What I did today - 2017

[ESBkevin]

Assembles an L shaped raised bed 4ft wide and about 14x20feet on the long sides. Made from 6x2" timbers I bought to do dual use shuttering then raised bed. All cut to size before I delivered them to site so drove in stakes and screwed it all together. (I bought a spare Aldi battery drill driver about £35 and it performed well enough for the task although I had my Makita with me just in case). Not bad at 1/4 of the price as long as it lasts.
Bagged about half my leaf mould. A couple of barrow loads went in the new raised bed with some pig muck and general compost, forked it over. A couple of rows of peas under clotches and about a dozed dwarf french beens too, probably a waste of time but if nothing else they will fix nitrogen and act as green manure while building soil life.
Picked a few raspberries, gained three more barrow loads of rotted pig muck.
Collected a barrow load of aged woodchip to mulch the raised bed.
Turned the two pallet compost bins at home into one which is now full. Gave away the compost tumbler I aquired last year because I have no spare room and no need to make compost rapidly now my system is well established and theres bags of stuff all over the place.

[Small pumpkin]

Sorted out my overwintering chilli set up.
Which involved moving the salad bar / patiogrow into the chilli tunnel. Attaching the greenhouse heater and little fan to the slad bar. Down sizing a couple of chillies (yellow scotch bonnet & chocolate habanero) into chilli grow pots. Moving Norbert the dragons breath ( already in a chilli grow pot, but in the wrong chilli grow ) into the chilli grow that's now set up in the salad bar. That was tricky he's a big fella now!
Now to the kitchen to reload the dehydrator with the next lot of unrippend chillies. They are all destined to be chilli powder.

[bramble]

Planted my containers with daffodils, tulips and alliums.
Picked most of the jalapeno chillis and pruned back the plants.

[Bren In Pots]

Cut out the fruited Blackberry canes and ties the new growth to wires and while I'd got the secateurs out I gave my GH toms a trim.

[lolie]

Ordered some seeds and some potato bags online. Picked some caterpillars off my sage.

Will need to give everything a good water this evening as it's currently 30C here and not likely to drop much in temperature before sundown.

[Small pumpkin]

Started clearing the first tunnel. Removing tomatoes, sweet peppers, aubergines, melons, cucumbers, nasturtiums & marigolds. All piled up ready for a dry day so I can put it through the shredder.
Partly weeded the tunnel bed. The gardeners little helper reduced the vole population in the tunnel.

[Jonny.D]

Barrowed some of new mulch delivery round to back garden

[lolie]

Ordered soil. Put delivery off until tomorrow as it's supposed to pelt down this afternoon.

[bario1]

Dug some soil out of my polytunnel bed to form a trench, filled it with manure, covered over and planted 25 onion sets for overwintering.

[1Bee]

Experienced mulch envy.

[Bren In Pots]

Cleared the last apples from the trees, they were either froze in slices, juiced then the perfect ones went into storage boxes.

[Greenleaves]

Done battle with the white fly on the sprouts....stripped the lower leaves and removed the netting. Pigeons might attack the tops but normally leave the sprouts alone.

Then the rain set in so retreated to the greenhouse and had 40 winks before heading home. Other plot holders are used to seeing me have a nap now so I don't get disturbed by them asking if I am OK

[Jonny.D]

Dug up the Dahlias I want to overwinter, then the rain came and put a stop to work

[lolie]

Moved a cubic metre of soil and compost, one bucket at a time. Still more to go but I've had enough for one day.

Finally planted out my Lebanese cucumber and put some mystery strawberries in a planter box (I suspect these may be mock strawberries but won't know for sure until I see a flower). Planted two of my Burnley Gem tomato plants into a bed as well.

[Chris11]

More seed saving