What I Did Today Archive 2009

[Kimbo]

Yesterday I moved three of my linkabord raised beds into the polytunnel and filled them with last year's potato compost (after picking out the remaining little potatoes) and added some chicken pellets. Had a nice surprise and found enough potatoes in one of the potato sacks for dinner today (thought I had harvested them all). Covered the beds with fleece to warm up a bit before I plant anything in them. Then I took the top couple of inches of two of the other raised beds (unfortunately my cats have used them as litters over the winter), replaced soil with some more of last years potato compost and covered with hoops and fleece (to warm up and keep cats off).

Today I hope to do the remaining 2 beds the same way, clean the glass in the greenhouse and get some more broadies started.

[Flummery]

Yesterday I put my shallots and some of the onion sets in modules in the greenhouse to get a bit of root on without being hoiked out by birds.
This morning I spent about 3 hours with our Britian in Bloom group planting spring bulbs. Yes, very late but we got a huge amount given free by the council - we liked the price! I'm sure they'll settle in and flower next year at the usual time.
Rummaging in the cold frame I found the cuttings I'd taken of variegated box in early December. They were looking fine and dandy, I don't expect roots just yet but they look like they'll make it. Free again!

[Hazel at the Hill]

This morning I went to the potato day at Ryton and got all my seed potatoes. I also took a whole heap of seeds for the seed swap and managed to resist coming away with toooooo many others.

Bought another pack of wood for on the way home and went straight down to the Hill to start building the second of the 8 planned raised beds.

Here's a pic of the one I did yesterday.

[bramble]

Did nothing today as it was fairly miserable.
Cold and wet last evening with gale force winds, but I managed to sow my onion seeds.
Sowed red, yellow and an irish heritage variety called Baun.

[Jenegade]

It snowed last night and then started pouring with rain, so didn't get to go out into the garden! Rubbish, I did re-pot my new Raspberry canes and Blackcurrant plant into 10L buckets though.

[Snadger]

Had a comparatively dry and fruitful weekend. Today, I was given and had to tote away, a water barrel with holes in the bottom to be used for growing long carrots and parsnips, a heavy garden bench with cast iron ends which just needs a few of the lats replacing, some 4 foot lengths of pipe (once again for growing carrots!), some sheets of fluted glass. I WILL eventually finish glasing my third greenhouse but other things are taking priority at the mo.
Mixed together some cement and sand and just about finished my cold frame and raised seedbed, all made from breeze blocks that I dug up on my once derelict plots!
Made the mistake of letting the chooks out to free range on the lottie whilst I was there........BAAAAAD MOVE!! They were jumping in the cold frame when I was tring to build it, pecking at the cement, and wallowing in the wheelbarrow full of sand. They had a particular penchant for my Cardoon which I haven't got covered yet. They finally escaped into next doors allotment and that's when the fun started when I had to catch em!
Anyway, chopped some logs and kept the woodburner going all day to air the greenhouse............numerouse cups of coffee,hot chocolate and bovril kept me warm whilst I pottered in the greenhouse. Took some basal cutting of some Chrysanths which I took home to grow on in the propagator until they root. I usually find they root better without hormone rooting powder somehow?
Spread some tatties out to chit and covered them with polystyrene sheet, the type used under laminate flooring.

Yesterday I loaded the landrover up with sand (for chooks to wallow in and to make and cement) an old door and a door casing I need for a project I have at the lottie. I also loaded an old (very old) witches cauldron with a crack in the bottom which is going in the centre of my herb wheel with a Bay tree (which I've had for a couple of years) planted in the middle with bulbs around it.
The planned project is to make use of some doors I was given by trying to make them look 'not like an eyesore' of a hexagon shaped hut or chook house or even an arbour facing my herb wheel to sit in on my newly scrounged seat. I'll knock it together first to get an impression of how it looks and if it's an eyesore I'll have to resort to plan B, then C, then D Lol
I need to take the landy back again soon as there is a load of broken glass from the recent storms that I need to dispose of.

Here endeth the first chapter!

