What I did today 2012-2014

[susieq100]

Went to the allotment and cleared paths, shovelled compost, cardboarded the fruit plot where the strawberries are going to go and generally worked up a 'sweat'. Fabulous. Very enjoyable. Then we went to Halfords and got more heavy cardboard to put on my paths. Sun was shining, sky was blue.
When we got home I made some plum jam with fruit that had been hiding in the freezer. A productive afternoon.

[Vince G]

Sowed toms: Giulietta (plum), Apero (cherry), Fantasio ("normal") and Black Russian;

Sowed Peppers: Etudia (orange) California Wonder (red)

Sowed basil: Gecofure, Lemon and Purple.

Set out first earlies for chitting: Duke of York, Vanessa, Pink Fir Apple, "Jersey Royals"

Re-potted a couple of houseplants.

Laid a few slabs at the lottie!

[Linzy]

(yesterday) cleaned out the greenhouse, chucked out all the broken pots, organised rest of pots in size order. Remade the willow hurdle that had fallen apart. Pruned the laural bush back abit

[Bigmallly]

Pulled out more tree roots so I could identify tattie beds.............I ache in places I didn't know I had.

[BertieFox]

Sowed two modules with leek seeds, and sowed Rubus lineatus, Hakea teretifolia (supposedly hardy Protea) and a mixture of Andean shrubs, all seed from Plant World Seeds in Newton Abbot.

Put on the hose and gave the polytunnel a good water. The slugs or snails are already busy and I have lost some of my cabbages but they are leaving most alone so far. I hate to use pellets but may have to if it gets worse. Harvested sprouts and some purple sprouting from a 'summer' variety!! Just realised I completely forgot to harvest any Chinese artichokes in the autumn and am wondering if it is too late or whether the roots are still ok to eat.

[Noosner]

I have quite a number of tree stumps on plot, mainly dead, but pretty impossible to dig out, am interested to hear that salt can help, does it affect surrounding area? And how much are you putting on them?

Hi Dotty R, I had a tree stump removal bloke have a look at mine and he recommended drilling holes in them and putting rock salt in to help them rot down quicker. I bought table salt instead, which is apparently the same thing but a lot finer, so it was easier to pour down the holes. I am just pouring salt over them about once a week. Tree stump man said it was a completely benign solution and a lot better than using poison. But I don't know whether it will affect the surrounding soil or not and had just assumed not, which may be wrong! Good luck.

[Penellype]

Salt is an inorganic mineral and as such will not rot down, although it is soluble in water and will therefore wash "away". However it has to go somewhere, and the most logical place for it to go is into your soil.

[Currysniffa]

Just sown a 5 short rows of early Nantes 2 carrots in a deep container. Covered them with fleece and put them in the old coalhouse to germinate. When/if they germinate I'll move them into the greenhouse and cover with glass. Don't usually sow carrots this early but I'm getting bored! Hope they grow.

[Hayley]

Dug over my patch at the bottom of the garden, planning on growing my potatoes, beans and strawberries here this year.

Walked around the garden and pondered where to put my new greenhouse which is still in the packaging in the spare room. It looks like one of the old sheds will have to go which means I've got to build a new flight on the newer shed and move my aviary birds. Pen & paper time.

[Penellype]

Succumbed to temptation and planted out 50 onion sets under fleece. The soil is sandy and doesn't seem too wet (we have had much less rain than some places) and there is no forecast for very cold weather so I'm hoping they will be ok. Last year I planted 50 sets in mid February under plastic (removed in April) and 50 more in early March not under plastic, and the February ones were ready noticably earlier, but I was worried that the plastic made them too dry, hence the fleece.

[ancee]

Got a parcel I'd forgotten ordering! 2 white currants, 2 red currants and some Jerusalem artichokes. So off I went a and planted the lot. Also found some stuff I'd bought from the pound shop and forgotten about in the shed - agapanthus, lupins and tuberose. So that all went in too, the lupins were sprouting in the packet!

[Plot28 A&B]

Went to the lotty this morning netted the fruit cage roof 4m x 6m- ran out of net so could not do the sides :-(. Cut down my autumn raspberries, cleaned out the small pond we have, pruned my two bramley apple trees and put up a bird box. Busy morning but great to be outside with no rain.

[Nicos]

Cooked the last of our stored apples as they were going rubbery or rotting.
Now got 9kg of stewed apple in the freezer...and a bit more storage space in the barn!

That should keep us going for a while

[AllInContainers]

Finally assembled the rest of my gas lights tonight. They're not burning efficiently at the moment due to temperatures, but the effect was brilliant all the same.

I also started having second thoughts about my kiwi. It's sited in completely the wrong place to ever produce anything (which I've only just figured out for certain), and I don't want them where they'd have to go iin order to stand a chance of producing anything. I've not reached any definite conclusions yet, but it's not looking good for them. If I lose them off that side of the arch, do I have passionfruit both sides? Will that be any better? Do I lose the arch altogether? Lots more thinking required ... but at least my gas lights look nice

[BertieFox]

"I also started having second thoughts about my kiwi. It's sited in completely the wrong place to ever produce anything".

What position are they in, as unless they are in deep shade and facing north they should eventually flower? Kiwi can take for ever to come into fruiting state (ours have taken ten years) as we'd given up with ours completely until last spring when it was suddenly covered with (female) flowers. I hand pollinated them with pollen from three male flowers on an adjacent vine which is still very feeble, but the taste of the ripe fruit (in December!) was like no kiwi I have ever bought. They should ripen slowly on the vine even if it is not south facing.