What I intend to do today/tomorrow!

[Jay-ell]

OK, tomorrow I plan on finishing sowing the broad beans, eat raspberries and strawberries, dig up some scorzonera to examine the roots, pick some cabbage - I may decapitate one but probably won't

[Penellype]

Monday's jobs:
Mow front lawn - done
Feed fence pots - done
More deadheading - done some
Tidy up strawberry plants that have finished fruiting and swop with wild strawberries to give those more sun - done some
War on blackfly (my friend suggests vinegar and fairy liquid - nothing to lose as the nasturtiums are dying). nope (spot the job I really dislike!)
Harvest lettuce and salad leaves, peppers, peas, strawberries, tomatoes, currants and carrots. - done except for the currants.

Also harvested another bucket of Charlotte potatoes that had died down. This one was disappointing at just 0.65kg.

Jobs for tomorrow (rain likely)
Deadheading and weeding if possible

[Minimag]

Tomorrow I intend to lift the mypex between the beds (it has been down for a year now), rotovate and level, and sow some grass. This is a trial, but I am trying to get our allotment to be a place which is a home from home, I'll keep you updated with the progress.

[treepixie]

Tomorrow, I am going to sow some more radishes and rainbow chard and make courgette chutney

[veggiechicken]

Tomorrow I am going to find somewhere to plant 108 bedding plants - geraniums, trailing geraniums, begonias and petunias, gazania and salvia
Very pleased with the quality of the plants!

[Scoot]

Tomorrow i intend to feed my tomatoes and chillis. Going to start feeding them twice a week. Wednesdays and Saturdays.

[Jay-ell]

Tomorrow, Thursday and probably Friday I plan on doing nothing as it's forecast rain with additional rain warnings. Might do some of the stuff I planned to do today on Saturday. Especially the beans. Always need more beans

[Penellype]

Today's jobs (less rain than expected)
Deadheading and weeding if possible - done for now

Also tied back the peas which were getting a bit floppy and tied in some of the tomatoes.
Contemplated the blackfly, but there were loads of hoverflies buzzing round and I didn't want to harm them so I left it (this is what I often do when presented with pests that need killing - I have been known to get as far as aiming a bottle at them only to chicken out!).
Potted up some lettuce seedlings.
Went to harvest some blackcurrants and found the net swarming with wasps. The currant bush is covered in sticky honeydew from aphids and the wasps love it. They had found a way into the insect mesh which I had attached only loosely aiming to keep out the birds. Unfortunately I hate wasps. It took me most of the day to develop and carry out a plan which I hope is working. Firstly I pushed back the top of the netting with a bamboo cane so that the wasps could get out, then I moved the waspinator from above the strawberries and attached it to the netting frame, then closed up the net around it. I think (hope) this has done the trick and with luck I will be able to harvest some more currants tomorrow.
Harvested some peas, tomatoes and a few blackcurrants while dodging the wasps.

Wednesday jobs
Attempt to pot up the final balconi tomato (going to be fun as it is taller than the others and has some green fruit on it)
Harvest and freeze blackcurrants (wasps permitting)
Check white currants and harvest if ready.
Weeding, deadheading and watering as required

[Penellype]

Wednesday jobs
Attempt to pot up the final balconi tomato (going to be fun as it is taller than the others and has some green fruit on it) - done but managed to bend the top badly and knock 2 fruit off Was always going to be a tricky one, but it couldn't stay where it was.
Harvest and freeze blackcurrants (wasps permitting) - see below
Check white currants and harvest if ready - done the top half of the bush. The wasps don't seem interested in this bush, which is the other side of the garden.
Weeding, deadheading and watering as required - done some

Today's jobs
Very unlikely to have much time today as busy all day and torrential storms forecast this evening.

