What I Did Today Archive 2008

[Mrs Dobby]

Woke up this morning to grey skies and rain, no wind and temperature not too bad, but very murky!

Got to the plot for 10am, to attend the Committee meeting, which was ok, but as we're a council run site, its a bit difficult for us to acchieve too much, but we'll do what we can!

Once the committee meeting was over we assembled the walk in plastic greenhouse and put 5 growags in, ready for the toms that we fetched at lunchtime from the backyard greenhouse. Whilst I planted the toms into the growbags (into cut off pots that were inserted into the growbags - I think its called 'ring culture'), Lee started work on the paths on the new plot, clearing weeds and then fetching bark chippings from the other end of the plot to cover the paths with.

Once I'd finished planting the 15 toms, I raked one of the remaining clear beds on the new plot, then fitted cardboard to it (as a mulch), cut holes for pots to be dug in (for watering), then planted 3 sunflowers, 28 sweetcorn and 6 butternut squashes into the 10' by 5' bed, all through cardboard, so it should stay fairly weed free! By the time I'd finished that, Lee had finished barking up about 1/3 of the paths on the new plot, and as it then began raining harder (it'd been drizzling all day on and off - but was so warm that we ended up without our coats, working in t-shirts in the rain!), and as it was 7pm, it was time to call it a day!

Lee is back on the plot tomorrow, I think he's going to try and finish some more of the paths, and I'm back at the weekend, hoping to get the last bed of sweetcorn and squashes in, plant out the first of the leek beds and perhaps get some more roots and peas / beans planted!

[KellsSimon]

Planted some onion sets and put some potatoes in the ground.
better late than never!
Also bought some Pak choi and celariac seed, and put the celariac seed in pots, so might have some joy there, if i'm lucky.
Think the pak choi is going to go in the place of my spinach which has bolted before even cropping once! ho hum, more is growing to replace it though so i will get some!

[heebiejeebie]

Took the fleece off the second sowings of beans & peas (meteor, borlotto & broadies longpod). Weeded a bit and provided twiggy sticks for the peas and canes & string supports for the beans. Something has munched the peas under the fleece so I left the fleece off to let the birds get the slugs. Sowed mystery peas (from a friend) in the remaining space reserved for them & french beans in a handy gap next to the maincrop tatties.

Planted marigolds and poached-egg plants randomly around and amongst the beans & peas.

Potted on basil dark opal, pricked out cauli grafitti (2nd sowing - the first lot are waiting to be potted on).

Noticed a volunteer potato plant that is beginning to flower how on earth did I miss uprooting that! Might as well let it live for another couple of weeks then see what it produces. From where it is, it could be desiree.

[Snadger]

Dug over a bed and planted 22 clubroot resistant caulis, Clapton! Tied up and sideshooted all my tomatoes. Was given a couple of melon plants but until I decide where to put them I've just potted them on to a bigger pot each.
Done loads of hoeing weeds along with handweeding paths.

[SarzWix]

Planted half a dozen tomato plants in the tunnel on Plot B, and watered them, a lot. Planted 4 Cranberry Pole Beans in bed1, a courgette plant (Tristan), a butternut squash plant (Waltham) and a dozen sweetcorn (Northern Extra Sweet) in bed5 on Plot A. Helped Milly to plant 6 sweetcorn (Minipop) and a couple of sunflowers in her patch, and Sam to plant his pumpkin (Jack of All Trades) in his. Weeded round blackcurrant, redcurrant & blackthorns, onion bed, pea & bean bed. Tried to make a frame for more climbing beans & realised I'd used the 7ft canes for tomatoes by accident, leaving the 6ft ones which are too short... D'uh!! So that's tomorrow's job - go buy some more

Jez did a lot of cutting down of brambles, mending & painting fences & burning rubbish on Plot B, it's looking good

[Waffler]

Gave in to temptation and bought 1 chilli plant and 1 pepper plant - just to get me started until mine are all grown up! They have been planted in the greenhouse border. Also bought some leek plants as I'm running late. Hopefully will get some ground ready for those in the not too distant future.
Sowed more lime basil, sweet basil, purple basil and coriander.
Did a bit of digging on the patch: still rather too wet and sticky, but needs must.
Planted out my 5 courgette plants.
Watered susceptible plants with slug solution and everything else with water.
Fingers crossed for a dry and productive day tomorrow!

[Flummery]

Yesterday, went down to lottie for a bit of hand weeding and to plant out some nasturtiums around the tomato bed - just because I like a bit of colour. Noticed that there were 2 gorgeous bicoloured flowers on my Lancashire Lad peas. Went home for the camera to put it on my blog! Took Himself in the evening to see them and there were about a dozen out by then. I would grow them just for the flowers.

