What I Did Today Archive 2008

[Snadger]

Went to the Garden Centre with the purpose of buying some opium poppies to grow for their seeds. Mangaed to get a packet of Shirley mixed which supposedly fit the bill. Was on the lookout for a pumpkin plant as I thought I'd lost my seeds somewhere. The plants looked crap so I didn't bother. Just as well as I found my Dills Atlantic Giant when I got to the allotment and sowed three seeds in seperate pots to take home and put in the propagator. Also sowed the poppy seeds in a large pot.
Managed to have a wander around the plots and got some of the plotholders details for the records.
Took all the straw off my strawberry patch, weeded it and tickled it over with a fork and replaced the straw.
Did half an hours hand weeding until I got sick.
I bought a book in the reduced sale at the GC called Berries which I'm looking forward to reading.
Well that's me set for tonight, a bottle of wine and a good book........bliss!

[lottielady]

Been to my kids school for the last two days sorting out the reception class garden and tying in their willow wigwam thing so that it doesn't keep spearing me in the head in the afternoons waiting for the little darling to come out. I am so tired and achey looking forward to curry and wine.

[Lavenderblue]

potted on the few squash that have germinated and seem to have sprouted massively overnight. Really really looking forward to tomorrow - its going to be 19 degrees and not windy - a whole day of bed preparing and planting strawberries to do

[ironed out]

I finally got up the allotment today. Had everything prepared ready to go (seed spuds, tools etc) after a quick delivery job at lunchtime....

...came home to find my dog had eaten literally half my seed spuds I was only gone about half hour.
Luckily the bloke in the next plot had some spuds left over and kindly gave them to me

[zazen999]

Went to the lottie and put down:
Cardboard and plastic weighed with brickes on one bed.
Newspaper and weed fabric pegged down on another bed [trying different methods to see what works].
dug over and planted out the second earlies potatoes.

That's 2 beds planted up, and 2 covered up; in 3 days work. Plus anther started with shallots and garlic so far. That's very nearly halfway!

It's going to be weedy though, need to keep on top of it as the twitch is starting to come back to life again.

Ordered my shed as well yesterday.

Noticed loads of seedlings have finally come to life.

[deezyb]

day off today, weather was good, but was finally taking last of demolished garage to the tip! no time for garden duties...however weather supposed to be promising tomorrow so will be in the garden all day! can't wait!

[heebiejeebie]

Oooh it has been a while... Recently I have:

Watched things germinating in the plastic planthouse - pleased with the cauli grafitti and sunset but last year's leftover snowball seed hasn't germinated. Last year's Gardeners' delight tomato seeds have had about a 20% germination rate so far but the sub-arctic plenty have done well. Allotment mate has sown some moneymaker so we should have enough.

Got childishly excited by the emergence of Anya and Arran Pilot leaves above the soil - they can get to 4" then I'll earth up.

Planted up a couple of hanging baskets and potted on some plug plants (climbing petunias - had to be tried out!) from T&M.

Was delighted to find that allotment mate has spent some time at the plot and has dug over the bean & pea beds, removed the JAs and planted the raspberry canes donated by a fellow gardeneer.

Failed to do the first of my planned successional sowings because the plastic planthouse was groaning at the very weak seams. However, the broad beans, French beans and peas are big enough to be planted out now so there will be a bit of space later today. Need to buy some canes and more netting because we have pigeons and I don't want to share.

[deezyb]

day off today, weather was good, but was finally taking last of demolished garage to the tip! no time for garden duties...however weather supposed to be promising tomorrow so will be in the garden all day! can't wait!

Weather was soooo poor today, it felt like winter here! helped my dad with some stuff, i'm sure he thinks I'm a labourer!!! however, still managed to move some mangetoutes...hope they survive! Re-netted my raised bed and did a general tidy up! potted on some chilli and now in my pyramid glasshouse. feel quite satisfied now!

[heebiejeebie]

Planted out broad beans, french beans, peas. Covered with fleece to keep the pigeons off.
Sowed parsley, basil, thyme, Snowball caulis (new seeds) and 4 kinds of lettuce
Repotted hardy fuschias and jasmine.
Planted up hanging basket with trailing fuchsias and petunias.
Planted out pieris "mountain fire" and spiraea in garden.

