What I did today 2023.

[Bren In Pots]

A new thread for a new year.

Here's last years thread for comparison :-

What I did today 2022 - The Grapevine (growfruitandveg.co.uk)

[Nicos]

Looked out of the window and looked at the rain…then the long grass… and wondered when my first cut of the year for the lawns will be. The ground has been sopping wet since the ‘Great Freeze’ of 2022.

[ameno]

Finished pulling out my old bean supports and removing the dead plants from them.
Covered my purple sprouting, as the pigeons have started attacking already (usually they don't come until February).
Cleared the pile of rotten planks and old bits of weed membrane at the bottom of the plot, so that I can prepare the ground for planting a blackcurrant.

[ameno]

Dug up my overcrowded blackcurrant from home and took it to the allotment to plant there.
Pruned the akebia vines.
Started clearing the area where I'll build my new raised bed - I skimmed of the turf and started removing the bind weed.

[Nicos]

Weeding around the patio area . It wasn’t too cold in the sun and out of the wind.

[Bren In Pots]

Gathered up what I think will be the last of the leaves.

[ameno]

Finished clearing the site of the new raised bed. Removed two buckets full of bindweed roots in the end.
Tomorrow I'll start building the bed.

[ameno]

Built the raised bed today from three pallets, and started filling the bottom of it with some garden waste (dead pepper plants, half rotten wood, and lots of creeping bent grass).

[Jungle Jane]

I was putting bird food out & I noticed little broccoli heads on three of the plants,I need to put more BFB around them next time. Also my red onions have little green shoots,I was worried about them,planted late November & it snowed early December,then wet,so they’re quite hard really I haven’t done any gardening it’s been to wet & cold,oh I did replant one onion that a bird must’ve pulled out

[ameno]

Emptied the contents of the weed drowning barrels into the new raised bed, then emptied in a dozen bags of soil I collected last October into it.

[ameno]

A few days ago I lifted two paving slabs from behind the shed and dug over the soil underneath.
Today I dug up one of my apricot trees and moved it into that new position. The tree really put up a fight - took a lot of work to get it dug up with a reasonable root ball.

[ameno]

Emptied some more soil and a few bags of manure into my new raised bed.
Started clearing the area where I'll be putting my new greenhouse. Had to drag the weed-drowning barrels to one side first, the I started digging it to remove as much bindweed and horsetail as I can, along with the big comfrey plant which is currently there. Was easier going than I was expecting, and have already done over three-quarters of it.

[Bren In Pots]

Potted up some strawberry runners.

[Jungle Jane]

I made a little trench where I’m planting runner beans,filled with some kitchen waste,covered with a bit of soil,I’ll add more soon,the moisture of it all should help in the drought summer,some of my runner beans dried to straw colour on the teepee last year,they were quite young when it hit 40+ degrees,I’ll sow some a bit earlier this year so they’re more mature & hardy maybe that will help. Did a bit of tidying found loads of big snails,started removing ivy from round the base of my flowering currant,this ivy has travelled underground about fifteen foot from the neighbours border of ivy,it looks like mould coming over the fence,I’ll carry on removing all that soon it’s very clingy & invasive weed

[ameno]

A couple days I go I finished digging over the area where I plan to put my new greenhouse, and also cleared away some of the dead crops from other allotment beds.
Today I moved some of my patio pots, lifted a couple slabs next to the fence, and dug a big hole there. I then line the sides with old broken bits of paving slab, and it's now more or less ready for planting my potted fig into (it doesn't do that well in a pot).