed with these everbearers, there is lots more fruit to come.

Lastly I dug over a bed and raked it into a fine tilth ready to plant my radar autumn onions out sometime in the next fortnight or so.

[Vegmonkey]

After thinking that the courgette plants were dead, i recently cut back all the dead growth but left the plants. And...aha! They are fruiting, both the standard long courgette and the tondo di piacenza round courgette are growing nicely.

Picked a load more runner, some carrots and a chilli for dinner, then despaired the lack of herbs we planted this year...i promised myself i'd do more!

[Hazel at the Hill]

Have had a lovely time at the Hill where I:

• met up with partner-in-grime Jane & husband - they picked a bag of runner & French beans each
• also sent them off with a couple of turnip, and we dug up the first proper parsnip - it is massive!!
• picked sp onion, beetroot (for roasting tonight a la Wellie), radish and lettuce
• sowed a short row of pak choi, radish, mixed oriental greens, rocket and spinach
• picked a bag of French beans myself from the ones that had been missed
• weeded

Now back at the ranch where I'm about to make spicy runner bean chutney.

[pigletwillie]

I popped into the lottie on the way home from work to drop off some scaffolding planks for more raised beds and a frame for the shop for that the rolls of membrane we sell, so they can be unrolled by one person.

I looked at my parsnips and the one whose crown I could see was 4" across. Will it need a JCB to dig up, looking at Hazels post above, just possibly.

[Two_Sheds]

Yomped round Norfolk looking for black berries, and found sloes. Bargain!

Gave away some of last year's plum sauce; now going to cook allotment burritoes. Feel naughty, might put in a whole chilli

[zazen999]

Removed all tomatoes, got rid of any weeds left and planted romanesco and calabrese in its place.
Removed lovely poppy [huge] and got the OH to plant it in his area. Planted lettuces in its place.
Removed loads of old courgettes/squash plant and leaves leaves to find huge round courgette and a pumpkin that might just make it.
Removed loads of pea and bean plants, to make way for more lettuce seedlings.
Harvested about 30 carrots in a couple of square feet space and planted onion seedlings nice and spaced out [which is something i don't do often].
Ended up with tomatoes to ripen indoors; courgettes and calabrese and romanesco which is currently in a soup for tea; and loads of carrots to give to the family who are visiting tomorrow.
Plus I found out that our neighbour owns the land that the local allotments are on; and he rents it to the council; and the lady dealing with it is his niece; I told him it was heartbreaking to see so many plots covered in 6 feet high nettles; so hopefully I might get one sooner than i anticipated. It's not a lie - it is heartbreaking when i could use it for the potatoes, onions and carrots and concentrate our garden on heritage stuff.
Oh, the OH murdered my exploding cucumber plant by moving the stuff in the mini-greenhouse and put a pot on the stem thereby crushing it; it had just got to about 18 inches long and there was a small chance that it could fruit this year; none too pleased and he is paying me back big time in all sorts of favours. Including cleaning the house from top to bottom tomorrow.

[carlseawolf]

Finished a little more of my new shed and just have afew finishing touches to do on monday / tue which include plastic on roof and sealing any gaps.
the whole shed is made from scrape material that was been thrown away and is part of three old sheds , pallets , a packing case for a generator , double glazed window and roof plastic is an old kids pool and the door salvaged from a skip on a building site.
the shed is 7' by 6' wide and 7' tall at the front and 6' at the back and in the last picture you see my boy holding my lottie trolly that is my transport to and from the plot.

[Jardiniere]

Absolutely nothing - over 30 degrees - even the chickens stayed in the shade.

[muckdiva]

Harvested some carrot seeds from a few plants on the allotment I'd left to ripen for the birds. Will plant them next season as an experiment in the hope they didn't cross with any wild carrot. The seeds still have their spikey outer coat on, not like the seeds in a commercial packet, maybe it will make them easier to sow thinly.

I also had a first picking of runner beans from a late crop of plants from seeds given to me by a friend. Her late father had always saved some pods from his 'Special Runner Beans' for sowing the next year, and I must say, they look pretty good - very long and straight in comparison to the Painted Lady I am growing at home in the garden.

[seasprout]

Finally turned over my compost heap, put 2 heaps into one.
Discovered 'probably' rats under the shed again, started shopping around for a new shed.

[rutters]

anyone sowing anything?

[bubblewrap]

Will be starting my broad bean off in a couple of weeks
Will be putting out my winter(Japanese)onion sets in the next week or so!