What I did today 2012-2014

[ladylottie]

Heavy lashing rain here in South Wales since the word go this morning, so won't be venturing up the lottie. Glad I watered all the plants in the glass shed yesterday.
Today I am baking bread - haven't bought any shop bread now since the end of last October. Nom nom.

[stella]

In the gaps in the rain planted out some parsnip seedlings. PSB seedling look almost dead

[Florence Fennel]

Pricked out lots and lots of basil into bowls and modules, now on the windowsills. Sowed radishes in containers. Sowed fennel in modules (experiment, thanks RL). Reorganised stayput and turfed out the things I think will be ok outside. Got wet.

[Bren In Pots]

Its rained all day so all I've done outside is potted on my toms and left then out in the greenhouse until later on.

[Jelliebabe]

I've sowed sweetcorn, courgettes (green, yellow, round yellow and long white) achocha, and squash (hooligan, acorn, winter festival, scallop mixed) ooooh and two sorts of cuke! A little green variety (picolino) and a white one!

[rustylady]

Rained on and off all day. Potted on some tomatoes, and sowed some white seeded runner beans courtesy of TwoSheds. Went allotment with grandson this afternoon for a quick look, and picked some more PSB. Two shoots of asparagus showing, but they haven't grown any since two days ago. Need some sunshine now please.

[Pa Snips]

Today...I arv been mostly...building a water collection system.

Just need a water butt now, but the big flexi-tub will suffice until then.

[Loudbarker1]

Busy Friday and Saturday. Out on Sunday (wasted day) and rain pretty well all day Monday hurray! The water butt is full again. We are promised more rain duing the week.

Lots of sowing in mother's hot house:

More leeks (musselbrough) seeds sprinkled on multipurpose compost on big pot and covered with a thin layer of seed compost and vermiculite)

More spring onions (Feast - from Real Seed Catelogue. Planted as above)

Courgettes (Defender and Soleil)

Pumpkin (Jack O'Lantern). First time I have ever tried pumpkin, but the primary use will be for haloween. (We may get some soup or pie). They will be planted in a little "hot bed" - a large "potato bag" from Robert Dyas (£2) with a layer of sheep dung in bottom about 4 inches thick and compost on top. All dung collected over weekend (with help from enthusisatic Miss Loudbarker) and left to rot in the hot bed while the seed germinates. There will be one plant on here. I might put another (or a squash) on the compost heap.

Peas - Champion of England and Telephone in multipurpose compost. Need to long hazel rods for them to climb soon.

Nastushams for fun and to attract the blackfly. Sunflowers as well.

Tomatos - Sungold, Tamina, Glacier and Stupice. 6 seeds each to get 3 plants of each.

Cucumber - burpless tasty green. These and all the other cucurbits were planted with seed on side.

Outside did a bit more weeding. Took black plastic off the (new) potatos to allow rain on but (stupidly) mulched with lawn mowings which will have kept the rain off. Should have kept that for a later job.

Put germinated brasicas (red cabbage, savoys, cauliflower and calebrase) out into cold house to start their hardening off. I suspect the red cabbage and savoys might have been planted a bit early, so we run the risk of bolting. I'm not sure I will have space for swedes.

Outdoor raddish, beetroot have gerninated, but carrots have not yet (and nor have parsnips, but that's not so surprising). MUST GET NEMASLUG.

And finally - picked purple sprouting broccoili for tea which master and miss loudbarker scoffed - as did their parents. Delicious.

Next week - more weeding and clearing. Get more multipurpose compost and plant main crop potatos in bags. Get hazel rods; plant out first few peas. Apply nemaslug if it has arrived. Water soft fruit in pots. Take germinated leeks, lettuce and spring onions out into coldhouse to harden off. Will it be too early to plant first french beans outside?

[Florence Fennel]

Went out to sow parsnips, but wussed out. Too cold, wet and windy even though the sun was shining. I did manage to clear a raised bed of cabbage gone to seed and I sowed a few sweet peas though where I am going to put them I'm not yet sure.

[GardenFaery]

Pumpkin (Jack O'Lantern). First time I have ever tried pumpkin, but the primary use will be for haloween. (We may get some soup or pie).

Love growing pumpkins - They are fun to grow and so magical to see the 'fruits' suddenly get bigger and bigger - I make soup and use them in place of squash for grilled vegetable type dishes and pies?

[GardenFaery]

Mostly running around, so short time in garden this afternoon - just planted Gypsophilia and Kniphofia
(Red Hot Pokers)

[jdlondon]

Potted my lemongrass and potted up teh chillis, but I think one is a goner, leaves all wilty.

My toms are finally perking up after being outside for so long, and although I put them out to slow growth, I didn't expect them to practically stop growing. Now I know.

My indoor coriander, funnily enough, is reddening and seems to be flowering - at barely two inches of growth. I pinched out what looks like tiny flower buds in the hope of stopping that. I guess this is what happens when you get insanely summery hot weather for days and leave the coriander on the windowsill. The outdoor ones though, are looking perfectly green and healthy.

[BarleySugar]

Sunny this morning, but the wind was very cold. Son No2 put the remaining posts in for the raspberry wires and then we built a support cage for the environmesh over the sprouts and kale. I intended to go back this afternoon, but heavy showers decided me against.
Spinach and broad beans are doing well, flowers are open on the crimson flowered ones.

[Snadger]

Planted out the last of my Setton onion sets which were strted in seedtrays. Did a bit of dandelion weeding. Harvested enough rhubarb for a crumble.

[Gurberly]

Sowed a couple of trays of Marigold (Boy 'o' boy)
Potted on 20 odd geranium cuttings

Played with the cats outside in the sunny intervals as they had been getting very bolshy over the last few days having been cooped up indoors with all the rain.

Played with the wife, see above re cats.....


G