What I intend to do today/tomorrow!

[Mark_Riga]

Hello Penellype, I've grown sweet potatoes for 3 years now.
Year 1 planted outdoors a bit late as received slips late from supplier. Result: no crop worth having.

Year 2 again late getting the plants but planted out in new polytunnel. Result: unknown as we live in open countryside and rat ate most of the crop.

This year I hadn't been going to bother again but a piece of last years crop was still sound and, not expecting anything, I planted it and put it in a propagator. A few days later it was not rotting as expected but sending up lots of shoots. I took 10 cuttings which all turned into plants and also planted out the plant which was still sending up lots of shoots. The rats have left them alone this year and I got 30 to 40lb from them not sure exactly as were quite dirty when dug up. This is about 1/2 the crop dug up about 2 weeks ago.



I would say they definitely need warmth and as long growing time as possible. cloches would probably be good as they are low growing.
Sainsbury sometimes have organic Beauregard variety which is one that the catalogs sell so I've kept 1 root from a packet of those to see it it will sprout in the spring.

[Penellype]

Hello Penellype, I've grown sweet potatoes for 3 years now.
Year 1 planted outdoors a bit late as received slips late from supplier. Result: no crop worth having.

Year 2 again late getting the plants but planted out in new polytunnel. Result: unknown as we live in open countryside and rat ate most of the crop.

This year I hadn't been going to bother again but a piece of last years crop was still sound and, not expecting anything, I planted it and put it in a propagator. A few days later it was not rotting as expected but sending up lots of shoots. I took 10 cuttings which all turned into plants and also planted out the plant which was still sending up lots of shoots. The rats have left them alone this year and I got 30 to 40lb from them not sure exactly as were quite dirty when dug up. This is about 1/2 the crop dug up about 2 weeks ago.

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I would say they definitely need warmth and as long growing time as possible. cloches would probably be good as they are low growing.
Sainsbury sometimes have organic Beauregard variety which is one that the catalogs sell so I've kept 1 root from a packet of those to see it it will sprout in the spring.

Thanks for that - I'm fairly certain that the problem this year was too much shade. I've earmarked a sunny raised bed for next year, which I will turn into a small hotbed and cover with a cloche, and we will see. There are rats about though (its near the stables and next to open fields) so I may have them to contend with.

[Penellype]

Tuesday jobs
Put things away in garage (nets, water trays etc) - no
Continue tidying up if possible - no
Harvest salads, carrots, kohlrabi - done carrots and a couple of small parsnips

The man came to paint the fences which meant rearranging the back garden so he could get at it and taking all of the troughs and pots off the front fence and path. With that and work, nothing else got done.

Wednesday jobs (freezing cold and very showery)
Put all the plants back on the front fence (currently all over the lawn)
Put the plants back where they should be in the back garden
Harvest salads

[Penellype]

Wednesday jobs
Put all the plants back on the front fence (currently all over the lawn) - done
Put the plants back where they should be in the back garden - done
Harvest salads done, also a carrot and an orange pepper.

Too b** cold to do anything else!

Busy as usual on Thursday.

[Penellype]

Friday jobs
Unlikely to be able to manage much due to garden being covered in a layer of slushy snow.
Take photos (1st of month)
Harvest salads (from indoors), carrots (from bucket in garage if necessary)

[veggiechicken]

Tomorrow is Chooksday - cleaning, checking feed etc. DONE
Must sow the seeds I meant to sow today, STIILL NOT DONE
Tidy Bed 28 DONE
Find something else at random to chuck out.??

Wednesday was Weeding -DONE
Thursday was thinning and transplanting DONE - planted a medlar tree and dug up and replanted a Mirabelle that was in the wrong place.

Today is Friday and the tree men are here to take down half an ash tree and raise the crown on an oak. My day will be spent indoors, keeping out of their way

[Chestnut]

Plant raspberry canes- nearly, finished Sunday morning

Move compost bin-done x2

Clean oven-is going to take longer than I thought, third dose of oven cleaner is soaking in....

Prune apple tree-done one

Investigate neighbours drains (which run through our garden) to see if we can reduce complaints about gurgling noises...- done

Plant blackcurrants- done

[lolie]

I need to pollinate my strawberries. There's a distinct lack of insects around this year and I don't want to totally depend on the wind.

We're expecting big storms here later today and the wind has been blowing the plants around a lot. I might need to cover the ones in open ground a bit later.

