What I Did Today Archive - 2010

[BarleySugar]

I cooked some beetroots, used some garlic and dried chilli flakes in dinner, and sorted out my shallots (all from from last year's sowing). Hopefully if the weather holds I'll get them planted tomorrow. I also potted on my chillies, tomato plants and dwarf french beans.

[Daz]

Planted peppers, toms and dug some leeks up

[Westude]

Sowed french beans, spring onions, onions, strawberries, marigolds and dianthus in unheated propagator. Also sowed some onion seeds in coldframe.

[Welsh Wizard]

Started my planting off for the year: 36x Aubergines in cell tray in cellar, (aubergines are 3 euro each here in Germany!)
Tray of self saved mixed oriental mustard, tray of wild rocket for indoor windowsill CCA, plus a huge pot of self saved coriander slowbolt.

Still got 18 inches of snow on my lawn at present, so going to have to wait out a month or so for the ground to thaw! I am excited about the new location: in the middle of a vast "Wald" or forest so plenty of free fertility to import, but the downside is really crappy sandy soil with not much humus content and maurauding deer, boar and rabbits aplenty. I am planning on getting licensed hunter status and have my eye on a serious "waffen" for game shooting. The local farmers are serious about shooting and keen to recruit help to thin down the wildlife! I have already had a small deer within the fenced garden area so my defences are going to need some attention.

I plan on setting up some beds arranged in a "keyhole" style arrangement, less the walls. I left behind a great steaming heap of 3 year old compost in my last garden, and it almost brought me to tears: no compost heap here so I am going to be buying in some more potting mix initially to get seedlings started.

Roll on the thaw!

[wellie]

What Trousers and I Did Today....

Actually, I think Trousers got the days muggled up, because he chalked up on the kitchen slate tiles this morning above the cooker, asking if I'd be his Valentine......


But I digress.... Trousers built...... not one, not two, but three absolutely superb compost bins for me today, from wooden pallets.

Wellie immediately grabbed the bull by the horns then, and tossed some of the contents of the 'ever growing' heap into the first new Bin, and completely filled it to overflowing.

Starting again on the second bin, I was 'shouted down and completely overrulled', on account of the fact that I wouldn't be able to move tomorrow if I did and carried on.

If I didn't have to put stuff back into my new kitchen, after living with it all over the house for the last nine months, I might have protesteth.
But I gave in gracefully, and me thinks that I can sneak outside tomorrow to finish the compost heaps when blokes are noshing bacon sarnies or reading Sunday Papers, and therefore, won't notice that I'm missing.

I also brought all of the Strawberry plants (in troughs) into the draughty dutch greenhouse, so that I can take 'manky leaves' off, and prepare them for the productive year ahead.

Pretending to 'be inside' now and not do anything (!) Wellie sets about to rearranging all the fruits etc. back into my Squirrel Cupboard, (where they truly belong - in that cool, dark environment that suits them best), and I'm shocked that I've still got so much jam, chutney, preserved borlotti beans, jellies .............
Honestly, just don't go there?!
I need to get out more...X

[sarraceniac]

Gob-smacked when I looked at the kichen table (cooking is a very specialist art at this time of year in this house) and saw that of the seeds I popped in on Wednesday, the Zea mays and Mirabilis jalapa, both from my own seed, and the purple globe artichokes have germinated with gusto. Not surprisingly there is no sign of the parsley from two years out of date seed and the lemon coriander is showing no signs yet. Not because I want to rush them but for their own well-being I think I'd better make room in the propagator for them.

Wonder when I can take my various spiky thistly things out of the fridge and give them a try. I'm under orders to improve the 'sea-side' garden this year. The higher authority doesn't think that a couple of Eryngiums and a blue meconopsis or two can be classed as 'a seaside garden'. She's right of course.

Every year, I say that I don't need much extra this year and that I needn't start until April. Every year you can't get near a window from about now until April for seed trays and pots. No room in a greenhouse either.

[rustylady]

I'm shocked that I've still got so much jam, chutney, preserved borlotti beans, jellies .............
Honestly, just don't go there?!
I need to get out more...X

Me too, the only thing I ran out of was the Chilli Jelly (River Cottage Cookbook) so I made some more using some of my dried chillies which are hanging on the kitchen curtaintrack. The grandchildren love it even more than the adults.

[stella]

Hey RL any chance of the recipe for the above sounds yum.

[reetnproper]

Chilli jam sounds good - will have to try it this year .

Have just finished emptying one of our 330lt composters which was about 3/4 full. So that means I've moved aproximately 250lt of home made compost onto 4 of our raised beds which has filled them up nicely .

What fantastic compost it is. So this year some of our homegrown veg will have been grown in home made compost - how good will THAT feel AND it's saved us the cost of that volume of topsoil/compost.

I'm beginning to feel like Tesco - every little helps

Reet
xx

[Flummery]

Sowed various peas and broadies in root-trainers and modules. Too wet to get on the real dirt and dig!

[nerdgas]

Built my shed at the lottie.

Went to wilkos and picked up 8 potato planters (at £2.49 for 2 you just can't go wrong!).

Also got some fleece, pegs and garden wire to make mini tunnel hoops with.

More pics on profile of new shed.

[Bren In Pots]

Emptied and re-sited my dalek so now I've got 3 huge bags of lovely compost.

[chris]

I was able to pot on some tomatoes (and the cucs that I sowed - they're massive already?) and a few chillies earlier today.

Dug another veg bed out ready, and started to cart some soil from the side garden over to the bottom of the main garden... realised I couldn't be bothered with this, so am this moment looking for some top soil to order

[gojiberry]

Been a good day here with plenty of warm sunshine. Planted 5 potato tubers on the lottie. I know it's early but I can manage to keep 5 frost free. Weeded the onions and dug over one of the small raised beds. Planted up 3 potato planters in the garden and then built a cold fram to keep them frost free. A good day all round.

Ian

[wellie]

Have given my over-wintering onions, garlic and spring onions a bit of a nitrogenous boost, which is advised by the experts at this time of year, as they 'boing' back into action with their New Year growth (the onions, not the experts, obviously....)

I'm also ferrying my Bored Bean seedlings to and fro from cold conservatory to proper cold greenhouse during the day to harden them off for planting out soon. I've never been successful with Autumn sowing and planting (because of blackleg kind of foot-rot on them?) and so prefer to start them off in January indoors.
Kind of 'ditto' with some 'Red Baron' red onion seedlings in modules. Dead pleased with the germination rate on those (new seed this year) being hardened off too.
Thank you for listening.
X