What I Did Today Archive - 2010

[NewbieGardenerRow]

Last night I sneakily took some surplus courgettes, pumpkins and summer squash to my brothers garden (well they'd invited me up for tea so I figured......) and on the pretense of getting my nephew to grow a Halloween pumpkin I also persuaded them to let me plant 3 courgettes, 2 squash and 2 pumpkins.
Their soil is probably the stoniest I have ever seen (so my wishes that I had their big garden is taken back and I can now see why they only grow shrubs and roses in it) and armed with only a trowel it was hard going but at least they are in and not wasted (assuming they grow ok)

I still have some surplus in my blowaway but I might be able to squeeze them in somewhere, or donate them.

I also went to a garden center yesterday and got some cheap kohl rabi seeds so I might see if I can get some of them going, if its not too late. I have no idea what they taste like but thought I'd give them a go.

When I got home yesterday afternoon my bean fence looked very wilted so I pegged some fine white fleece to the poles to shield it a bit from the rays and watered it well and its all perked up this morning.

Today I went out at about 10 to see some very wilted plants in my blowaway so I watered them all, opened it all up and covered it in an old white sheet. Then I took the fine fleece off the bean fence and used it to shield the growhouse as my cucs were looking a bit too warm.
I've gone from using my 8m fleece to protect from frost last week to protecting from the sun this week!!! I've no idea if its the right thing to do but it seems to be working.

[frogga]

Weeded the patches, before it got to hot, then sorted the radishes out,they had all bolted. Sowed some french beans, put grass clippings in the chicken pen for them to scratch about in.

[Bren In Pots]

I've spent the afternoon under the patio umbrella potting on my sweet peppers and chilli plants.

[binley100]

Went to lottie . The strawbs that were nearly ripe the other day had been noshed. 6 of my runners have been decapitated.
So went home and sowed more runners. .
Then went to work via the Poundshop , invested some money in some big windmills that vaguely look like Big bumbly bees.

[wellie]

First thing this morning, I attempted to egde the kitchen garden grass paths before mowing, and I completely 'lost my rag' with the blunter-than-blunt lawn-edging shears, after many attempts to sharpen them, so bit the bullet and treated myself to some noo ones. Boy, what a difference!

Kept popping out to the front to see how our uninvited swarm of bees are doing on the front and inside the house!! Luckily, the farmer's family kept bees originally, so their nephew came along with a skep (sp?) box yesterday late afternoon - not that the bees have taken the blindest bit of notice of it, and have now called all their mates in the entire neighbourhood to come join in the party.
So much so, that I emailed Radio Two's Steve Wright in the Afternoon Show this afternoon, for Wrighty to give the Bees a Big 'Shout Out' to GO HOME! or I'd be forced to sleep on the kitchen table again tonight..... I knew he wouldn't be able to resist reading it out (!) and he did. Did you hear it? Did you? Did you?!X
Bless you for listening.

[taff]

Put down some cardboard at the edge of the garden, put three tyres on top and put [almost fresh] horse manure around the insides in the well bits, then went through the nearly ready compost bit to find it was ready enough to fill in the middles, so filled in the middles.

Cut around edges of beds and cut grass, covered the newly filled and watered tyres with grass clippings, the rest went on the slowly growing artichokes.

Planted out the nasturtiums in amongst the artichokes and along the back fence, am still waiting for the tree stump to be chainsawed out so can't do anything there yet.

Put three borage seedlings out the front after I took out a mostly dead bunny-ear lavender, took what was growing on it and stuck them down the sides of a pot so they'll hopefully root.

Moved two breezeblocks and a concrete slab to back of garden to make a little table and a bench[with help]. Moved another table and chairs to shady bit, chopped down some vine creeper thingy thats taking over the world[next doors]

Potted on two pepper plants, and drowing under too many seedlings that people are messing me about about coming to fetch. Am intending to pot lots on tomorrow. Potted on some limanthes about which I'm going to have read about since I havent a clue how to treat them.

Made bean supports ready for beans that havent shown their faces yet, 4 x wigwams.

