What I did today - 2015

[Ding Dang Doo]

Put a roof on the 'aviary ', we have got 3 geese on the plot now, and are prepping to get choocks beginning, midlle of Septembe , so trying to get everything ready for thrm.

I'm not hsppy sith the geese - when they were small, they could be left to their own devises a bit, but now they are maturing, they are becoming greedy, as I discovered when I found them tucking into my turnips

Needless to say, this bed now has a net covering it.

They also had a peck at my runners... Hmmmmm... finding out quickly that geese are not ideal partners with a vegetable grower...

Dug another bed, in preperation for next year. Weeded a bit and tidied around.

[vixylix]

Did a lot of general tidying, removing dead leaves, tying up and feeding.

Harvested lots of peas and more salad veg.

Finally got round to moving one of my chilli plants indoors as a trial run to see if it helped it along - what do you know? About 3 flowers opened overnight! Will now be interesting to compare progress with those outside. I'm hoping this slightly warmer weather will help things along a bit.

Spent a long time looking at my strawberries (one of which is finally red and nearly ready to eat) and my tomatoes which are still very green and it requires David Attenborough style patience to find them!

removed the tassels from the baby corn - the cobs are finally starting to come through!! Exciting

[jonny the plant pot]

Thinned out my tomatoes and built my plot neighbour a polly tunnel.

[vixylix]

wow jonny you have loads of tomatoes! serious tomato envy! I was super excited about the approx 10 green ones I'd managed to find on 3 plants!

[CaroleL]

Did some weeding and watering. Tidied the tomatoes and cucumbers generally pottered about.

[Snadger]

Finally got around to planting out my Rossignol Kale. Hoed off the bed, raked it level and planted three rows of eight plants. Surrounded plants with debri netting to keep wood pigeons off it.
Used the net for the kale which i had around the sprouts. The sprout plants are looking good and are two foot high so hopefully the pigeons will stay away. The least bit of damage and i'll need to net them again.
Took the chance to give the sprouts a good hand weeding. As there were a few nettles and thistles I donned some leather gloves.
Whilst I had the leather gloves on i went aropund the plot hand weeding any nettles or thistles. There were quite a few and I left them on the paths to die off before composting.

[Lumpy]

In between chook chatting I had a go at sowing some more winter radish - Mooli, Black Spanish (round) and Pink Dragon. Also some more carrots, Artemis and yet more Green In The Snow mustard and Watercress.

The problem is that it has been really windy so I'm not sure whether the seeds are where they are supposed to be or whether they have been floated about by the wind all over the place - time will tell!

[kris1960]

In the last two days I have planted a hybrid echinaciea,5o leeks and some more chard in long flower border( put cavolo nero in last year so thought that I should rotate). Lots of watering, more tomato maintenance and weeding.
Trying not to get too excited about bantum egg sized melon( the others are marble sized). I don't think there will be enough season left to fill out and it is not very warm.... but you never know.... maybe this time!
Finally got round to weeding borders at home, it looks much more loved now.

[Jay-ell]

Popped out to a couple of garden centres today - not to buy but just for something to do.

Came back with a fork and spade, 2 chilli plants, a book on Insects, a magazine and half a dozen packets of seeds (including ying and yang beans - well I had to)


Got back home to find that the nice mister postman had delivered another magazine, two books on fruit and half a dozen packets of seeds (4 of them climbing peas).


Down at the lottie I started pulling off the female flowers from my pumpkins - I've enough set on them now.

Pulled up some of my onions and laid them out in the little see through shack.

Planted the two chillies (Demon Red and Apache) into the blowaway.

Planted out thyme, pennyroyal and chamomile into the path next to fruit bushes.

Had a couple of squash not yet planted out growing in pots in the big see through shack, hidden by the Tom's so I plunked them into the patch that the onions had vacated.

[1Bee]

Weeded, weeded and weeded some more. Staked the PSB.

[Penellype]

Spent all morning stuck indoors waiting for a phone call. Tested sod's law by starting to make bread at 12.55. Weighed out ingredients, warmed the flour in the oven. No phone call. Mixed the dough and turned it out onto the board to knead. Took a deep breath, dived in, and you guessed it - as soon as I had bread dough all over my hands, the phone rang. Grrrrr.

Small hiatus in the lettuce supply at the moment due to forgetting to sow any. Took the opportunity to wash out the self watering trays and capillary matting and wipe down the windows in the spare bedroom ready for the next lot of seedlings. Picked a few leaves of the only currently remaining variety (Rosedale) and added some baby choy sum and mibuna leaves. Peas, tomatoes and an orange pepper made up a nice salad for lunch.

Deadheaded the calendula and gave the Red Rum runner beans some strings to climb as they are struggling with the archway. Found another couple of large courgettes while cutting off some leaves with the tell tale signs of mildew starting.

Discovered the wind had overturned the chiligrow near the back door and all 3 bush tomato plants were laid out flat. Luckily only a few bits of leaf and 2 small tomatoes were broken off.

Harvested carrots and blueberries for tea and noticed the first fruit on the Dixie was starting to turn blue. Dixie is supposed to be earlier than Bluecrop, but is a good 2 weeks behind. The carrots are great this year - I sowed them less thickly than last year and gave them water trays instead of standing their large pots on the patio. The roots are already twice the size of anything grown in the same pots and same position last year.

Time to go and water everything now as the wind has dried them all out again.

[kris1960]

More running repairs on polytunnel- its a bit of a Frankenstien's monster now but I need it to stay together until the melons, tomatos, cucumbers and egg plants ripen. Two egg sized melons now- sweet granite and minnesota midget.
Uncovered, dug and raked broadbean bed to plant seeds- 4 types of onion, 2 of tatsoi, wong bok, chop suey greens and flowers of spring.

[Ovce domácí]

Had to fill up the water barrels from the tap water, having another dry week.

[SusieG]

Weeded like a mad thing again yesterday. I'm getting there, albeit slowly- got to visit the 'outlaws' this morning so the weeds will have to wait until this afternoon...

[1Bee]

Pottered round the plot for five minutes in my office gear and heels, smiling at my babies.