[Herbie]

I moved the old tin bath which had previosly been planted up with parsnips to a new location. Planted a clematis in it that had become pot bound. Needed to move the bath as new raised bed is going in it's place.
Whilst digging the tin bath over came across some tiddly parsnips and a few big ones.
Made a start on the raised bed which used to be part of the pond that we took out last year. Dug up some of the plants and moved them to new homes. Started to clear, found loads of slabs and rocks that had been hidden underneath.
Spent the rest of the time clearing a dwarf bamboo, roots everywhere.
The bed when finished will be used for pea's and beans.

Made some more labells from recycled milk bottles (Plastic). I use these with a permanent marker pen. Cheap!

Made a spread sheet of all the seeds in the seed box, so I know what I have and which ones to use first.

[Digger-07]

Had some stone left over from the extension so decided to build some proper edges to the raised beds in cotswold stone. turned out just rustic enough to look as though they've been there for years. Next job is to put the top soil back and get the manure spread.

[pigletwillie]

Today after a very lazy morning, I sowed some fat bangladeshi chillis and some long sweet pointy peppers.

[Kendall12829]

what I did today

Pruned hedges, started a hidden garden, gathered up twiglets to chip, trimmed overgrown weeds from along stone hedge (dry stone wall), enjoyed watching 2 yr old's delight at being able to play inside the hedge where I'd cut out a hidden space, showed the 1 yr old the strawberry patch that's starting to green up again...

daydreamed underneath the plum tree

Cut some turf to try making a traditional turf wall

[Pumpkin Becki]

I've re organised my seed box today before placing a new order with Kings Seeds. Just as well I did it in that order, it's so easy to forget what you've already got!!

[janeyo]

Some of you are making me feel very lazy indeed!

I sowed 2 seeds each of aubergine balck beauty and early long purple2. Into propagator.

Might do some chillis and peppers if PW has done some today!

Propagator is looking a bit empty

[MaureenHall]

Today I went to Ryton and bought 10 varieties of potatoes. I wasn't sure which ones I wanted, so got a few of each to try so that I've got a better idea next year. Also got some seeds from the seed swap including Achocha, Blue Bean (don't know if they're broad, french, runner or what but it'll be interesting to find out), Olive Squash, and Celery. Checked on my seed pots that I sowed a couple of weeks ago and saw that the Gazania seeds I collected from last year's plants have germinated. Really thrilled about that

[Winged one]

The weekend didn't quite go to plan, but I did have a good 4 hours on the plot on saturday. I took the tops off all 12 salvagable brussels sprouts plants (that's a lot of sprouts!!) and pulled up the last of the baby turnips (still tiny but a nice extra taste to soup and some edible sized for today's stew) and old radishes (also went into soup pot). I also pulled 12 leeks to keep us going a few weeks, and some red onions (sets which didn't grow last year and were volunteering themselves into the brassica bed!! got enough out of them for the soup).

I pulled up all the brussels sprouts and calabrese plants and the PSB that had been killed off by the pigeons. I left the last 4 PSB plants in the corner as there are some signs of hope in those (if I get time this week, I'll run up and cover them with net to protect them further). This bed then got dug over, raked and covered with plastic, ready for planting onions in March.

I also covered over some other space, where I had enough cardboard to almost cover this year's brassica bed. There is some grass etc growing there already, but this will help keep it down until we get back there. And I put the weed suppressant membrane, that had been under the brassicas, over the area where we had sweetcorn as a temporary measure.

The rhubarb crowns/corms (???) got dug back in as well. They are starting to sprout so we should have a harvest when we get back in again!!

The plot looks in reasonable nick for this time of year. There is going to be a reasonable amount of digging to do when we get back there, but it is much less daunting than last year so I think I should manage a better harvest this year - certainly in terms of beans and peas. And there are so many more things that I know are good to plant again (such as turnips, and covering ground before doing squashes/pumpkins), and that aren't worth doing there (carrot fly is a menace so only at home in pots). So I am reasonably happy about the forthcoming annual month long lockout - as long as it is only a month this year (unlike last year's fiasco!!).

[SlugLobber]

Took advantage of the unusually nice Saturday and sowed (from memory):

Tomatoes-Garden Pearl and Gardener's Delight
Herbs-Basil and Flat Leafed Parsley, plus Rocket
Lettuce-AYR and Latiga (or is it Latuga?!?)

They're all indoors apart from the Rocket and FLP. Unfortunately the Dysfunctional cat walked on them, but at this stage it shouldn't be a problem - they're covered with clear bags to maintain moisture.