What I did today - 2015

[Lumpy]

Picked my first red toms, threw away both of my courgette plants as the local hoodlum cat had ripped both of them out of their planters and probably had a brilliant time shredding the leaves up, picked some young spring onions to go on top of the lunchtime cheese on toast.

Propped my 4 containers of runners up against the wind - again. Next year it's definately dwarf ones for me.

Saw a snail trail that goes up the wall all the way to the roof on the bungalow - Oh great a super snail

[1Bee]

Lumpy, you know those wire hanging baskets? Like this? 18 inch (46cm) Wire Hanging Baskets - Round Bottom | Hanging Baskets

Pick some up when you see them going cheap. Put one up-side-down over your courgettes when you've just planted them and secure with tent pegs etc. The leaves grow through, the holes are usually wide enough to harvest through, but it keeps cats off. So sorry about your courgettes!

[kris1960]

Cleared the north boundary, filled one black bin with nettles and one with comfrey, weeded beetroot and marigold bed and watered greenhouse tomatos.
Not sure whether to make into liquid feeds or compost- any advice very welcome.

[Snadger]

Strung up two strings of shallots, one of pink shallots and one of 'normal' shallots.

Sowed my ball headed 'Spring Hero' spring cabbage in a small pot. Once germinated I'll pot each plant into a 3" pot. I'll probably plant some outdoors, but also grow a few indoors for an early crop.

Noticed that my Seaweed kale is ready to go into its final planting position but I'll need to pull summat up to give me the space to plant out. Onions are starting to keel over so there bed could possibly be where the seaweed kale goes.

Weeded indoor beds of tomatoes.

[vixylix]

I made three plaits from my red onions and shallots which have been drying for the last week or so. Also sourced some jars to start preserving!

I was at home yesterday and my GYO mag arrived just after I finished lunch. I then promptly opened the seeds and planted a few out in some of the gaps in the raised bed from the previously bolted spinach. Even I was impressed with that efficiency

[SusieG]

Planted Charlotte potatoes into 3 grow bags. Left 'em in a tidy row outside my greenhouse so's I can take them inside when the weather dictates ...
Just looking through packs of seeds I've got and going to start something inside GH in grow bags hopefully to take them through winter ...

[Basher]

Potted on some veg for overwinter, hopefully some for beds and some for cold greenhouse.
Lots of spring onions, a dozen or so Kale, Nero di Toscana.

I also created the Leaning Tower o' Pak Choi, hope it works!

[kris1960]

Yesterday- weeded beans,sweetcorn and gourds and did paths around them. The slugs hit me hard in those beds but I have at least 2 of each variety of gourd and half of the beans - only one of cosse violette though. Picked loads of flowers and my first courgette di milano(delicious).

[CaroleL]

Yesterday - watered, weeded and tidied up the courgettes and squashes. A couple of the courgettes were mildewed at the ends, so they were carefully removed and the rest inspected. Hopefully that isn't going to be a problem with the rest of them, although I can't complain if I lose the plants now as I've had a great harvest off them.

Only one of the squash plants has an actual squash on it. Just tennis ball size at the moment. Hope we get enough summer for it to grow a bit more.

[1Bee]

Hoed between the leeks and generally weed bashed.

Lifted the cardboard on a corner of a fallow bed and dug a hole, threw in some chicken manure and BFB, then transplanted one of my overcrowded PSBs. Firmed in, staked, watered, and re-mulched with fresh cardboard.

Went over the PSB and swedes for caterpillars, found a few littlies. We're next to a hedge, and I honestly think the birds are helping me out with this job, as I've seen hardly any caterpillars and plenty of butterflies...

Sowed some turnips. Just for fun.

Watered and fed and gave everything a pep talk ahead of my abandoning it for a week while we're on holiday.

[Snadger]

Ventured into the jungle in my polytunnel. Was in search of a tribe of pygnies but had to hack may way through pumpkin foliage as i went. No pygmies, but i found another pumpkin loitering under the foliage. Weeded my red onions and had some fun flicking peas from my Telephone pea pods at the chooks and watching them fight over them.

[kris1960]

Weeded the exblackberry area before it reverts, cleared around pond and the brussel sprout bed. Watered the new seedbeds and tomatos. Scavenged some cable cotton reel thingies from a building site - useful for putting my tea or feet on while gazing around the allotment and planning the next job.

[Jay-ell]

Potted up half a dozen bamboo into big pots and tubs.

Dug over the entrance path and started laying out a crazy paving path. This will have pennyroyal, chamomile and creeping thyme planted in the gaps.

Shovelled more of the manure pile - I'm sure someone keeps adding to it as it never seems to go down no matter how many beds I fill with it.

Have managed to hit the paving slabs underneath in one corner of the pile and dug up a selection of slabs - only one of which is whole. Even managed to clear some of the plastic sheeting under the slabs.

May extend the crazy paving and swap the knackered stuff for some of the whole slabs for use elsewhere.

Dug over the cleared area and added some of the manure from the pile. There's quite a bit of glass in this area - I've been pulling out as much as I can but I'll be planting fruit bushes in this section so I won't risk serious lacerations each year digging it over.

Plan for tomorrow - build a rose arch, plant a blackberry to grow over it and plant out some honeyberry plants. I may even plant up some of the aromatic path plants.

[Lumpy]

Put my solitary aubergine plant out into a new and as yet unoccupied raised bed. Yes I know but the plant was got from Asdo's for 10p and I don't like them anyway so I thought to myself.....what would BM do? Try a new approach was the answer.....

Potter around both front and back (which don't take long) wondering where my 36 new perennials are going to go - nope, no idea as of yet!

Tripped over the dog bed whilst having a hand full of mixed leaf seeds - now going to start looking for leaves in amongst the patio, pond and rhubarb tyres!

Wondered how we were going to turn 12 2x3ft panels into a chicken escape proof run - nope, no idea as of yet although cable ties do seem the way to go....

Re-checker the savoys for pilla's and eggs. Thankfully none found so my en mass squishing did the trick yesterday.

Looked in resignation at the sweetcorn in a front flower bed - nope no corn from them this year as I think they have to be more than 4in high.

[Penellype]

Taking things a little easier than usual today as I managed to tweak my ribs (which I broke badly a few years ago) lifting pots about yesterday.

Wandered around my friend's garden and pulled a few weeds. Removed some tomato side shoots and picked a cucumber for lunch.

Noticed that the onions there are about twice the size of mine - the difference between sun and horse muck vs shade and compost.

Came home and turned some of the onions I have drying in the garage - I dug them yesterday to make room for some broccoli that was threatening to die if I didn't do something drastic with it NOW.

Pollinated 4 cucumber flowers with a male brought from my friend's. All the flowers at home are female, most of the ones in her greenhouse are male. Found a small, sad looking flower on one of my large, sad looking melon plants. I think these are going to be a write-off this year as most of the leaves are goign brown.

Pulled some carrots and cut another huge courgette for yet more soup. Also harvested tomatoes, an orange pepper, lettuce and calendula flowers for lunch, but stupidly forgot about the baby leaf thinnings I was intending to eat from the fruit cage. Never mind, I'll eat them tomorrow.

Took a photo of my cauliflower disaster for the virtual show - having spent the last 12 months growing at about a rate of half an inch a month, the middle part has finally given up the ghost and gone brown. It did better than its 11 seed tray companions, which lasted only a couple of weeks before deciding that life was far too much like hard work.