[Penellype]

Friday jobs
Unlikely to be able to manage much due to garden being covered in a layer of slushy snow.
Take photos (1st of month) - done
Harvest salads (from indoors), carrots - done

Weekend jobs
Going to be difficult to do much as the ground is saturated from melted snow and I am busy all day Sunday.

At my friend's
Check lettuces and peppers in greenhouse and water if necessary.
Take slugs collected from under various pots and feed to chickens
Check net over cabbages is secure in case of gales next week
Harvest pepper, parsnip if ground not too wet

At home
Take out any dead bedding plants that can be reached without treading on lawn
Check plants on fence and deadhead
Tidy garage
Harvest salads, carrots, leeks
Check calabrese, turnips

[Penellype]

Weekend jobs

At my friend's
Check lettuces and peppers in greenhouse and water if necessary - done
Take slugs collected from under various pots and feed to chickens - done
Check net over cabbages is secure in case of gales next week - looks ok
Harvest pepper, parsnip if ground not too wet - no

At home
Take out any dead bedding plants that can be reached without treading on lawn - no
Check plants on fence and deadhead - done
Tidy garage - no
Harvest salads, carrots, leeks - done
Check calabrese, turnips - not ready yet

Also sowed some cress and radish microgreens.

Monday jobs (work permitting)
Remove some bedding plants
Clear up leaves
Tidy garage
Harvest salads

[lolie]

Heavy rain predicted for today and tomorrow so it's time to tidy up the empty pots and plan what I'm going to sow come January.

[Penellype]

Monday jobs
Remove some bedding plants - done some, also cut down some of the dead crocosmia foliage.
Clear up leaves - no
Tidy garage - not really
Harvest salads - done plus a couple of very small beetroot, couple of carrots and a leek.

Also sieved a bucket of compost for carrots in spring and potted up a tomato sideshoot (Shirley)that is growing nicely under the lights.

Tuesday jobs (work permitting)
Clear up leaves and general tidy up
Cut down finished pepper plant on windowsill
Cut down more crocosmia
Harvest carrots and possibly calabrese

[veggiechicken]

Lost some time recently, sorting logs and chippings after the treemen were here on Friday. It'll be worth it as the extra light in the garden from the lifted oak is already noticeable.

Its Roots week and I must sow a bucket of carrots and some radish.
I've checked the Chooks today so that's DONE.

Tomorrow is Weednesday - weather permitting I'll do a bit of hoeing on Bed 2,3,4,5,& 6.

[Penellype]

Tuesday jobs
Clear up leaves and general tidy up - done a bit
Cut down finished pepper plant on windowsill - no
Cut down more crocosmia - done
Harvest carrots and possibly calabrese - no

Due to a cancelled meeting I got an opportunity to go to the tip, which relieved the garage of a large trug of leylandii clippings (the council doesn't take green waste in winter).

Wednesday jobs
The weather is about to turn comprehensively foul from tonight (gales then frost, snow possible) and I am not around tomorrow. As my back garden gets no sun at all at this time of year, if it freezes solid (which it will) I will have no access to veg until the weather warms up considerably.
Check all nets and cloches are properly anchored
Empty some water out of the base of the Hozelock planter (strawberries) so that there is room for expansion if it freezes (there are also a couple of tennis balls in there).
Ditto the water trays in the growhouse
Move another bucket of carrots and one of the calabrese plants into the garage
Dig up a few leeks and plant in a spare bucket in the garage
Replace net over turnips with plastic cloche
Tidy up if time including deadheading flowers on front fence.
Harvest carrots, leeks

I hope I'm not too busy at work today or I will be gardening by torchlight!

[Penellype]

Wednesday jobs
Check all nets and cloches are properly anchored - done
Empty some water out of the base of the Hozelock planter (strawberries) so that there is room for expansion if it freezes (there are also a couple of tennis balls in there) - done
Ditto the water trays in the growhouse - done and removed a couple of slugs
Move another bucket of carrots and one of the calabrese plants into the garage - ready to be put in garage tomorrow evening.
Dig up a few leeks and plant in a spare bucket in the garage - done
Replace net over turnips with plastic cloche - done
Tidy up if time including deadheading flowers on front fence - done
Harvest carrots, leeks - done

Also put up another cloche to cover some kohlrabi and beetroot.

No gardening tomorrow.