What I did today 2021

[StephenH]

Happy Easter, all.
I'm finishing filling one of my compost bins today. Having put screwed-up cardboard in the bottom to help air flow (one bit rather appropriately had "COMPOST" printed on it), I went out earlier and gathered loads of weeds from beside quiet roads. I will go out again this afternoon and gather more. There's more cardboard and other tough stuff mixed in to provide structure, and hopefully I'll get a hot composting going.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmVdzPUF

[ameno]

Happy Easter, all.
I'm finishing filling one of my compost bins today. Having put screwed-up cardboard in the bottom to help air flow (one bit rather appropriately had "COMPOST" printed on it), I went out earlier and gathered loads of weeds from beside quiet roads. I will go out again this afternoon and gather more. There's more cardboard and other tough stuff mixed in to provide structure, and hopefully I'll get a hot composting going.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmVdzPUF

The key to getting it to heat up is to have a good mix of materials (especially some nitrogen-rich ones), cut everything up as small as you can, and push everything down so that there are no large air gaps. Large air gaps are always bad; the ideal is to have lots and lots of tiny air gaps.

[Bren In Pots]

I emptied the contents of a compost bin and shared it between what will be my brassica bed then pea beds this season.

[quanglewangle]

Got flowers on Gardener's Delight tomatoes so pruned off lower shoots.

Haven't done this previously so a bit of an experiment.

The surgical spirit fumes for dipping the blade in were a bit overpowering in a warm greenhouse.

[ameno]

Filled some bottomless tubs with top soil I collected yesterday, to make a load of mini raised beds.

[quanglewangle]

Hoed the autumn-started Senshyu onions few days ago. They were pretty choked, having been neglected somewhat over winter. Lost a few due a combination of a cold winter and late spring (and clumsy hoeing).

They have just started to move again in last few days. Light and air and getting rid of the weeds seems to have done the trick.

[Mr Bones]

Turned the compost, planted out Wizard beans and watered a few bits that have been dried out by the recent winds.

[Snoop Puss]

Moved my potting table into the corral. It's an old door on trestles and the top weighs a ton. Nearly regretted the whole enterprise but it's in a sheltered spot and much easier to take seedlings in and out at night.

[ameno]

The strimmer man came to the allotment today to strim the paths, so I raked up some grass to dig into some of my beds.
I also did a bit more digging.
And at home I took two sweet potato cuttings and put them in water to root.

[ameno]

Repotted my pepper plants finally. 37 plants. Some were a little pot-bound, but they should be fine.

[Mr Bones]

Hoicked compost from the 8x4 bay into the 12x6 bay. It was started late due high winds, only been going 9 days and still at 65C but we collected another delivery of rabbit poo and wanted to start it straight away to get back into the fortnightly cycle.

[ameno]

Some more digging. Managed to finish another one of the big beds. Also did a bit of weeding.
Then at home I took three more sweet potato cuttings.

[annie8]

Spent hours taking off the top surface of more beds then putting it through a riddle to get rid off the big hard lumps and sticks. Then added the decent stuff back in. The bulk bags of compost I got for the beds were good but was on the rougher end and was worried that it would affect crops like carrots. What I took off I added as a mulch around some of my shrubs. Am pretty sore today.

[Containergardener]

Played at filling my new compost bins .

[Mr Bones]

Played at filling my new compost bins .

I've been playing at compost too .. (feeding my compost-making obsession). Turned the latest batch.