What I Did Today Archive 2009

[Two_Sheds]

- bottled my first wine (kit): 12 bottles today, another 18 to do tomorrow
- started a batch of elderberry & banana wine
- planted tulips & primroses
- killed slugs

[rustylady]

Tamed the pyracantha, which was threatening to kill the grandchildren. Dug out the compost bin (well most of it), and spread the contents round the raspberries and the middle bed. Ate homemade leek and potato soup - yummy

[Bex]

Rhubarb Rhubard Everywhere...

I happened to mention to a couple of people at my new allotment site that my son loves rhubarb and when we arrived this morning there were 8 crowns waiting for us I've only got room for a couple so I need to find homes for the rest. My mom is going to have one and I'm sure some friends will volunteer to re-home a rhubarb crown. What lovely people though. I also came home with a giant cabbage that was going spare from a man a couple of lots away. So I spent the morning planting rhubarb, covering spinach with fleece to protect from birds. Erected my new cloche and generally pottering about.

[solway cropper]

Took doggy for a walk up the lane and gathered up more wet leaves. I now have 5 sacks full waiting till the ground dries a bit and I can construct my leaf mould container. I have the posts and chicken wire but everything is sodden at the moment and I don't like to even walk on the lawn. Made some vegetable soup for lunch (home-grown, of course)

[Jeanied]

Went down the lottie to do some more plotting and scheming! It was a beautiful clear day - and my ruddy BNS are shooting again from the base. I need to plan a big digging session to take out the squashes and pumpkins and turn over for the winter (I never found the round tuit I needed!) Then sorted out a fence line down one side of the plot ready to receive transplanted gooseberry and goji bushes (my latest wheeze as a line of defence against the vandals).

[Bigmallly]

Maybe I should have put my thread in this forum, check it out in the "Undercover Section" Need more balls!!....What do the Mods think?

[Newbie]

Felt poopie all week with the lurgie but forced myself into the GH to put the fuscias to bed for the winter, erect the mini greenhouse & put all the frost tender stuff in it inside the main GH in an effort to protect it & had a general tidy up in there.

[bubblewrap]

Dug over about a quarter of my plot(75-80 sq yds) I'm somewhat kn... bu.......tired

[porridgemaker]

Today I transplanted out my tomatoes I've been hardening off, brandywine pink, silvery fir, big rainbow, all under a poly tunnel. Planted out cauli seedlings, parsley seeds. Looked at my bolting bok choy with disgust, pulled then all up and re-planted them in my chicken coop. That'll teach them. Every Chinese veg (well, bok choy and cabbage) I've ever put in the ground has bolted gggrrrrrrrrr.
My dear son managed to stand on the main stem of one of my blueberry bushes, bless him, which has now been turned into 4 cuttings. I've put a crookneck squash seedling out as a sacrificial lamb, I can't wait any longer, we get frosts here in Nov, the rest of my pumpkin/ squashes are undercover torturing me.


Fun!

[HeyWayne]

Yesterday really - I pickled my first beetroot. Well, that's to say it was the first time I'd pickled beetroot, not my first beetroot....

I pickled some beetroot yesterday.

[StephenH]

Added yet more leaves to the leafmould bin. I keep filling it up to the brim and pressing it down as well as I can, but a week or two later it's sunk again, so, as long as there are plenty of leaves around, I may as well keep topping it up.

[Seamus]

am gettin chooks soon for eggs, so spent the day getting the run ready, dug a trench a foot deep all around, putting the fence into the groundto stop mr fox digging his way in, very sore arms this evening, soothing my pain with a couple of bttles of beer, he he he

[Snadger]

Appologies in advance for a long thread but I am glowing with pride at the mo!
Ok, here's the full rendition of my cockerel exploits. The plan today was to integrate my three 'home bred' cockerels with a little flock of laydees of there own. The main reason is that they were living isolated together in a coop and run which was big enough for more chooks, whereas I had chooks cramped in smaller areas.
This was all done with Military precision and everything went surprisingly smoothly.
First job was to jam a bit of perspex in the pophole. Once the cockerels were banned from the octagon coop I took the door off and sawed 4 inches off the bottom. I was sick of it snagging on the ground! Put a piece of 6 inch wide timber at the back of the bottom of the door and screwed it on. Repaced the door and screwed back the hinges. Took out the branch they were using as a perch and swept and scraped out the floor and cleaned the inside with Zoflora to make it smell nice. Put a coating of medicated woodchips on the floor. Made a new roost from 2 inch by 2 inch timber and fastened it in position.
Carried 8 Isa brown hens individually from another run and placed them in the coop.
Cleaned out another large coop (shed) after blocking pophole and did away with an internal bench arrangement to give an open plan effect. Found a rat hole, where the buggers had chewed through my shed. Screwed a piece of timber over hole, cleaned and deodorised and added woodchips to the floor. Filled all food dispensers. and reopened pophole.
Next job was the interesting bit. Ventured into the run with my three large cockerels expecting a bit of a fight when i tried to move them. Took my time and waited until the Light Sussex was on the 4 foot high perch which put his head at my head height. Gently lifted him off the perch (he struggled a bit but I was firm with him, talkng to him all the time, and managed to get him out of the run and carry him down the allotment to be put with his new Harim, 2 Black Minorca's and four Isa Browns that are spending the winter in the greenhouse.
So far so good.
Now it was time for the nasty sod among them, a huge Silver Sussex cockerel to be taken to his new laydees. Same again, nice and calm, waited about 10 mins in run until he was on the perch and within reach. I was surprised to find he was even easier to handle than the LS and once introduced to his 15 new laydees he was as happy as Larry.
All that was left to do was open the pophole and allow the Faverolle cockerel to meet his eight new laydees, which he did , like the true Gentleman he is.
They all seem to have settled in well together, the LS has one of the Minorcas shadowing his every move and giving him kisses. The Silver Sussex decided to have a dust bath to mark the occasion and the Faverolle went and itroduced himself to his Laydees then retired to his usual positon on his perch.

All in all, a very satisfactory day at the allotment!

[Seamus]

hi snadger, do u mind if i ask wat u do with all the eggs ? u have ur hands full with that many chooks, it must take a while each day ?

[sewer rat]

Finished at the hotel walled garden today - they have no money left to pay for more gardening work, so that's (til January anyway, but I hope to find something else so I can tell him to whistle for it when the time comes). Cleared and cut back a load of roses and shrubs, took the tops of all the JA's, cut down the Russian Tarragon, cleared the greenhouses completely (what whitefly on the remnants of the toms and chillies ), took 72 blackcurrant cuttings and they are now in the greenhouse bed overwinter. Dug up a crate of JA's, a crate of parsnips and some celeriac. Picked the absolute last of the Florence Fennel bulbs and any globe artichokes that were ready. Dug up some horseradish to make sauce with.
Went back to field and lifted and trimmed 34 swedes for tomorrows boxes and Saturdays market.
Last night I made a batch of Pear Honey and a batch of chilli sauce. I also chopped up 5 kg green tomatoes and put them in the freezer until I'm ready for my next batch of Earthbabe's Green Tomato Chutney