What I did today 2021

[Bren In Pots]

Collected Blauhilde bean pods that's been drying on the plant for next your seeds.
Pulled up the last courgette plant.

[Sweet savory]

Planted out garlic in a big tub in the garden. Remaining cloves planted into cells to grow on and be planted out early next year.
Own shallots put into modules to shoot as I found last year they did better planted out with a bit of growth already on them

[ameno]

Replaced two of the sides of my pallet bin with fresh pallets, as they were getting pretty rotten. Then I filled the bin with the contents of my other compost bin, plus the contents of the weed barrel I emptied yesterday.

[quanglewangle]

Set out 80 Senshyu onions on 20cm spacing both ways. Every three rows left a 50cm walkway. I need wide spacing because I am a clumsy hoer.

Raked in about 10g/m sq of 15,15,15 fertiliser before starting.

Dibbed a hole twice as deep as needed and backfilled hafway with loose soil so the roots don’t have to penitrate compacted soil. Added a tiny pinch of Root Grow in each hole under each onion.

[ameno]

Emptied out one of the weed bins onto the comfrey patch to let the excess water drain out. I will put it all on the compost bin tomorrow.

[quanglewangle]

I usually plant mine mid-October. Here are last year's lot around 6 six weeks in on 25 November.

As for set size. I have no real reason for selecting biggest. I will try a row of smalls this year and report back.

[Jungle Jane]

Its ok planting autumn onion sets now I haven’t even bought mine yet,I feel there’s the next couple of weeks to get them in,before it gets cold at the end of the month,the soil temperature stays warmer longer than the air temperature. They’ll have time to put roots down,mine haven’t needed to grow any green before winter,they just carry on growing when they want. Once mine disappeared completely below the surface of the soil over winter,I thought they’d rot but they were so hard they grew fine

[ameno]

Second dig of autumn onion plot. Now almost pristine. Just needs fertiliser, a quick rake and a few days to settle.

Meanwhile Mrs quanglewangle has partitioned the sets into two piles: the largest 80, for planting; and the rest, for reserves.

Getting a bit late for planting autumn sets, isn't it? Don't they usually need to be planted early enough that they reach spring onion size before winter, as any small and they won't survive the cold?

Also, I don't know if autumn onions might be different, but for the ones planted in spring smaller sets are actually better than larger ones (as long as they are still firm and undamaged, of course). Set size has no real bearing on the size the onion will ultimately reach, but larger sets are more likely to end up bolting than smaller ones.

[quanglewangle]

Second dig of autumn onion plot. Now almost pristine. Just needs fertiliser, a quick rake and a few days to settle.

Meanwhile Mrs quanglewangle has partitioned the sets into two piles: the largest 80, for planting; and the rest, for reserves.

[ameno]

Two days ago I emptied my allotment compost bin, then spread it around some of the runner beans (it's not for the beans themselves, it's just those are the areas I want to spread it on for next year and the beans aren't finished yet).

[Jungle Jane]

Mowed the lawn today,it was a little bit wet,did some weeding & pruning the shrubs,topped up the bird feeders. Yesterday I took down the two bean teepees,mulched the ground there with the bean plants & the grass cuttings today went there too. Courgette plant has tiny courgettes it wants to grow forever,I’m waiting for a few tomatoes & peppers to ripen,carrots & potatoes ready to lift when I’m ready. The rest of the apples need to be picked. Leeks look very thin still cucumber plant trying to grow more but they’re tiny & it’s getting a bit cold now. Deadheaded the marigolds & geraniums,thinking about overwintering them in a sheltered spot,their second year is more floriferous

[Bren In Pots]

Cut down JA's to 6 inch high then dug up nettles adding them to their bucket.

[quanglewangle]

Cleared and rough-dug ex-sweetcorn and ex-potato plots.

[bramble]

Started off y onion setts in modules today.
Sturon, Centurion and Stetton.
I will pot them on when they outgrow the modules.

[Bren In Pots]

Potted up 4 Basil plants that I'd rooted in water they'll be staying indoors on the kitchen windowsill.