What I did today 2012-2014

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

And a ""Wet suite" ...........

[Small pumpkin]

Spent most of the day playing in the kitchen. Made chilli jam, it's a warm one ( understatement ). Sweet cucumber pickle. Also diced & sliced 3 bunnies now portioned up in the freezer and made bunny stock with the bones. Bunnies not home grown but we did catch them.

[Bigmallly]

All raised beds now raised even higher, just need to top 'em up now...................the remaining decking has gone down in the kites paths.

[hamamelis]

Nipped down the lottie with the intention of planting a few daffodil bulbs, only to discover a massive pile of free woodchip, which I was really in need of. It would have been better if the kind donor hadn't dumped the whole pile in the middle of the road through the site (it's a biiig site), mind.

Got 4 barrowloads for the paths and to mulch the currants before it got a bit too dark. Bet there won't be much left when I go back in a few days- or if there is, it'll be all over the big junk heap, not in a neat pile. I did a few of the paths, but I'm not sure if I'll have quite enough to finish them all. Shame I'm starting a new job tomorrow, so I can't really spend the day at the lottie!

Found a few minutes in the semi-dark to squeeze a few bulbs in around the flower beds and bushes, but I still have more to plant.

Picked the first (and probably last) decent size courgette. Honestly, the rotten slugs have just chomped at every single baby courgette until now on the two plants that even bothered trying to grow any, meanwhile the lettuce a few feet away has been totally ignored.

[Snadger]

Hoed off some weed seedlings from my prepared bed that had potatoes in it this year and planted a single row of 26 red japanese onion sets. Weeded around a few spring cabbage plants that the pigeons had so very kindly left me.
Put a frame with mesh on it over them in case the pigeons weren't so benevolent in the future!
Harvested my pumpkin for the vine show yesterday so had a bit of a search through the cucurbit foliage and found a couple of small squashes.
Ate what will probably be my last sweetcorn cob this season as they are starting to mature and I want to try saving some seed from them. Ate a few grapes which still need to sweeten up a bit........but the chooks enjoyed them along with the remains of the sweetcorn.

[Martin H]

meanwhile the lettuce a few feet away has been totally ignored.

That's fantastic, please can I swap your slugs for mine? Mine are incapable of ignoring lettuce from any distance at all!

[Snadger]

Dug up about twenty tiny spring cabbage seedlings and potted them individually in potting compost in 3" pots. This will hopefully bring them on a bit in the greenhouse before planting out when they are bigger. If i'd left them whee thay were they were just slug and pigeon fodder!
Shelled loads of Blue Lake climbing beans for next years seed. I often wondered why they were called Blue Lake but after seeing the gorgeous colour of the seeds I now know why!
I have a tray full of modules of mixed perennials flowers which I intend doing the same with. I have no idea what I have but the mixed packet of seed had about thirty various perennial species in it so I should get a good selection! Once again I'll pot each module up into its own small pot and keep them in the greenhouse for winter where i can make sure they don't go short of water.

[hamamelis]

That's fantastic, please can I swap your slugs for mine? Mine are incapable of ignoring lettuce from any distance at all!

Depends- how do yours feel about courgettes?

I think the secret is to not really like the lettuce, and only plant it as a slug distractor. Slugs can sense pride.

[Bex]

Dismantled the bean wigwams today. It was quite sad. Put the plants and the sweet corn in the dalek. Picked a pound of blackberries, put them in the freezer until I have enough for some wine. If I don't get enough I'll pad out with apple. DS dug over about a quarter of new plot so I've some where to put the millions of onion sets I've ended up with.

Weeded, watered and slug pelleted the over winter brassica's, they all seem to be doing really well.

I'm now home cooking curried mutton for dinner tonight.


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[Noosner]

Planted a new pear tree today, and put some daffodil and narcissus bulbs in a ring around it. I love planting a new tree, don't know why but I find it quite moving (soppy person that I am).

Can't wait for the spring when new leaves and daffodils appear!

[chilli_grower]

Today I dug over a section of the allotment, and have started preparing a new raised bed. (See pics).

I also pulled up approx 5 stone of potatoes (sarpo mira).

[Aberdeenplotter]

well I didn't go near the plot today and did something more important. Difficult to think of summat innit. Anyway, took my better half to an auto jumble sale in the principality of Alford in the grounds of the motor museum there. Not that she wanted to go there you understand but I did. The deal was I would run her around the area afterwards to allow her to make sense of some of the place names she has seen on the internet. Anyway, before I did that, I took her to a wee place called Corgarff in deepest Aberdeenshire close to the ski slopes and treated her to lunch. Better than that, on the way home, I took her into a Morrison's supermarket - she complained she rarely gets to Morrisons and she likes a change of shopping place every so often. I needed a wee so that suited me nicely .

After we got home, I made her a pot of french onion soup which I have to say was delish. Even made the toast with gruyere cheese and she ate the lot. good innit

I think I'll maybe ask her to pour me a nice beer later.

[Florence Fennel]

Cleared all the tomato plants with the help of youngest Golden Girl and youngest son. Now have backache

[Two_Sheds]

- continued deadheading the fabulous sunflowers, marigolds, cosmos and scabious: it's so warm still that the borders are looking as good now as in June

- pulled up lots of chickweed and a few nettles and deadnettles that are coming up through the mulch. Added their dead bodies to the mulch

- didn't cut down the raspberry canes or the sweetcorn stalks. I leave them all winter as hibernating ladybirds use them

- self sown parsnips are now going to flower, so pulled them up, chopped them roughly and left on soil as mulch

- spent all afternoon & evening shelling beans in front of a movie, lovely. Filled about a dozen jars with dry beans

- made fiery chilli tomato soup out of the outdoor Marzano toms, which is unbelievable. It's usually too cold here to grow toms outside

[rary]

Looking at the state of one of my raised beds I decided to renew the wood, the first two photos show the raised bed that I am renewing the third shows the first side being prepared I still haven't made up my mind whither to put copper wire or wet/dry sandpaper along the base. If anyone has any advice on this it would be gratefully appreciated.
hope the photos come out ok.