What I Did Today Archive - 2010

[Scottishnewbie]

rustylady, do you need to prick the blackcurrants to release the flavour first?

[rustylady]

rustylady, do you need to prick the blackcurrants to release the flavour first?

I didn't, but they had been in the freezer which softens them up.

[rustylady]

Yesterday I hacked back (sorry, pruned) the forsythia which is determined to take over the garden near the greenhouse.

[bethduckie]

Planted more carrots in pots, plus cabbages, beetroot and radish

[sewer rat]

Spent the day with the girls at Sutherland County Show. Caught up with a lot of farming friends, blagged Iona free riding lessons from a champion eventer, passed out a lot of schedules for my horticultural show, ate loads of cakes and ice cream and had a bloody good time - was worth taking theday off for (thoug it means working tomorrow instead )

[selfraising]

Went to the local festival of gardening and came back with a perennial (can't remember it's name exactly) and a huge pot of basil which was reduced to £2. Several jars of jellies, local honey and membership for the National Veg Society. When I got home planted out perennial, weeded and deadheaded in front garden. Moved to back garden and cut down alliums and deadheaded. staked a few things, cut back some of my melon plants, gave the sweet peas a hair cut and spent a long time watering.

[susieq100]

Yesterday went to the plot early and pulled 2 wheelbarrows full of weeds which I gave to my neighbouring plotholder's hens to have a 'scrat around in'. Tied up the potimarron squash which I am growing over an arch. Pinched out the growing end of the biggest one as I had to stand in the wheelbarrow to reach the top of the arch for tying purposes! Bit wobbly. Then I harvested last of the broadies from one bed, picked my first French beans and about a pound of runners, dug up all the shallots and picked 5 courgettes. Then home to make the first batch of piccallili this year!

[Two_Sheds]

- sent the Garden Club kids home with their baby plants: one boy took a dozen pumpkins!
- pulled up the dead Sweet William & sweet peas at home: filled 12 carrier bags
- took more cuttings to fill the school's new beds: pinks, lavender, sage, clematis, hebe, honeysuckle, passiflora, dahlia, salvia
- bought a silly amount of plants from roadside stalls
- bought an exotic sounding grass: on Googling, discover it's a chuffin pampas
- planted pampas, reluctantly
- planted another 3 clematis (I love 'em)
- picked dozens of sawfly caterpillars off my twisted willow
- sunk twisted willow & spindle in the east border, in large pots
- sorted out the east border at last: put in chairs, dalek, trees & obelisk
- tried, in vain, to convince the baby guineas that carrots are edible
- stole seedheads from Norwich municipal plantings (actually very tasteful municipal planting)

[cupcake]

Rang the local radio station re the rust on my garlic. Same answer as I found here on the forum! So this morning I lifted the garlic that was badly affected, the bulbs are a really good size, much better than the bulbs I lifted last month who's foliage had died back. Also lifted my shallots. Not as good as last year. Found blossom end rot on one variety of tomatoes in the polytunnel. Obviously last year was beginners luck as apart from my cucs everything did beautifully. At least this year my cucs are going great guns!

[NewbieGardenerRow]

Lots of weeding and tidying today.
I picked a huge pile of spinach, trimmed back my courgette leaves, picked off some small pumpkins that appeared to be dying off (the others are about the size of a large orange at the mo), I chopped off some holey cabbage leaves (despite the mesh over them) and trimmed some leaves off my summer squash which now have some small fruits on them.
I weeded my onion patch which is looking a bit sorry for itself and accidentally dug up 2 small onions (now eaten) I picked the last of my broad beans and chopped the stems off at ground level.
I took a shelf out of my blowaway greenhouse as the peppers are too tall for the top shelf now.
I planted some spring onion seeds, spinach, beetroot,peas and radishes, turned over half of the compost heap (can't do it all as I have a courgette growing on top of the other half) then as I heard a strange noise from the front garden I went out and unplugged the mower and chopped off the cable and stripped it back and rewired the plug back on then flicked the fuse box switch back on after my son decided to mow over the cable the divvy...but at least it was repairable even thought my router on the pc seems to be not working anymore...the main thing was that my son was not fried I suppose, but my mower cable is now only about 4' long!
I mowed the back lawn then caught my cat hiding under my mesh and attempting to dig up my newly planted bed of spinach, beetroot and radish, so that was all covered with canes and net to keep him off.
Its been a lovely sunny and not too hot day and my garden once again looks neat and tidy (ish) I'm happy anyway.

[Glutton4...]

Yesterday, I harvested my Autumn sown Onions. Not all a fantastic size, but some are great, and I bet they all taste good. Then helped my Mum pick about a million Redcurrants, which she is now making into Jelly. I netted her Currant plants this year and we have a bumper crop - so ner ner to the pigeons!

Today I dug up all my Autumn sown Garlic, some of them are huge. Also the remainder of my early Spuds. Yummy!

[susieq100]

Yesterday, back to the plot early again. Cleared the bed where the early broad beans were and planted out leeks, a row of carrots (I'm hoping that hiding them in the leeks will discourage carrot root fly) and beetroot. Then a major tidy up around the front of the plot .. work has been demanding over the last few weeks so I've just been 'ticking over' and doing important stuff like planting, watering and harvesting. Trimmed back all the long grass at the back of the plot under the fruit trees, cut back second broadies - they appear to be flowering again so I might get a second small crop? Hope so.

[mark m]

Today I squished a couple of caterpillars off my chilli plants. And of course the plants plants were greatfull.

[gardendancer]

yesterday and continuing today i've been mostly watching the first tomato change colour.
I had an inkling that it was nearly ready as it had gotten this pale marbling on it, and at about lunchtie yesterday i thought it was starting to change into yellow, by evening it was clear that it was a different colour and now it is orange... how much longer must i wait?

[rustylady]

Cleaned up more baby puke. Been cleaning it up for 3 days now. Getting fed up.