What I Did Today Archive 2009

[sewer rat]

Found out that lifting approx 60 swedes and 36 Winter cabbages in 18" of snow (and it was still snowing at the time) is neither easy nor fun - and that they're not always easy to find ! And bloody cold on the fingers when you're trimming them - remind me again in the summer just why I love growing veg for a living.
Made up veg boxes and went home to thaw out.

[Flummery]

I sowed some more peppers yesterday - and my first tomatoes. A couple of Brandywine as they had quite a long season last year - and a couple of my Sungold unhybrids.

[pigletwillie]

Last night I sowed my Dorset Naga chillies, pricked out more leeks and sowed some more french beans in pots.

Scavenged some pallet sections to make some more raised beds for carrots.

[Purplebint]

Today I sorted out some more propagators for sowing next week.
Organised a lift to B and Q to buy some large pots and some ericaceous compost (and some other stuff to be confirmed when I've had a good browse )
Turned over the compost and added some worms. (from Ebay to use up a 10% voucher)

Hopefully if the weather stays better this weekend, I should be able to get out there and get some work done.

[Newbie]

Went to B&Q for some tiles & "accidently" bought a packet of San Marzano 2 tomato seeds after reading on here somewhere that they are good for sauces, passata etc as that is mainly why i grow tomatoes. Not sown any veg seeds yet as ground is still covered in snow / ice and greenhouse is still getting down to minus 6ish at night. I'm going to try & wait until March - if i last that long.

[fran]

What I did today

I encouraged my broad beans - they've just started sprouting in bathroom, alongside leeks, chard and spring onions, and I have a few in mini-greenhouse - sowed some tomatoes, half of them indoors ones, now also in bathroom, and lots of sweet peas in toilet rolls in shed.

Tiny artichoke offsets I bought at an allotment sale in autumn have got too cold and wet and rotted I think. Is this often a problem?

Fran

[sewer rat]

Delivered my veg boxes, organic fruit and free-range eggs - and only got stuck in the snow twice
It did take me about an hour and half longer than usual and today was the shorter delivery day.
Never mind, thaw forecast for tomorrow !!
Got about 5kg of beetroot boiling in the kitchen right now, ready for monster beetroot chutney session tomorrow.

[butter fingers]

today i went to the allotment to plant some shallots garlic and onions. Anyway the onion area is waterlogged so they will wait, so the garlic and shallots are in another spot that i quickly dug over.Pulled a few leeks for tommorrow .As i went to get up i pulled a muscle around my thigh so im now limping.Had a chat with the plot holder next to me then went for a limp around wilko"s and bought a plastic clear seed tray lid and a sowing set for sowing seeds.

[Two_Sheds]

I went to a Potato Day and bought far too many things
My Little Gem lettuce & hollyhock seeds have germinated on the windowsill, so I took their clingfilm off and turned them so they don't lean towards the light.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Running the risk of repetition here - I made raised bed b2 and pegged out raised bed b1.

[pigletwillie]

Today I pricked out over 200 tomato plants, 60 chillie and several trays off odments

[Snadger]

Today i progreesed with my Pagoda hen hut. Octagonal in shape and made with doors it's really coming together now. Had a day off work yesterday which was spent making and fitting the roof trusses.

Today I started boarding the roof. Got two of the eight panels just about done.Boarding is an old fence that had blwn down and people wanted rid.
This project has cost me nothing. I was told I could have the doors, and then figured out what I could make with them. Each dooris hinged to the next with hinges I raked out of the communal fire pit as I knew people had been burning doors. Fastened together this way I could angle the doors to suit.
Problem is I am positioning coop on semi-frozen strawberry bed with artichokes sown the side. The whole lot is like a swamp now (one of the reasons why I'm making a raised floor!) I had wellies on but my jeans were still covered with mud with going up and down muddy ladders.

Had to go home and get cleaned up before doing the weekly shop. I think Tesco's security staff might have booted me out looking the way I did.

[selfraising]

Today I planted 18 pots up with Onion Red Baron bulbs. Cleared the last remains of my lawn and began laying weed membrane between my raised beds ready for my gravel delivery on Monday. Checked on garlic which is thankfully throwing up shoots. Also think my chillis and peppers are about to germinate as the soil seems to be lifting slightly, how exciting!!!!

[Basher]

Hi all.

Picked up from where I left off when the cold patch hit a couple of weeks ago. I've been rehashing my beds in my relatively small veggie patch, just so I have better access.

7 hrs digging rubble out of clay, but nearly there.

[jackie j]

Yesterday I started to tidy up the garden, We have a lean to at the back of the house where we store large pots etc we turfed everything out and nearly filled the bin with ribbish !! Put the empty pots back in readyness for planting later. The top shelf I put some strawberry plants in small pots, the lavender some polyanthas that were reduced.
I planted my Acer that I had for christmas in a large pot along with some cyclamen. Took cuttings from my everlasting wallflower and put in the plastic green house. Swept the steps. On Monday my sister is coming to help me do some more, need to cut some stuff back and get rid of stuff, she is the flower expert and I am the veg newbie.