What I did today - 2017

[bario1]

Flattened one of the huge cardboard boxes I scrounged from the bike shop on Sunday and maneuvered it under my gooseberry and redcurrant bushes as a weed suppressant. I'll top it off with woodchips when i get a chance.

[Baldy]

Sowed beetroot where it hadn't germinated - heard that neighbours had been photographing my compost bins and muttering about rats - I've seen no evidence but guess I'd better turn it and soak it tomorrow.
Bucket #2 added to my first ever potoato tower - heady excitement !
Sowed some giant Bulgarian leek seeds - think I might try the perennial experiment the JayEl was on about.
Watering of toms and chillis at the home GH - need to do some more repotting but ran out of time allocated by Mrs Balders for 'fripperies'

[happyhumph]

Planted out some golden sweet, bijou and telephone tall peas that have been hardening off - must sow next batch. Planted a chunk of daylilies I was given, & some mystery big yellow daisies. Discovered that of the only two tomatillo to sprout, one is missing it's top good job I sowed some extra last weekend. OH mowed back lawn. Also discovered a 'spare' label for dedo des mochas chilies, which means I have to work out which pots they're in......

[bario1]

Chucked out all my sunflowers, marigolds and cosmos that were clearly suffering from weedkiller contamination.

[vixylix]

Bario thats awful! How?

I've finally retrieved last years potatoes (surprisingly good, I've only had to throw two away) and planted this years ( osprey , hunter, desiree and kestrel). OH has dug up two very unruly buddleias, wow they have ROOTS!

Getting closer to having a veg patch again

[Bigmallly]

Bucket #2 added to my first ever potato tower - heady excitement !

Are you adding a tattie everytime you add a bucket? If I was to do it again, that's what I would do plus I would drill a couple of 2" diam holes in each bucket to allow the foliage to come out as I have read that's what makes the spuds grow larger in the bucket.............makes sense really, photosynthesis an' all that.

[Bigmallly]

Made a conservative (whatever that means) decision not to grow any Brassicas this year, so in the Brassica cage, I pulled up all the bolted Cabbages in one side & planted it up with around 20 Strawberry plants. Hoed over the rest of the beds, added a sprinkling of wood ash to the beds, gave the fruit tunnel & the spud cages a good drink. Potted up some CFB's that had germinated on kitchen roll. Got a good deal from Gr0up0n so booked car in for its MOT.

[Jay-ell]

Got rid of one of the duck paddling pools the other day - plot holder opposite has just got some ducks and needed a pool. I wasn't at the plot at the time but my mother was and I've trained her well - any opportunity to get rid of junk from the plots.

Dismantled the remains of a duck cage and tidied up the back of the New Territories a bit. Now that they duck cage and pond are out of the way there's quite a bit of room. With the duck poo that's in the ground it must be pretty fertile (nettles seem to think so) and I'm planning on having the winter squash in thin area so they can just romp away and cover it.

Planted out Loads and Loads and Loads of maths onions today. Red and White Welsh onions so they're planted out in a couple of patches. They'll be thinned out once they're big enough to harvest for scallions then they can keep on multiplying and dividing to their hearts content.

Harvested a Babington Leek and an Elephant Garlic

Dug up more dirt.

Wandered around aimlessly looking at the plants - apples starting to get flowers on them, same with the cherries, black currants, red currants, gooseberries and raspberries.

Yeah, I cut back my Joan J raspberries earlier in the year to the ground so that this years growth should fruit in the autumn. Are they supposed to be producing flowers now? The Tulameens are, I left last autumns new growth specifically for that but I cut the Joan Js right back.

[Bigmallly]

I wouldn't think this years Joan J's canes will be flowering yet Jas, mine are only just throwing out their new canes for this year.

[Jay-ell]

I wouldn't think this years Joan J's canes will be flowering yet Jas, mine are only just throwing out their new canes for this year.

That's what I thought, now do you want to come up here and tell my plants that coz two of them are starting to produce flowers on the new growth.

[Chris11]

Mowed lawn for the first time this year

[1Bee]

On the plot at 6am this morning. Finished forking over bed 1, although there's still a lot of cultivating and removing weed roots to do.

And... the tatties are in! Well, the Charlottes, anyway.

Repositioned an arch, subject to my new brainwave to have a climbing french bean tunnel leading to the runner bean teepee...

[bario1]

Bario thats awful! How?

My own fault Vixylix, I'd been using a watering can that I used last Autumn to treat the lawn... didn't think the poison would persist all winter in an empty can - but apparently it did cos all my early stuff in the greenhouse stopped growing or grew all twisted and mangled - mostly flowers, but I think my toms got the last of it because they're looking bad now as well. You live and learn!

[vixylix]

aaw Bario that is rubbish - better than what I thought though. I thought someone had broken in just to sabotage your flowers - apparantly I have a suspicious mind!

[bario1]

Hmmm, could've been Jimmy I suppose....