What I Did Today Archive 2008

[squashysu]

SquashySue -I'm curious as to how you made your slug traps - methinks I need to do that too.... Would it be poss to let me know what you did? Or is it Top Secret?! Ta, diolch

Hi there

I saved some marg tubs or chocoflake tubs from tesco (they are quite delicious ha ha and pretty deep) then i planted these flat into the ground and then put over the top of them ice cream tubs (neopolitan are really good ha ha !- kids eat that quickly) i cut a whole each end of the tubs, the snails are getting through and so are the slugs, i placed these over the tubs in the ground and put a stone on top, so they dont get knocked and so the beer doesnt get ruined by the rain - i used a beer yesterday from tesco it was something like "furry ferret", but as the hubby doesnt like it, i used a bottle which was cheaper than 4 cans and it smells really strong, either that or i bought my hubby some wheat beer (german stuff) from Aldi and that is so wheaty smelling they loved it.


Hope this helps, the slug traps i have seen today in B&Q are £4 each and i have made mine for free, as they are working, i am really pleased, i am also using coffee granules and my lettaces are all intact so far, i have asked the garage down the road to save them for me! they think i am mad, but i dont mind lol.

Let me know if the traps work :-) SS

[g51065]

Little scallywags !

Made repairs to our allotment shed door....i't appears some "yoofs" thought it would be fun to try and set fire to it, and even funnier to lock a mate inside for good measure (door panels kicked outward ?) lucky they closed the drawer with burning paper in it, as this suffocated the flames.

We don't use a padlock as theres nothing worth pinching and we don't want to give that impression, just a stick through the hasp.

[Cutecumber]

Yesterday:

Planted second batch of cauliflower plantlets - Avalanche and Candid Charm
Planted second batch of cabbage plantlets - Protovoy and Pyramid
Planted first Kabuki calabrese
(all the above protected with fleece for the time being)

Planted lettuces - salad bowl and Bijou (second batch). Protected from pigeons with netting.

Planted more International Kidney and Anya potatoes in large sacks with garden compost and a little manure.

Planted spring onion seedlings grown in plugs.

Potted up Bright Lights chard seedlings to 3 inch pots
Potted up youngest tomatoes from modules to 3 inch pots

Sowed Boltardy beetroot (second sowing)
Sowed Maestro carrots (third sowing)

Harvested some leaf beet from overwintering plants.

Cut down the last Claret purple sprouting broccoli plants.

[SarzWix]

This morning I set up my 3 spud tubs, and planted Harlequin potatoes - 4 in each tub. Also found a biggish planter and put in 4 Anya.
Then I went into town, and bought a 4kw Eden gas greenhouse heater (£99.95, not bad I thought) as an early birfday pressie from my Pa, and the necessary gas bottle to go with it. Took it to the lottie & got it set up & ready to go. Just need to take the max/min thermometer down and spend a few days getting the temp somewhere near right, then I can start moving the tommy, chilli & pepper plants down there. SO EXCITING!

[Flummery]

Went down the Lottie this morning with my Lansashire Lad tall peas (from the Heritage Seed Library). You can sort of tell these are going to be purple podded as they have a purple tinge to the leaf edge, along the stem and in the leaf axil. They are a very handsome pea indeed! I made a wigwam, planted them just inside this and tied hairy string around for them to climb. Added black cotton and even a bit of old plastic netting - pigeons are a b*gger on this site! Keep having to resist the urge to go bacl and look!
In the garden plot I planted out my Oregon Sugar Pod peas and pricked out 2 trays of each of lobelia and busy lizzie.

[zazen999]

Over the weekend:

put a load of red baron sets into modules/pots as I want to start them off before they go straight into the lottie.

popped chitted chillis/cukes/courgettes [on kitchen roll] into newspaper pots.

sowed: onions and leeks as my other batches haven't come through yet.

[Snadger]

Stripped out a bed of winter cabbage that the flying rats( pigeons ) had been feasting on. Bit of well rotted horse muck added to surface and planted white onions (photo on packaging makes them look like a gynormous silverskin) that I'd set away in modules. Also planted modulised small shallots, hopefully to give me large shallots and finished off the bed with more shallots just pushed into ground. Had about 40 shallots left which I gave to my allotment neighbour.
My knees started aching with all the bending so I retired to the greenhouse to take stock of what seeds need planting imminently.

[deemon]

planted out some caulis, iceberg lettuce, courgettes, aubergines toms and chilli plants, pricked out cos lettuce, red peppers and second batch aubergines. thinned out radish and spinach.

then best of all noticed about 12 peaches on our little tree, yeah first peaches, can't wait to taste them!!

[zazen999]

Did some weeding and Oh planted out his poppies and some other annuals.

Went to the allotment on the way to the pub at night was falling; to find they have rotavated. So, going up there now to lay my paths [relieved wilko of their cheap peg stock a few minutes ago - thank goodness for wilko].

[Jardiniere]

took photos of the river - its inches from my land.......and its raining again

[thecornflake]

On Sunday - sowed carrots (Parmex and Nantes), dwarf and climbing french beans, potatoes, chili peppers, also Asters, Hollyhocks and Lupins for the front garden (next to a main road and not enough space for veg).

[Farmer_Gyles]

today:
planted out my spuds (at last)
potted on mini gem lettuce, spinach beet, broccoli (crown & spears), more broad beans
noted first french beens sprouting out of toilet roll tubes
sat in greenhouse for a while, admired my work so far, dreamt of having an allotment and tons of space to grow a whole lot more

tomorrow:
pricking out carrot seedlings into cell trays, plant out more onions, transplant garlic from pots into big tub

need to get as much as possible done before bank holiday as after that i'll be working full time for a few weeks ..... should be fine ..... just need to get stuck in ....

[jackie j]

What a glorious day really warm. This morning I took my 6 year old grandson to the Lottie he is off school with chicken pox !!! I put my runner bean sticks in and added some soil conditioner, will plant beans in a couple of weeks. Potted on some cauliflower and some runner beans. My grandson was digging for all his worth he put in some sticks tied string around and added some cd's !!! We kept stopping for snacks.
Tidied shed a bit. As usual didnt do what I set out to do but there's always tomorrow.

[zazen999]

3 hours putting weed fabric down on the newly rotavated lottie - thus making new paths. Then [feeling that I had to put something in the ground] put some shallots that have been in a pot since 28th October. They need the space. At least i have something in the lottie now. Phew.

[squashysu]

What a glorious day in sunny Beds,

got home from work and opened up the greenhouse and made sure everything was happy, then uncovered the fleece on the plot.

Went back to work, a Nursery School and took some compost and sow direct flower seeds, then raked and dug the little plot for the flowers and sowed them.........hoping they grow and the kids can watch them, some wild flowers, some candytuft and a few others, it worked last year, so fingers crossed.

Came back and saw that my corriander had suddenly sprouted in my raised bed near to the kitchen window and smiled, thinking yes i now need a good Ruby Murray!!

The End :-)