What I did today 2012-2014

[out in the cold]

Went and got piles of horse poo from one of my colleagues who is a farmer's wife.

This will be combined with compost tomorrow or Sunday and out into the spud bags to sit for a wee while awaiting spud sowing.

[Zenithtb]

Planted onions

Another 3-400 in fact, to add to the same-again I planted three weeks ago. God bless my long-handled dibber ;-)

Add now as not added before; also planted some tomatoes, but have to keep earthing them up as we have high winds here at the moment and they keep getting bent over...

Also planted a grand total of six (yes, 6) cauliflowers. I simply want to see if/how they grow in my soil, and the micro-climate of my allotment (it's much milder than the surrounding area as it's fairly walled in).

Finally, a while ago I planted about 30 lettuces, though how many will survive the dogs playing on them is anyone's guess :-)

[out in the cold]

Finally, a while ago I planted about 30 lettuces, though how many will survive the dogs playing on them is anyone's guess :-)

Our dog problems with lettuces is that the old girl has a quick munch on them as she passes them

I don't really mind too much, apart from the fact she bites a bit off and then remembers that she doesn't really like them, so spits it out...

[Two_Sheds]

- got 2 hrs weeding done up the lotty before it got too cold
- collected another bucket of seaweed, left it on beds as a mulch
- cut back the budding honeysuckles and clems
- started chopping up a horrible sedge: will have to get back to it as it's too hard to dig out
- bottled most of the raspberry wine: 18 bottles today, another 12 to do next weekend
- sowed nemophila, chillies & cornflowers in the heated prop

[VirginVegGrower]

- got 2 hrs weeding done up the lotty before it got too cold
- collected another bucket of seaweed, left it on beds as a mulch

Wish I was nearer the coast.
Raised bed splitting is finished. Mr VVG gone to talk manure with farmer. Raspberry bed pruned. Leeks up and bed raked over. Plan tomorrow is weeding, mulching of fruit beds. Mucking of spud beds.

[bramble]

Got nothing done here today. Have my 3 grandkids from 8.30 until 6 o'clock tonight so stuck in.
The only good thing is I have been knitting on and off throughout the day and at least I have got the back of my summer top finished.
I love them really but Saturday is my pitch and putt day. One mother is gone oin a hen weekend and the other was called into work. All happens on the same weekend.

[Peppermint]

My 6 Octavia raspberry canes arrived from Blackmoor's yesterday. Today I quickly forked over a patch for them. Planted with some blood, fish and bonemeal and mulched with some year-old cow manure.

OH is still busy building the new shed. I burnt cuttings, branches and old rotten fenceposts. Pottered round collecting old dried grass / weeds to burn as well. I'll sieve the ashes tomorrow and put them around my strawberries.

Stained the new timber on the frame of the shed as OH finished off and tidied up his tools.

Another early start in the garden tomorrow

[Peppermint]

Lovely sunny, but frosty start to the day. We went to the beach and collected some bags of seaweed.

OH went back to shed building. While I started to clear the part of the garden that has acted as a seed nursery, strawberry beds and a place to put plants 'on hold' because I didn't have anywhere ready to plant them

I'm clearing everything from this patch so that I can put potatoes in them this year. Moved two gooseberry bushes to the new fruit cage area. Took cuttings and popped them in pots with labels.

Finished off digging a new section, and then forked it over again. This is where the strawberry plants will be moved to next week.

Had a brilliant time in the garden this weekend. If we didn't have to go out to work it would be perfect

[KittyColdNose]

Didn't do much today in the garden as it was covered in snow most of the morning. Eventually did a bit of hoe, hoe, hoe-ing. Opened two bags of horse poop we got given to discover it is fresh. Hmmmm, mibbe I will put some at the end of a bed and put some patty pans in it and use more for the taters mixed with some compost.

[rabbit]

Soaked and planted the strawberry plants I got into a half barrel. Covered with fleece. The rest will be potted and stay inside. Hopefully if all do well the latter I can give as gifts.

Weeded a bit of the overflow plot and put the raspberry canes in. Noticed the plot is very hard underneath the first 1/2 foot or so. Seemed to be patches of solid chalk. Put in some blood fish and bone. Didnt mulch. Should have mulched.

My pepper seedlings have been moved to the lean-to to harden up a bit. They dont look very hard. Hope they pull through. Rescued some very poorly looking tomato seedlings that are for my Dad from the airing cupboard, theyre on the windowsill now. They come from a stupid kit thing in a tray with no drainage. I just followed the instructions on them when I sowed. Might prick them out fairly soon.

[binley100]

Worked my little booties off at a very cold lottie cos 'twas only way to keep warm ....Sooooooo we had a fire and cleared a load of woody stuff and prepped another bed for tatties. Forked it over getting out weeds and a mountain of horsetail then covered it with newspaper and piles of leaves all topped off with a nice layer of llama poop just need cardboard to cover it now. Harvested some stuff for dinner and popped over the fence for coffee and a natter with me mate.

[Likac66]

Went to the allotment today with my mum and dad. My dad pruned the apple tree which is now looking a bit sorry for itself. I told him not to overdo it, but he says he knows what he's doing! Mum says if it doesn't recover she'll buy me a new tree. LOL

We started clearing the area behind the tree. Lots of brambles and some old raspberry canes. Chopped everything back - I do want raspberries but I think I'm better off starting from scratch in this area. I'll have to spray it regularly over the summer to kill off the brambles completely then in the autumn I want to put a shed up here.

My dad then rotavated the front half of the plot so it's ready to use and I put down some cloche tunnels to try to warm the soil in preparation for planting in a few weeks. I'm so pleased with how much we got done today.

[VirginVegGrower]

Full day on weeding (not much) thanks to green manure and mulches. Turned in green manure beds, rock dusted another two beds, applied BFB to other four and compost mulched. Manure raspberry and rhubarb beds. Only fruit bed to go and we are ready for the off. Started off a new compost bin. Emptied other one onto beds. Fed allium bed and hoed in. Soon be eating roobarb, looking at it.
Raring to go!

[veggiechicken]

Sowed beetroot seeds in modules in the kitchen.
Brought a couple of flower buckets of compost indoors for a sowing of carrots in one and a potato in another. I'll keep them in the kitchen until the weather improves or they germinate. There are more things growing in the kitchen than in the greenhouse.
Forked over the compost heap to warm up (me - not the compost).

[WPG]

A beautiful bright day, and for the first time in weeks the soil was dry enough to walk on, so dug over a 20 x 10 foot potato bed.
Limed the beds where the brassicas are going (having read and re-read the instructions....seems such a small amount needed per bed, I'd bought the smallest box in the shop but it's going to last forever at this rate)
Scattered blood fish and bone around the fruit bushes and comfrey plants.

More general pottering about, until I realised just how cold I'd got. Apparently going to be minus 5 here tonight, brrrr.