What I did today 2012-2014

[binley100]

Tipped the excess water out from my outside tomato pots

[VirginVegGrower]

Sowed long red Florence onion and beetroot. Watered the undercover stuff. Just feel generally disheartened.

[Tracebe]

chopped up home made onions and garlic for aunty tish to use in curried chick peas

yum,yum!

[Tracebe]

I have been to check on my paddy field ..... and (as I have for the last 3 years) wished for my own patch of land with space for a poly tunnel and some chickens .....

[Florence Fennel]

Got soaked shearing the rest of the grass around the beds and now the sun's out! Greased up the shelving (cunning plan in operation), off to sow some more bras.

[Snadger]

Today I attended our monthly committee meeting. Without going into detail it was very 'interesting' to say the least!

After that i spent the rest of the day stripping off the ugly makeshift covers for my poor swede bed. The pigeons hvae decimated it and as a temporary measure I covered it with that awful fluorecent plastic mesh used to 'rope off' holes in the road.
After taking this off the makeshift frame I'd made for it I cut four lengths of yellow alkathene plastic pipe I just happened to have lying around.
Used dibber to make start holes for the hooped pipe and secured uprights (fencing pins) at each end to take the strain of a length of cord I stretched along the top centre and both ground edges.
Mesh was supposed to be two metres wide but it was a very tight fit hooped over a 1 metre wide bed.
Amazed at how long all this took me and to what extremes you have to go to get a crop. Rats got all my swedes last year so need a plan 'B' as this light plastic green mesh will be no match for a rodents teeth. I'll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it.
Bit of a bad belly at the mo as I've been scranning, rhubarb,gooseberries,strawberries and raspberries all day!

[binley100]

And there was me blaming the pigeons ...........

[PyreneesPlot]

Cut the grass (weeds) in the fruit cage with stupid old blunt shears.
Planted out lettuces and beetroot for the slugs.
Forked though the mole runs in most of the veg beds. Moaned at the cats for not catching the mole.
Sprinkled diatomaceous earth on the brassicas as it is not due to rain for a week. Came in from the rain...

[binley100]

Bottled up my pickled shallots...........

[Peppermint]

Yesterday

Dug up the garlic - some for drying and some for freezing. Unfortunately couldn't tell the difference between the hardneck and softneck. First time we've grown garlic and we are really pleased.

Continued to dig the new 30 foot x 4 foot bed - but now plan to shorten it to allow for a wind break fence round it.

OH started to put posts in for above mentioned wind break fence.

Fed the corgettes and squash. Poor things are struggling.

Watched Beechgrove Garden on iplayer during our coffee break. Our corgettes are actually better than their's. Feel a little better about them now

Enjoyed the first sunshine for what seems like weeks

[jdlondon]

Tied up some tomatoes to the trellis, no idea if they are bush or not, just thought both would probably appreciate some support once they really start fruiting. Hope they start fruiting *g* - they've been outdoors for over a month and some are still very small.

Spritzed around with chillic spray.

Having some spinach in my spagbol.

[Gearoid]

Cut the privet hedge which surrounds the garden. Knackered!

[novicegrower]

Harvested. Some potatoes,tomatoes,raspberries and broad beans. Courgettes are struggling, squashes have been eaten to within an inch of their lives.weeded the brassica bed and brought some outer leaves in for dinner tonight.climbing beans have had it.

[dominic10]

Busy tidying up my old shared allotment and lifted the last of the early potatoes. Only have onions to harvest, though I have been using the ones that bolted. Harvested carrots and spinach from my new allotment. OH busy making raised bed no. 5. Planted out 3 x blue hubbard squash and 2 x my own crown prince (which may have crossed) and 3 more uchi kuri squash. We are definitely digging up the 3 huge bushes of what we were told were tayberries. They are now fruiting and one is definitely a blackberry. The fruit on the other two bushes is not very tasty and they take up a lot of room. Very disappointed with courgettes this year as they seem to be rotting on the plants. Made an onion and potato soup with the runts. It is slow going because of the weather but we are definitely getting there.

[Helgalush]

Planted up another raised bed with some squash plants and sunflowers sown quite a while ago, plus some nasturtiums that have already started to flower. Well, nothing edible might grow but at least its starting to look pretty!

OH strimmed back more of the overgrown weeds, covered a bit more of the plot and built a few more beds, just need to decide what to do next.