What I did today 2012-2014

[plymouthred]

Barstewards!!

Gone to war

First year of serious gardening in my home garden and everything was going to plan but now most of my stuff is being annihilated by slugs so I have gone to war with them!

None of the veg is planted directly in the ground but in raised beds and pots! I have never seen so many slugs in my life and my Sutton Broad Beans looked like they were literally moving with so many of them feasting on them!

Been out and bought a massive big torch and the longest pair of scissors you can buy and burning the midnight oil trying my hard to keep the numbers down.

Over two hundred last night taken out but the birds are having an easy feast this morning!

Any other suggestions appreciated excluding napalm as in a 'smoke free zone'

[redser]

When you're digging around the garden and see the eggs, squish them then and there. No baby slug to have more baby slugs, and so on and so on and so on

[kentishgal]

I dont think Ive ever seen slug eggs...all my slugs must commute in from next door!
Today I did abit of weeding, hung my petunia flower bags on the fence, moved some of my tumbling toms into their window box (need more compost to do the other box), removed the remains of my garlic which had rotted away to nothing and replaced it with the nasturtiums that were threatening to overwhelm my brassica bed.
oh, also tied the shelves onto my greenhouse staging frame....but not before I caught my elbow on it and chucked a shelf full of seedlings onto the floor! (the non edibles are fine but I dont think the kale and broccoli will make it. )

[Snadger]

Took up the last of my garlic and planted 'Saxa' french beans in its place. Did half an hours weeding of my paths.

[Florence Fennel]

Watered seedlings. Smashed several snails to bits with the back of a trowel. Planted out more courgettes to replace the ones the aforesaid molluscs have eaten. Fed tomatoes. Started to weed a patch of ground for the bras to go in, but ran out of energy.

[rustylady]

Took the dog and two of the grandchildren for a walk round the Fen. Looked for ducks cos we had bread for them. Said hello to a couple of the regulars and then walked up to the play area. Star and me had to stay outside cos dogs not allowed so Granddaughter took likkle grandson on the swings and slide. When they had finished we went to the allotment and picked strawberries. Some of them made it home, and grandson picked some sweet peas for his Mum.

[Niall]

Replanted more aubergines into large pots, did some watering, weeding and fertilising.

Took some pictures too and put on my Niall's Garden blog.

Giant marrows have also started to develop

[binley100]

Planted out peppers ..sowed a variety of more french beans .......did some weeding.....planted some donated raspberry canes through cardboard in the fruit cage......watched the tadpoles......redid the netting round the peas (just how high do dwarf peas grow).....meanwhile OH. strimmed paths etc, trimmed hedges ( no nests we checked ) ....and sealed the shed roof .......
at home.....fed the toms ....planted some herbs .....

[hamamelis]

Went down the lottie for yet another slug collection, after missing a few days last week. I don't know how they can appear in such quantities so fast, but at least there's a few less of the little horrors now.

Weeded round the strawberries, and planted out a few new ones bought yesterday for 50p each. It's finally starting to look like a proper strawberry patch now, with a decent amount of flowers, and quite a bit of fruit forming, after I got all fo about 5 fruits last year. I think I need to get a lot more netting for various plants though, the birds have been stripping my broad beans off, as well as the currants, which are juuuust starting to colour up a bit, they've even been pulling the forming courgettes off. Keep thinking I might as well just build a giant cage over the whole area- I've already netted about half the plot!

Planted out a lemon mint, to join my growing mint collection, as well as a few lovely looking snapdragons off the neighbour, and enjoyed the fact that it was actually sunny for once.

[eirish]

Sowed more peas, carrots, and spring onions. Planted out the rest of the cucumbers, the bay tree, a few peas that were hanging around in root trainers, and the spare green courgette. Did another round with the seaweed spray - my Tigerella tomato is looking much perky, I'm happy to say. Cucumbers, sadly, not looking any happier.

[Rabidbun]

Checked to see if the mystery pest had de-leaved any more of my beans and made sure the ferrous pellets were still there. Tied up a pea and bean or two. Moved achocha leaves and growing tips back into sunlight. Planted a cucumber into a greenhouse pot. Hoping it will live as was too big to keep indoors any more.

[binley100]

Took up the rest of my garlic and then de weeded and forked over the bed ready to put in some courgettes.....turned a compost heap into the next bay and emptied one of the weed daleks into the now empty bay....fed comfrey tea to fruiting plants.....lifted some shallots .

[Snadger]

Planted out about 40 Chrysanthemum plants that were becoming potbound.

[pipscariad]

Planted out 5 courgettes and one butternut squash, all through holes in black stuff. Sowed some more beetroot and perp spinach in the gaps in the rows. More weeding, and still lots to be done but back can't take anymore... Collected about seventy slugs to start off another batch of home-made nematode brew as it seems to be working well. Also put the sprout plug plants that arrived yesterday into rootrainers to strengthen them up a bit before planting out - at least, that's what I'm hoping for!

[binley100]

Planted up the bras bed in the centenary garden ......petit posy sprouts, falstaff sprouts, kalibos cabbage, fildekraut cabbage, purple cape cauli, romanescu cauli ans scarlet kale.......couldn't find any little blue sweeties so the slimy ones are going to have a field day . Struggled with the netting but managed to protect them from the flying rats.
At home ....sowed some greek gigantes beans, cucs , and potted up some armpits ........