The blackcurrants proved impossible yesterday with about a dozen wasps buzzing round despite the waspinator, which they ignored. They are after the sticky honeydew which covers the leaves, not the fruit. I really didn't fancy leaning through wasp covered leaves to get at my currants. I tried spraying the leaves with soapy water, but that didn't help and when I went out at 9.30 to see if they had gone to bed there were as many as ever.
The currants are definitely ripe and some were falling off the bush. I had one of those nights where you turn a problem over and over in your head so much that you can't sleep. So I got up at 5am thinking I might get there before the wasps, but no, there they were. At this point I got cross - I've been watching those currants grow all year, its my first harvest and I'm damn well going to eat them. Its a good job the neighbours were still in bed.
Dressed in a raincoat and rubber gloves to ward off the worst of my anxiety about getting stung, I pushed the netting back with a bamboo cane, put the top of a set of rootrainers (soft plastic) under the bush and set about it with my loppers. This was a complete failure as I couldn't get the blades round the stalks accurately enough and the few currants that I dislodged fell anywhere but where I wanted them. Stomping round the garden muttering furiously, at least I found and removed a large snail.
I stood and stared at the bush, watching the wasps. If I couldn't get to the currants (most of which were towards the back of the bush against the garage wall, as I had picked the nearer ones before the wasps arrived), could I bring the currants to me? A picture of my Dad's boathook that he used to catch moorings with floated into my head. Long gone with the old boat, but where had I seen something similar? MY SWOE!!! The most useful gardening tool from my previous near 1/2 acre garden gets no use at all here with mulches and pots replacing bare soil. Never get rid of anything useful - you might need it. The swoe was brilliant. I hooked it round each branch and pulled it forward so I could pick the currants well clear of the rest of the bush. When I'd done the middle branches I hooked the swoe into the bucket handle and turned the bush round so I could get at the currants at the back in the same way. I now have 10oz of currants to sort through and freeze and all that is left on the bush are a few trusses that are definitely not ripe.
So, if nothing else gets done today, I don't care. I might even get some sleep tonight.

[Small pumpkin]

Today is basil harvest day.
This involves chopping most of it down. Take to the kitchen. Pick off all leaves, chop up very small. Pack into ice cube trays, cover with a little water and freeze.

[Penellype]

Yesterday I cleared up the mess from the neighbour cutting the top of the back hedge.

Todays jobs:
Put hedge trimmer battery to charge.
Trim rear hedge if dry enough (doubtful)
Pot up 2 begonias from the fence to see if I can encourage them to flower a bit better.
Go to garden centre and see if they have any nice trailing plants with the view of replacing the nasturtiums when (not if) they succumb to the blackfly.
Deadheading and weeding
Might attempt to remove the plastic cover on the mini blowaway in the front garden as its not needed.
Harvest tomatoes, carrots, strawberries and possibly cucumber, baby courgette, beans, calabrese shoots and turnips if there are any ready.

[Greenleaves]

Today I will be a good boy......tomorrow is a whole different ball game

[Small pumpkin]

Me and breeze will Pick more fruit and take to the shop - DONE
Bring in sales barrow and find homes for the last few unsold plants.
Pick the last of the usable spinach and pull up plants.
I'm sure there's more I was going to do but I can't remember.

[Penellype]

Todays jobs:
Put hedge trimmer battery to charge - done
Trim rear hedge if dry enough (doubtful) - done
Pot up 2 begonias from the fence to see if I can encourage them to flower a bit better - not done
Go to garden centre and see if they have any nice trailing plants with the view of replacing the nasturtiums when (not if) they succumb to the blackfly - done, got some trailing geraniums
Deadheading and weeding - done a bit
Might attempt to remove the plastic cover on the mini blowaway in the front garden as its not needed - not done
Harvest tomatoes, carrots, strawberries and possibly cucumber, baby courgette, beans, calabrese shoots and turnips if there are any ready - done all except for courgette (too small)

Also trimmed and sorted the strawberry plants that were in the cold frame (which had to be moved to cut the hedge).

Jobs for the weekend
At my friend's:
Put up a wire along the greenhouse ridge for the cucumbers to climb along
Adjust stakes and tie in tomatoes, remove sideshoots
Plant runner beans
Weeding
Watering
Harvest a bucket of Charlotte potatoes, cucumber

At home:
Mow rear lawn
Sort out more strawberries as they finish fruiting
Pot up more lettuces
Deadheading and possibly rearrange fence
Take cover off front blowaway
Pot up begonias
Watering
Harvest tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, a few french beans, carrots, possibly cabbage, possibly courgette, strawberries, white currants.

[Chestnut]

Buy a pane of greenhouse glass to replace one OH put hand through last week (don't worry, only greenhouse was injured!)
Then some weeding and hoeing, getting my last sowings of beetroot and carrots in the ground, planting out some spinach beet, and hopefully haresting cauliflower:-)