What I intend to do today/tomorrow!

[Chestnut]

Forecast is freezing, so I think I’ll be assembling a cold frame and making some more paper pots

[muck lover]

I’ve been making seed mats from old napkins. Carrot seeds 16 to a 30cm square napkin pasted on with flour and water paste. My children think I’m nuts. No carrots for them then..

[Penellype]

Friday jobs
Put shelves together and take to allotment - done 1 of 2
Cut down finished indoor tomato plant - done
Plan weekend gardening - done
Harvest carrot - done plus romanesco

Weekend jobs
Not expecting to get a great deal done due to cold, wet and frost tonight.

At my friend's
Feed slugs and snails to chickens
Weeding if possible (unlikely)

At allotment
Inspect net over tunnel to see if last night's heavy sleet has caused any problems
Decided when to remove net from tunnel (sleet/snow forecast Monday night)
Extract bubble wrap from back of shed and protect water bins
Dig up some leeks and bring home to plant in bucket in garage
Harvest romanesco, beetroot if possible, lettuce

At home
Find a suitable bucket of compost for leeks
Tidy garage and put away carrot cage net
Bring in a tub of compost to warm up for sowing seeds in later
Make up 2nd shelf and take to allotment
Harvest carrots

[SarrissUK]

I decided to try and get the new bed finished up at the allotment, and it's going to the biggest bed on there. I also wanted to burn all the weeds I dragged up the last few weeks, and all the rubbish wood bits that are not needed.

Turns out there was a whole load of bindweed roots under the last bits of the carpet covering the new bed, so that took a while to dig out. I spread the last bit of horse manure that I have. When I'd done as much as I could on the new bed, I decided to barrow wood chippings to cover the path with and it looks fab I think!

All done for the day!

[Penellype]

Weekend jobs

At my friend's
Feed slugs and snails to chickens - done
Weeding if possible (unlikely) - no

At allotment
Inspect net over tunnel to see if last night's heavy sleet has caused any problems - ok
Decided when to remove net from tunnel - still undecided
Extract bubble wrap from back of shed and protect water bins - done
Dig up some leeks and bring home to plant in bucket in garage - done
Harvest romanesco, beetroot if possible, lettuce - done

At home
Find a suitable bucket of compost for leeks - done
Tidy garage and put away carrot cage net - done
Bring in a tub of compost to warm up for sowing seeds in later - no
Make up 2nd shelf and take to allotment - no
Harvest carrots - done

Ground frozen and very busy today so no gardening.

[Penellype]

Tuesday jobs
Bring compost indoors to warm for sowing seeds
Check temperature of hotbed at allotment and decide when to sow seeds
Weeding and general tidy up
Harvest kohlrabi (which may or may not be edible)

[Penellype]

Tuesday jobs
Bring compost indoors to warm for sowing seeds - done
Check temperature of hotbed at allotment and decide when to sow seeds - now around 15C so going to sow later this week
Weeding and general tidy up - done a bit
Harvest kohlrabi - done

Wednesday jobs
Frozen solid out there this morning, so I'll probably give gardening a miss.

[Penellype]

Yesterday I managed to do a little weeding where the ground had defrosted along the hedge bottom. Also harvested a leek and a carrot from the bucket in the garage.

Thursday jobs (very little time)
Sow lettuce

[Penellype]

Thursday jobs
Sow lettuce - done

Friday jobs
Sow spinach, beetroot and lettuce in hotbed
Assess state of ground, dig horsetail if possible
Plan weekend gardening
Harvest beetroot, lettuce, parsnip, possibly PSB, carrots

[Chestnut]

This weekend;
Buy seed potatoes
Continue weeding soft fruit area, and mulch if time /daylight allows

[Penellype]

Friday jobs
Sow spinach, beetroot and lettuce in hotbed - done
Assess state of ground, dig horsetail if possible - done some
Plan weekend gardening - done
Harvest beetroot, lettuce, parsnip, possibly PSB, carrots - done

Also sowed microgreens and put peas to chit for pea shoots, cleaned the muck out of the bottom of the grow light garden and ordered cauliflowers.

Weekend jobs (weather permitting, looking very unpleasant tomorrow)

At my friend's
Weeding if possible

At allotment
Dig horsetail if possible
Harvest leek

At home
Mulch ground for peas with compost and cover
Check crops
Check planting plans
Harvest lettuce, carrots

[Penellype]

Weekend jobs

At my friend's
Weeding if possible - done a bit

At allotment
Dig horsetail if possible - no
Harvest leek - done

At home
Mulch ground for peas with compost and cover - no
Check crops - done
Check planting plans - sort of
Harvest lettuce, carrots - done

As expected the weather made things difficult, with Sunday particularly unpleasant. I'm not happy with my planting plans (peas and tomatoes fighting for the same space), so more thought is required there.

Monday jobs
Check allotment and remove any rubbish after yesterday's gale
Dig horsetail if ground not too wet
Sort out planting plans
Decision required on whether to remove tunnel net (snow may or may not arrive tomorrow).
Harvest romanesco, carrots

[Penellype]

Monday jobs
Check allotment and remove any rubbish after yesterday's gale - done
Dig horsetail if ground not too wet - done some
Sort out planting plans - in progress
Decision required on whether to remove tunnel net (snow may or may not arrive tomorrow) - yes probably need to remove it
Harvest romanesco, carrots - done

Tuesday jobs (snow possible, possibly very cold tonight)
Take top net off tunnel
Find garage heater and set up
Bring another bucket of carrots into garage
Empty water trays in cold frame and under strawberry trough
Bring soup into kitchen freezer from garage for easy access
Harvest carrots

[Penellype]

Tuesday jobs
Take top net off tunnel - done
Find garage heater and set up - done
Bring another bucket of carrots into garage - done
Empty water trays in cold frame and under strawberry trough - done
Bring soup into kitchen freezer from garage for easy access - done
Harvest carrots - done

It didn't snow, but it is currently -5 outside.

Wednesday jobs
Check how allotment has coped with very cold night (water butts, hotbed)
Pot up chitted peas for pea shoots.
Continue planning
Clear space for potato chitting (seed potatoes are on their way)
Harvest carrots (from garage)

[muck lover]

I need to bring more strawberries in containers into the polytunnel. They will need cleaned up a bit. Also plant a few more into containers and maybe the polytunnel beds.
Otherwise I will continue to sieve my old leafmould. I am trying to build up a store of it to use in potting mixes. It is lovely stuff. Thinking of using it with old potting compost/home made (weedy+++) compost and maybe a bit of manure for spuds or sand for carrots.
I am trying to revitalize the soil in my polytunnel beds this winter. It was a bit lifeless. I have mulched with various stuff - cow muck, leafmould and grass clippings and seaweed. Covered the lot with cardboard. I have found a few worms which is great. slugs too - I'm not doing much about them at the moment. I reckon they are on the payroll at present and I will turn on them when things worm up.