What I Did Today Archive - 2010

[trolleydolly]

Planted tomatoes, chillies and aubergines in poly tunnel. Looking good!

[miffy]

Only managed to water stuff in my greenhouse and plant up some bedding plants in planters by the front door, tis the season of school reports!!!!!

[Liza]

Thought I would hose out my chicken run, then realised there was 2 inches of crud on top of the solid base.
Hosed the chooks to get them to go inside then set too with the shovel. Not a pleasant task but it had to be done.
All clothes in washing machine now and just waiting for the bath to finnish running!

Buerk, yuck did mine the other day and nearly threw up ! I can deal with kids, babies, puppies, and cats poo but chuck poo is something else

[Lulubelle]

Sowed some more beetroot, planted some garlic chives, snapdragons and lupins I had grown from seed. Helped my son with his GCSE History revision, then put lots of empty pots back in the shed ready for next year while he mowed the grass.

Watered everything, then went and watered my friend's plants as she's on holiday. Wish I'd seen the weather forecast first - it's pouring now!!

[sewer rat]

Spent this afternoon with Chalie the Mad Sprollie over at my own place - tidied up the tunnel a bit, watered everything well then uprooted 12 tomato plants that seemed to have gone backwards - no visible problems but definitely not thriving - replaced them with a dozen new Shirley tom plants that I had knocking around waiting for a space.
Broad beans in the tunnel are about a week away from first pickings. Chioggia beetroot in the tunnel will be picked over this week sometime, as I have to make some sample beetroot chutney for a newish cafe in Inverness that might want to sell a range of my Chutneys, Chilli Sauces and Rhubarb Cordial.
Finally managed to plant out 200 cabbage, 200 cauliflower and 200 calabrese plants that have been waiting patiently for me to find the time. Bloody wood pigeons don't hang around - I had just planted the last calabrese and went to get some canes to tie my streamers on (only the other side of the tunnel from where they were planted) and when I came back (no more than 45 seconds later) there were four of the buggers tucking in!!
Oh yeah - Charlie got two rabbits so he was well chuffed with his days work too.

[wellie]

Attempted, and largely won, in recaiming some grassland from the thistles and nettles on the boundary of the kitchen garden, and in amongst the orchard.

[Snadger]

This evening i planted the last of my golden Bear onions and Red Firenze onions. No more onions left to plant now.....phew!!!!!!!
Put a clump of Muselburgh leeks that were sown late, from the pot into the allotment soil to save me having to water them so often. These are ready in case my other 'pod' grown leeks start going to seed...........can't be without leeks!
Planted a few Godetia and Night Scented Stock into pots then left for home!

[Winged one]

On Saturday evening, OH and I dismantled the plastic hut. Covering ourselves in rusty water in the process - yeuch!

But we also managed to dig the bed it was sitting on. and then plant out the the 3 super roma tomato plants, 2 sweet peppers and a chilli pepper. Along with a few flowers (I am not great at flowers but I DID get some to grow this spring).

I need to head to the plot some evening this week to check it over -I know tehre was still a lot of weeding to do when I left 10 days ago. But growth is now occurring!

[sewer rat]

Spent the whole day today pruning sycamores - and got absolutely coated in greenfly - all the trees in the rows I was working on were about 12' high and it was literally raining greenfly on me all day

[StephenH]

Lunch yesterday was my first meal of the year composed entirely of home-grown stuff: potatoes (Orla), kale (Sutherland), and broad beans (Aquadulce Claudia). Delish! I'm impatient to start harvesting other stuff: I had turnips by this time last year, but they failed this year, because I sowed them in a new bed which is much too shaded. I suspected when I made it that it was, but thought I'd try anyway, since all the better spots were already being used, and I wanted more growing space. Well, at least now I know it's no good.
I'm making nettle tea: looked at it this morning, after a week, and it's rotting well, and bubbling vigorously, no doubt because it's caught a wild yeast and is fermenting. I trust this doesn't matter - anyone know?
Wrote to the Council to see where I am on the waiting lists for the three allotment sites I'm on: there are 7 ahead of me on one, 13 on another, and 45 on the third. I assume, therefore, that I can forget about the last, but I might get offered a plot on either of the first two, probably the first, in a year or so, depending on how fast the turn-over is.

[Veggiemama]

Well, hopefully i am done for a while.

I got the rest of my tomatoes potted up in the polytunnel into buckets.

I know i have way too many, but just couldnt bring myself to throwing them away and dont have anyone to give them to.

I still have more left, so will maybe plant them in the garden away from the polytunnel.

also received my peanut plants. Will pot them up tonight.

anyone else grown these?

I dont know if i will get nuts from them but should be an interesting plant to grow.

Now, a quick coffee, then on to dinner.

veggiemama

[Pickle]

I have spent the afternoon digging over an existing flower bed (although I use the term flower bed in the loosest possible sense. We've lived here 2.5 years and it's never been used by us as the first summer we were here I was 8months pregnant and last year I concentrated on my raised beds).
Anyway, it is heavy clay and hard work to dig but I decided the best thing to do was dig it over and get some potatoes in the ground. I know it is late to put them in but figured I could just jarvest them later. Better something in the ground than nothing at all. I also sowed some French beans which I hope I'm not too late to do. The packet did say I could direct sow from late May - June so I should be OK.
I also managed to plant out 2 lavender bushes and positioned one of them nice and close to the ladybird/bee/lacewing house that we got the other day. I know it's a bit late for this year but hopefully it will entice some bees etc next year.
So now I ache like you wouldn't believe but I'm sitting here with a huge grin on my face as things are gradually getting sorted

[Florence Fennel]

Sowed more coriander. Pricked out basil. Potted on the last toms. Sowed some reserve courgettes.

[solway cropper]

Got the last of the early leeks in their final positions. That's 62 in now and they'll be harvested small during August-October. The maincrop leeks will go in after I lift the first row of tatties but I've still got 5 containers of first earlies to get through before I start on the main patch. Having to give away heads of lettuce to neighbours as I'm sick of the stuff already!

[sewer rat]

Cut and strimmed grass all morning, weeded some veg in the afternoon, then erected a load of electric fencing and moved all the horses to their new grazing paddocks.