What I did today 2012-2014

[VirginVegGrower]

Looked after grandchildren

AGAIN? I'd hide behind the sofa when you hear the doorbell

Anyhow, moved herbs in pots, planted some new ones, gravel topped all, removed all the weed from the gravel steps and noticed the violets are spreading throughout, as is the lily of the valley - wahoo!
Taught daughter how to plant spuds and sow peas, because one day she will have her own garden . She chose a climbing pea for the polytunnel and put Maris piper spuds into the raised bed at home, which her dad had just finished. They are now graveling a new path around said beds. I planted lots of new plants bought, so now there are none knocking around again. Lots of empty pots, which always feel goods. Not been to the lotty so I'm hoping to send Mr VVG up there tomorrow. I'm off to London
Shattered I am but pleased I've made headway again.

[zazen999]

Dug and weeded a massive bed and planted out 20 asparagus crowns. Another bodge job from T&M; half the asparagus crowns were mouldy. Now off to send an email complaint.

And we planted the Amelanchier x Grandiflora Ballerina in the courtyard. Most excellent.

Totally shattered now. Need a hot bath and kip.

[stelladays]

Planted on my little gem seedlings, planted a new row of onions then dropped my kaffir lime tree on the floor bringing it in for the night, breaking the pot and snapping various flowering branches, gutted, not happy

[bramble]

Managed to find time to pot on all my tomato and chillis into bigger pots before being dragged out to walk in the woods and the beach by my two sisters.
A beautiful sunny day, so it didn't take much persuasion but was glad i go them potted on before I went out.

[Likac66]

Another greenhouse disaster for me I'm afraid. I switched the heater on last night as there was a frost. When I went in at 9 this morning it was still only 5 deg in there so I turned the heater up slightly and went up to the allotment.

When I came home at lunchtime I thought I'd better check the greenhouse window was open and if need be open the door. Well, I opened the door and was nearly knocked over by the heat coming out. The heater was on full, the window opener had fallen off meaning the window wasn't open and the thermometer said 58 degrees celcius. 58 deg C!! Worse than that, I have all my sweet peppers and san marzano tomato plants still in a heated propagator. They have been coming on beautifully in there. But when I opened it up all the plants were completely wilted. (Not suprisingly.) Everything else looked sad as well.

Anyway, I obviously opened everything I could. The thermostat on the heater must have broken as it just wouldn't switch off until I cut the power to it. Tonight I have just wrapped and fleeced everything over. I watered everything and rewatered them 2 or 3 times during the day. Everything else looks like it might survive, but I think the stuff from the propagator is unrecoverable. I have repotted the stalks and given them a good water but if they don't perk up within the week they are going to the great compost heap in the sky.

Anyway... at the allotment I weeded a bed that seemed to have some kind of buttercup creeping across it. I put in the heavy duty pegs into the polytunnel frame and put the cover over. I dug down and covered the plastic all round.

I raked the roots bed ready to plant lots of carrots tomorrow.

Came home and did my final sowing of tomatoes. Planted baby plum, garden pearl, tigerella, golden sunrise. Potted on the black cherry and marmande tomatoes and a few chillies.

So a day of mixed feelings - gutted over the sweet peppers, cayenne and Sam Marzano tomatoes I lost, but pleased about the polytunnel.

[sammy_roser]

Found an ants nest in my strawberry bed

Planted cucamelon, musk melon, 2nd batch of courgettes, asparagus peas and fiesta corn.

Lift the cardboard off my raised compost bed, amazed to see how much of the veg had rotted away and the size of the worms never seen any that big! Recovered the bed again as I need to harden off the broad beans from my mini greenhouse.

[Martin H]

Spent most of the day down the allotment, nearly finished digging bed 4 now. Back tomorrow to finish the job.
Sowed some winter tares on the potato bed to see what happens, and a short row of radishes.

[SarzWix]

Commiserations on your plants Likac66. Some will recover though I'm sure x

Yesterday, I raked the straw off the onion bed, and mulched the raspberries and gooseberries with it instead, then planted 5 packs of onion sets, 1 of Vulcan, 2 of Hercules, 1 Red Karmen and 1 Red Arrow. Left enough room for the ones sown from seed which are just hardening off.

Today, I've sorted out the compost bins, emptying the dregs of each into one bin, and putting new weed control fabric under them. Took the warming cloche off the carrot bed, hoed it, raked it, and sowed 2 rows of 7 different varieties, along with a couple of rows of beetroot and a couple of rows of parsnips. Fitted Enviromesh over the cloche hoops.

[Feral007]

Have taken the chicken wire fence down from when the batties first arrived. Will be making that into a broadie trellis today and planting them out. Wondering how they will go, should I mulch them up a lot? Or will they cope with the frost? Hoping so. The corn is in front of them, so will leave that until I have enough hay to mulch around them properly, atm the hay is all for the green manure mulch and theya must go in today or never as far as I'm concerned.

Need to mulch the bamboo as well. I know it will survive even the winds down here if I can get it to a reasonable size first. It's supposed to cope with up to - 6C I think, but it will be the -10 and more that will be the risk in mid winter.

[hawthorns]

planted out 30 spinach, 12 marshall lettuce, sown 3 rows of radish, sown black beauty courgette, potted on biscia rossa lettuce, potted on corriander.
moved rosemary bush.
planted out rosemary cutting
took sage and thyme cuttings
planted out a couple of cornflowers
sown a few poached egg and phacelia seeds
added to the wood pile
edged grass paths

[Likac66]

Been to the lottie today. Put together a cold frame. Well, mostly then discovered I'd made a mistake. Will take it apart and put it back together another time!

Planted carrots: Half a row of Cosmic Purple, half a row of Rainbow Mixed, half a row of Chantenay and half a row of Early Nantes. Planted a few radishes inbetween.

Planted some Zermatt leeks directly - hoping to have them as baby leeks.

The allotment shop was open so I bought a Dutch hoe, some modules for planting my sweetcorn in and some potting compost. Then we entered the pumpkin competition - bought two entries so we have 2 seeds each for my daughters to plant this week.

[Barking Postlethwaite]

Filled the broad bean bed by planting out the Crimson Flowered to join the Bunyards Exhibition already there; planted out celeriac seedlings; planted out parsnip seedlings alternating them with some direct-sown seeds; planted a double row of Oregon mange toute; piled some more earth on potato ridges; pushed some escaping onion and shallot sets back into the ground; removed weeds (yes, spring is truly here at last) from between the carrots/turnips/beetroot/radish/lettuce sown under fleece and now germinating at last.

Busy, busy, busy.

Suddenly from having an empty field I am in danger of running out of space. Enough room has been reserved for some leeks, runner/french beans, cucs/courgettes/squashes, sweetcorn and kale but not a lot else. No more impulse seed buying!

[Bren In Pots]

Not much today only potted on my toms and moved things from the GH to the makeshift cold frame.

[treepixie]

Planted Crimson flowered Broad beans, thanks for the advice( from another thread) just leaving the allotment site and came across loads seed trays being given away free, well pleased as I could not find mine earlier and was expecting to have to buy some.

[horticultural_hobbit]

Took the mama down to the plot. She's making sure I water it regularly, even though rain is forecast. Anchored one and a half of the bean frames with diagonal bamboo support. Took my seed stash. handed it over to mama H. who then tore the tops of the packets, and proceeded to broadcast sow. Purple top milan turnips-mama h calls them shalgums or something similar-beetroot, caroots and ruby swede. Mama H inspected the strawberries that she'd kicked out of the garden. There was a lot of 'yes, ma, no, Ma, will you please stop throwing around those seed packets, Mum."