What I did today 2012-2014

[susieq100]

Finished forking over the bed for my main crop potatoes - they can go in this week (better late than never!), used an old kitchen work surface as the edge to a raised bed - gosh it was heavy to lug around the plot, then cleared one strawberry bed of rubbish - two buckets full of creeping buttercup and assorted weeds! Planted some radish and beetroot. Peas and carrots are up - just! It is beginning to look more 'lived-in' now.

[SarzWix]

Potted up lettuce Mini Green and Salad Bowl, and parsley. Sowed 4 courgettes, 4 butternut Harrier, 4 Potimarron, 4 Blue Banana, 4 Boston Hubbard and 4 Golden Hubbard. 2 of each in ordinary MPC and 2 in MPC mixed with biochar. Also sowed a bunch of gherkins (thanks VVG ) all in biochar/MPC cos I'd run out of unmixed stuff. After dinner I need to pot up lots of calabrese seedlings.

Also done about 10 loads of laundry and baked some biccies

[Martin H]

Finished clearing roots out of bed 4 on the allotment, broadcast some winter tares until the brassicas need the space.

Pegged out the corners of bed 5, removed loose top growth of couch, brambles, nettles and carpets ready for digging when I get a chance (next weekend I hope).

Took a couple of allotment pictures and added them to my album "Lottie".

[veggiechicken]

Spent the morning de-nettling the jungle and the afternoon in the GH 'cos it was raining. Potted up rainbow chard and tomato seedlings.
Earthed up the pots in pots yet again - they're growing like triffids now.
Managed to squeeze all the remaining seed trays into one prop - leaving one empty. Time to start some more seeds.
Lots of chat on here about courgettes being sown now - maybe they'll be next

[Aberdeenplotter]

Mixed up several batches of compost to pot on my leeks and large exhibition onions. Gave her indoors a demo of what to do and then left her to pot on her first efforts with these veggies. Nice to see her enjoy what she was doing even although she has now completely taken over one of my greenhouses . Hers are actually looking better than mine at this stage. Traitors so they are.

Potted on my pot and blanch leeks- total 32 plants and also 30 large onions. My remaining greenhouse at home is now bursting at the seams. My small onions have been left to their own devices outside now. They have been hardening off this last 10 days or so so they will be ok- I hope. Pics to go up on The " onions from seed " thread tomorrow if I remember.

[Doive]

Basically started again today. Wind last week whipped the frost fleece away and sliced my tall pea plants in half like a knife. Sigh. They managed to survive two months of snow and frost, finally the wind took them.

So, deep breath, moved the survivors to a single climbing frame, and in addition planted runner beans and two other tall pea varieties, Lord Leicester and Telephone. Also planted dragon purple carrots, hollow parsnips (again), asparagus peas, lettuce, beetroot, rainbow chard, more garlic, kale and tree cabbage. Surely some of that lot will make it through. I've never known such a nasty early spring.

Signs of growth on the raspberry plants, which is good.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Lots of chat on here about courgettes being sown now - maybe they'll be next

Sowed courgette seeds in 3" pots and put them in the mini-greenouse - two each of black beauty and jemmer. My experience is that one plant of each will provide enough courgettes for most of the Street
Also in 3" pots, I sowed a couple of spaghetti squash seed; four varieties of dwarf french beans; three of climbing french beans; and runner beans.
The mini greenhouse is now full.

[rustylady]

Planted my onion sets finally More digging and clearing.

Was happy to see flowers forming on the gooseberries and blackcurrants.

[vikkib]

• Finished painting my shed (I swear it's the paint holding it together).

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• Dug out most of the raspberry canes I'm replacing and moved all the 'clutter' (as one fellow plot holder calls it) to where the canes where freeing up space for my planned brassica bed this year.

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• Mulched main crop spuds with shredded paper soaked in water and put cardboard between the rows.
  
  This means the danger of me being killed my an avalanche of shredded paper every time I go near my shed has been diminished quite substantially!
  
  Can't believe I didn't have enough to do the first earlies too... will have to wait for more shreddies!

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[VirginVegGrower]

Potted up lettuce Mini Green and Salad Bowl, and parsley. Sowed 4 courgettes, 4 butternut Harrier, 4 Potimarron, 4 Blue Banana, 4 Boston Hubbard and 4 Golden Hubbard. 2 of each in ordinary MPC and 2 in MPC mixed with biochar. Also sowed a bunch of gherkins (thanks VVG ) all in biochar/MPC cos I'd run out of unmixed stuff. After dinner I need to pot up lots of calabrese seedlings.

Also done about 10 loads of laundry and baked some biccies

Are you mixing 10:1? That's what I've done, only with broad beans. Half with and half without.

[VirginVegGrower]

Mr VVG rechipped all the paths in my absence yesterday and has set about starting another new raised bed at home. I must go out for the day more often

[QuoitsPlayer]

I planted 100 Carrots in a collection of old car tyres as the Clay here on the NY Moors means they can't grow in the soil!

[eirish]

Over the weekend I cleared part of another bed and started opening the cold frame during the day to let the peas harden off a bit before going out. My sweet pea seedlings have started to be Slug Snax.

On the bright side, everything is shooting up now that we've had a bit of warmth and SUN.

[hamamelis]

I finally managed to get down the lottie today- I left the site key in the car, and took it to get its MOT last tuesday- which it failed. It then spent the rest of the week there. I finally got it back just before I had to go to Cumbria for the weekend...

Spring has arrived in my absence- the broadies I optimistically sowed in february have finally appeared, the first parsnips, beetroot, and rocket babies are just peeping out, the plum tree is finally coming into flower, and the weeds are racing away like nobodys business!

Planted out a tray of peas, and a tray of broadies that've been hardening off in the back garden, and put the last of the potatoes out- meaning I now briefly have windowsill space again! It won't last

Sowed some rampion, and some carrots- chatenay red cored and cosmic purple, then came home and planted the first of the curcubits in the heated prop (said the space wouldn't last)- I appear to have 10 varieties of pumpkin/winter squash, to say nothing of the courgettes and summer squash. I hope they'll all fit, 'cos I wanna grow all of 'em!

Harvested some corn salad and sprouting broccolli; it's nice to be picking things without feeling like I'm leaving the place empty!

[rustylady]

Managed an hour at the allotment this afternoon with my little helper who promptly fell asleep in my canvas chair. Bless him, he's not been feeling well and the Piriton makes him sleepy but he seemed full of beans and wanted to come with me. I let him sleep while I did some work and then woke him up gently and took him to the park on the way home.

Indoors, have sown Marketmore cucumber (first time of growing this), re-potted chillies and peppers, and potted up chitted beans.