Found the biggest slow worm I've ever seen when I was re-laying a broken patio slab.

[sewer rat]

Garden wise, I cut a large lawn with an Atco mower - striped it one way then the other so when you look at it from the top bedrooms of the big house, it resembles a chessboard (except it's green of course) then weeded and tidied up the veg beds which are all looking pretty good though I say so myself. Spent the rest of the day weeding.
Tonight I ordered 45 bottles for my Rhubarb Cordial and heard unofficially that I have got a grant of £500 for the Horticultural Show I am organising.

[Jelliebabe]

I was really good! Planted out Toms, peppers aubergine and my one butternut squash. Sowed more lettuce, rocket, radish and beetroots... and some bedding plants... Was viciously attacked by a marauding slug, honest guv it was the size of a horse :0< !!! ... promtly found slug pellets and scattered them round all the crops... Can't wait to make an entire salad out of my own home grown things! YAY!

[trolleydolly]

Yesterday
I potted on some tomatoes in hanging baskets (100 and 1000) and planted out hanging pouches, with petunias (help for hero's mix) .

[Newbie]

Yeserday i tied up my Peas, pulled up bolted Pak Choi, did a spot of weeding, and cut back a few plants that were threatening to take over the flower beds - watered GH in the evening. Too hot to do much else.

[TallGirl]

Yesterday I sowed oriental greens, rocket, turnips, and purple sprouting broccoli (yes I know it's late). I didn't manage to sow a load of other things or plant out the other sprouting broccoli and savoy cabbage seedlings.

I took the netting off this year's PSB at last cos it's all run to flower now, as has the mooli. I was leaving them for the bees but they'll have to go soon, there's optimistic salsify and parsnip to sow along there, not to mention more spinach.

Wellie - love the bees story!

[Snadger]

Had to take my German Shepherd to the allotment today because OH's in hospital and the builders are riving the windows out and replacing woodwork. (With dog trying to get at them as they do so!!!)
Last time I took her she frightened the chooks but hey-ho.
She was as good as gold perched on the passenger seat, considering she's only been in the car once....to the vets!
Chooks pannicked at first but once they realised she wasn't there to eat them, they calmed down.
Managed to get loads done including planting apple cukes and courgettes, making a wigwam and planting my runners,borlotti's and butter beans. A good bit of weeding, made some nettle tea after cutting up an old wellie to grasp the netles with. Planted sprouts and red leaved amaranth.(Calallooo) Sowed longpod peas I pillaged from another grower last year.
Spent about four hours, got sunburned, then home to cool down before night visiting at hospital!

[SeleneMourie]

Potted up and hardened off the Moneymaker tomatos
Potted up and hardened off the 8 Ball and Romanesco courgettes ( all 7 plants have grown... can you freeze cougettes?!?!)
Potted up and hardened off one sweet pepper just to see if it survives outdoors!
Potted up the Basil, Chervil and Dill
Potted up the little Kale plant
Potted up the little Spinach beet
Potted up the Sweet pepper indoors
Had a look at ickle green and purple Boltardy beetroot seedings... there seems to be quite a few!
De aphided EVERYthing in the garden and planted some Marigolds (companion planting i think it is?!) with the tomatoes and by the sprouts.
Tried to control the Mange tout and sweet pea as i think they are having a 'who's highest' competition (planted some more seeds to replace the big 'uns when they are finished)
Also put little collars around the Sprouts and Broccoli plants and re egg shelled the ground as we seem to have a SAS slug livving somewhere in the garden that we have never seen!!!

Everything is so so so exciting at the moment seeing everything grow and it is all thanks to help here and reading through hundreds of threads as we really have no idea what we are doing in our first year of GYO!!!!

Thank you

[trolleydolly]

Down at the lottie early today, watered , weeded and planted out beetroot, lettuce, and kohl rabi.

[Liza]

Dug a 5ft X 7Ft bed on new plot, filled a wheel barrow from it with Couch, bind weed and stones. Only 11 more to go !