[deezyb]

planted out Kabocha and Jaspee de Vende squash, courgettes and another two Butternut Sprinters -weeded a bit and pottered about the garden.! great to see the sun!

[Newbie]

Weeded my one & only flower bed which for some reason has filled itself with buttercups & maple tree seedlings recently, pulled millions of the blighters out, however thinking about it i should have potted them on & had myself a forest.

Also went to the garden centre for hanging basket inners & hanging basket plants. Arrived back & planted up said baskets & put in their final positions. Also planted up a hanging basket in the greenhouse with 2 Gartenpearl tomatoes & 2 of those smelly orange flowers who's name escapes me at this moment!

Revived a semi-dead standard fuscia from last year by lopping its head off (it had started sprouting again from the bottom but the top had snuffed it) and re-potted another trailing one. There was plenty more to to but just not enough hours to do it.

[Susie Q]

horticulturally inclined - is that grdening on a slope
__________________

Love it Nick! I'm new to this forum but do enjoy hearing about others escapades! Well hubby and I managed to get out in the garden today, the weather was lovely and sunny, he planted out his courgettes and butternut squash, I potted my radish seedlings, and planted some more lettuce, got some beetroot in the coldframe so keeping an eye on them. I did soome bush trimming in the garden and some weeding (never ending job that one!) apart from that not much else, hoping to get out there again tomorrow (weather permitting). Hope you don't mind me joining in?

[wellie]

They Got It Wrong Again!....

There's something rather lovely within my brain when someone tells me that the weather forecast is THIS. And then it isn't.......
Apart from Wednesday, when I truly got either depressed or inspired enough to take 240 softwood cuttings, with a bigger picture in mind.....

We live here in a kind of Bermuda Triangle: we've got The River Severn, The Monnow, The Wye.... shed loads of rivers all converging, and the result 'weatherwise' is normally a complete box of spanners!

So today we went to our lottie and planted Sweetcorn, Butternut Squash and Borlotti Beans.

Trousers did an amazing job zapping the weeds that still insisted on growing where we'd rather have Brassicas, and we got to spend the rest of the day 'sunning it' in our gorgeous garden. Well Trousers did -
Wellie had work to do!........

[jackie j]

Yesterday went to allotment shop and bought 11 large paving slabs for 60p each to put outside shed, then went to Endsleigh garden centre near Plymouth to get net tunnels that were on offer but they had sold out and no more coming. Went to tesco at Lee Mill OH bought me an I pod.
Went home for lunch, finally got to Lottie at 3 ish weeded strawberry bed and put down new straw, picked first one daughter ate it later. went home at 6 pm.

[Two_Sheds]

I spent another three hours just weeding. Bindweed is coming up everywhere now the couch and nettle has gone. millions of annual weeds too, but they're easier to deal with.

My carrots are growing superbly under their net curtains. I picked a bag full of new chard (with blackfly), radish (with sluggy nibbles), one beetroot, onions (bolted) for tea. Got lots blackfly on spring sown Broads...picked out all the tops and did lots of squishing.

Planted out my celeriac, but forgot to protect them from slugs
Had a furtle under my Arran Pilots: only got one worth eating though.

Gave my French Beans a talking-to, because they aren't even trying to climb up their poles. Planted out another courgette to replace the one the gales killed. Planted out Mars pumpkin and Butternut anywhere I could fit them.

Applied grass clipping mulch to potato bed, and raspberry bed (they love the moisture).

[piskieinboots]

I too spent three hours at lottie, some of which was given over to the sodding bindweed picking!

I make three more small beds and have onions, carrots and yet more broadies in them.

Had three sit-downs on my lime green £4.99 picnic chair and three cups of tea - so that averages one an hour

Came back to home garden and tidied all the sweetpeas up and promised them warm things to come cos they are sulking and dropping the buds. I then made plans for what I should (would) be doing in the home veg plot for today

[Mrs Dobby]

Didnt get to the plot until 2pm yesterday, as Miss D wouldnt get out of bed after a late night chatting with friends, (I swear I am going to remove the modem from the 'puter at nights!), so I spent the morning planting up the growbags in the back yard greenhouse, 10 more toms and a watermelon and a normal melon now growing away happily!

When we finally got to the plot I rotovated 2 beds and got them ready for planting, cut cardboard to fit and then planted 190 leeks thru cardboard in one of the beds, then watered everything! Miss D did a fantastic plan of the new plot, before finsing the heat too much and deciding that she'd be cooler sat inside the MINI with the radio on! (no aircon and no fans on, so it was even hotter than outside, I think she will learn one day! lol!)

Plans today are to get the final bed of sweetcorn and squashes in, plant up a bed of carrots, parsnips and turnips and hopefully move a bed of brassicas from our first plot into the new plot, in readiness for laying some more cross paths into the largest beds on our first plot (so its more like the new plot!)