[kentvegplot]

Lovely day here, but I've got shingles so am supposed to be taking it easy....so I sat down to plant my seeds !

Planted 100 beans (Enorma and Scarlet Emperor runners, Cherokee trail of Tears, Blue & White, Madiera marron, Soisson and climbing Blue Lake french/cliimbing beans. All in pots in ghouse.

Lunch included salad leaves from the tunnel - lovely.

Put in my second early and early main potatoes - all on a no-dig system so not too hard work. 'Earthed up' the earlies with more straw.

Also put in courgette seeds - just 6 this year.

Used the grass cuttings (OH been busy with the lawns) as a mulch around trees.

Tomorrow must try to thin out lettuce in tunnel, plant pumpkin seeds and cucumbers.

[zazen999]

Weather lovely here.

Spent an hour and half at the plot digging over the first root bed; only to find half of it was lovely and sandy - the other half is very clayey so whilst the OH dug and picked out weeds, I broke up the clay lumps, picked out as much root/weed debris as possible and built up my raised carrot bed. I am planting this bed with a 'moat' of leeks around it, and a bed raised in the middle with carrot/onion/coriander mix broadcast on the top. It's the only way to get long carrots at this stage and I want it sown!

then I wen to to my laser surgery appointment, where they put drops in your eyes to relax the muscles, so you can't really focus on much. So, when I got back I decided to pot on cukes/courgettes/melons and peppers that were chitted on kitchen roll and then put into half toilet rolls. Marvelous idea if I do say so myself.

Then sowed loads of tomatoes, beans and a couple more melons, and sweetcorn.

Onions and other roots sown only last week and put into propogator are mostly up, so took those out.

Plot has been rotavated a week now, and although there are roots all over the place, hardly any have started shooting again. Hoping that we can control the twitch without much trauma. I'll get back to you on that one though - suspect we are deluding ourselves here.

[Newbie]

Yesterday I planted my 2nd early & Main crop spuds (Yukon Gold & Sante). Today was such a lovely day hear that OH finally managed to give the grass its 1st cut of the year (doens't look so much like a meadow now!) and I edged it as well as weeding the flower bed & path. Finally managed to get some veg seeds sown (didn't do earlier due to holls) so don't feel as far behing now: dwarf french beans (2 types), climbing french beans (2 types) turnip, beetroot, carrot, spring onion, tomato (4 types) chilli (2 types), sweetcorn, leeks, cut & come again lettuce, courgette (2 types), cucumber, squash (2 types), pumpkin. Mini greenhouse is now groaning under the weight!

[Demeter]

Sowed some cucumber (Konsa) with my 3yo - 2 seeds per pot in three 3" pots for miniGH. She sowed them very deep - dibbed a hole right to the bottom of the pot - so I hope they will come up!

Had a go at manually breaking up some of the dried clay lumps in my potato bed as a sneaky way to check up on their progress after 3 weeks since planting - they haven't really come up but they are rooting and shooting down there so things are definitely happening. I just hope I didn't disturb them too much and made them sulk lol (Maris Peer)

Watered everything, and checked all the babies, which are going great guns, although sadly nothing new has come through today.

Admired the blossom / fruit on my gooseberry bush, yay! (Invicta)

[allotmentlady]

Notime

I never seem to get the time to come on ere recently, so busy.

Planted out the first earlies, new strawberries and sorted out greenhouse.

Got my new car and went and chose a new puppy chihuahua today.

Absolutley pooped, off to bed. Got to do garden tomorrow b4 I get anymore earache off OH.

Allotment on Monday, plant second earlies and put out onions, repot courgettes and gourds.....

Lovely weather we are having, makes me glow inside

[wellie]

Trousers and I have spent a really lovely day at the lottie, and Paul has done absolute 'wonders' - thank you darling, I never tell you how hard you work, and how much of a difference you make to the things that we do..... No. Well, there we go then.....
And (love you!) suddenly then, you think that you've got ALL THAT SPACE to fill? So we came home, and I sowed a lot of seeds, just in case. And then we had to go have a Barbeque with people that we met today on the Lottie at their house.

With having seen the GYO magazine now, and having been talked through how gorgeous the GYO forum is, Trousers and I are confident that our very new allotment friends, they'll be joining in and learning loads too.