What I did today - 2016

[Nannysally99]

Pictures please Snadger

[Bex2012]

Not been to the plot since tuesday, but I did make some gorgeous rhubarb and vanilla jam tonight. The house smells amazing!

[Jay-ell]

Pulled out a few ash saplings from the hawthorn hedge and planted 15 comfrey plants at the bottom of the hedge.

I had to stop for a while because I got jumped on by this guy and his brother.



Just jumped into the planting area and sat there - at least I had the time to take a pikkie.

Next up I potted some Gartenperle, Velma and Currant Sweet pea tomatoes into a couple of hanging baskets.

Weeded my sweetcorn, celariac, shallots and onions.

Dug up my elephant garlic - big but the bulb has started to split into individual cloves.

Sowed 21 Elephant garlic corms/bulbils into pots - not giving them a chance to dry out and form a hard case to see it this helps their germination.

Planted out around 60-70 leeks.

After that I went really blue. I painted most of the fence and ended up wearing half the paint.

Rain stopped play at this point so rather than have ever thinner paint I'll finish it off next time I'm down and it's not raining - though I'm not sure when these two events will converge.

Just a few staves, one of the gates, the tops of the posts to do.

[vixylix]

realised my garlics have rust. Torn between gutted and super proud cos I now feel like a proper gardener!

Tried to goooooogle it, failed. Tried to find on the vine, failed.

Do I pull it all or leave it all?

[Martin H]

Leave it. Anyone who is anyone gets garlic rust. The plants will finish growing a little earlier than otherwise and the crop will be a little smaller, but it'll still be fine.

[SusieG]

After 'rescuing' sweetcorn plants by firming them back in (wind/lashing rain on Wednesday ..) I 'earthed' them up a little to try to give them a bit more support as they grow :


Pricked out kale and broccoli and potted into small pots ready (hopefully!!) to make some decent plug plants to go in after my onions have finished ....

First fruits appeared on Tigrella and Oxheart tom plants...!!
Sun now required..........!

[bario1]

I wouldn't give up on those sweetcorn, Susie, they look great!

[Snadger]

Jay-ell yesterday was painting his fence while we chatted. It wasn't until i got home i realised he had pebble dashed me with blue paint in the process!

Not to be outdone I grabbed a paint brush tonight and started painting my summerhouse. Five minutes later the heavens opened so i rang the OH and said "Sod it, I'm coming home" By the time i got to the allotment gates, it was glorious sunshine again! Typical British flaming summer!

[Florence Fennel]

Potted on 12 chillies into their final pots in the stayput - Scotch Bonnet and Ghost. I was told the Ghosts were "notoriously difficult" to grow. They're the healthiest ones I've got! Got yet more couch grass out of the strawberry bed, but very few strawberries - the grass grows stronger

[Jonny.D]

Bagged first of this years compost in readiness to put in this lot of mulch delivered this evening.

The pile is already heating up

[Cadalot]

I picked up two more 10L HEINZ Mayonnaise buckets and lids from Hamid at our local Pizza shop last night.

This morning the rest of the two sacks of coffee were decanted from the sacks into the buckets to wait their turn to dry out in the trays in the greenhouse.

These buckets are so useful, I used the Brother P-Touch to make labels for the lids so I know if they have shredded paper, coffee or compost in

[Tomatoe]

This morning I found a black bag full of grass clippings (sealed)...can I use the liquid that its created as a feed for cabbages? It's about 9 months old and stinks to high heaven

[Snadger]

I didn't do anything at the allotment apart from sort the chooks/chicks and drop off some calabrese plants that I intend planting out.
I had a really busy day at my retirement home though cutting the grass, weeding and pruning my apple trees.

[Containergardener]

Watered/fed greenhouse , brassicas (found they'd been munched and critters on them) and watered/fed indoor basil and pinto bean plants.
Moved some pots on deck in between torrential downpours and hailstones and found first froglet with its tail still under a trough. Moved it nearer pond undergrowth .

[SusieG]

Watered in GH....
Used up a box of tissues on my snotty nose ....
Mooched about sniffing and feeling sorry for myself ....
Picked a whopping courgette though!