What I did today 2018

[Small pumpkin]

Covered bed 2 with manure.
Strimed the veggie garden.
Packed away 4 bed covers and all the weights ( rocks & breeze blocks) that hold them down.
Hoed 2 beds.
Lots of pottering & tidying

[happyhumph]

OH mowed both lawns. Sowed flowers with children - cosmos, nasturtiums and sunflowers. By myself sowed 3 varieties of short peas, 2 types climbing french beans and 1 type dfb.

Potted up some of the pink lily-of-the-valley I was given into some nice terracotta pots - on the garden table to look and sniff when having a cup of tea. Then watered everything. Said goodnight to seedlings....

[Eric44]

Made another raised bed out of scaffolding planks. Will go to our local college tomorrow and shovel some free manure and put about three inches into the raised bed and top it up with soil. I can then plant my cabbage, Brunswick, which have been in 5" pots for over 3 weeks.

[1Bee]

I can't remember the sequence of things or when I last reported, but....

Sawed timber and assembled two more raised beds, one to go on top of an existing one and one new one.

Helped the boys make 'mud pies'.

Mowed grass on the access track and added it to the raised beds.

Made sure the boys weren't shooting grow ups with the neighbouring plot holder's son's water pistol.

Shifted several trugs of last year's manure to one of the raised beds.

Pointed out to the boys that if they wanted to lie in a mud wallow and pile mud on each other, they would have to get clean before they got in the car.

Dug out and seived soil from where it had been heaped against the hedgebank. Added it to raised beds.

Intervened in mud play when it was apparent 4yo was wearing more mud than clothing and it was in nearly every orifice. Stripped them off and washed them under the stand pipe. In spite of the fact they had happily been soaking each other with water pistols FILLED FROM THE SAME TAP for the last hour, both boys screamed like they were being murdered. Dressed the 4yo in my fleece (looked like an outsize maxi dress on him... awwwww) and the 7yo in my coat (looked like a tent on him... when will he grow?!?!) and sat them in the den with chocolat biscuits.

Dug over the squash bed, added BFB and chicken manure and covered with black polythene.

Gathered up children and got them home to hot showers. Lengthy hot showers with multiple shampooings...

[bario1]

This morning I planted 20 gladioli bulbs at the end of one of my beds.
Dug some chicken manure pellets into the polytunnel bed where either a couple of toms or a couple of cucs will go.
Tied back the summer raspberry canes a bit.
Planted out a few cosmos, marigolds and calendula in the wildflower area.
Potted up some purple irises.
Planted some lemon sorrel in the asparagus bed.
Pulled a few weeds here and there.

[damian1225]

So this weekend saw me go over the beds nipping out any stragglers (weeds), I then planted out my sweetcorn (swift), I also put my onions out that I have been growing from seed, put in three rows of king edwards spuds and although late im still sure i will get a crop.. the ground had been too wet to do anything with until last week.

I also put some chilli plants in direct at the plot as a trial, some milder varieties which I have grown in pots outside previously, and also an over wintered plant that needed to be repotted so I thought I will put it directly in the ground.. I may put a cheapo polytunnel over them if needed.

I also took some rhubarb for a crumble and oiled my shed lock as its been a pain since the winter and had to wrestle it open.

next job is some beetroot and shallots to plant out!

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Some routine border maintenance, including deadheading the faded flowers on our pieris japonica and getting the daffodils and tulips I missed.

Went to a nearby plant nursery to buy a replacement Salvia "Amistad" which we lost to the winter weather and also a Salvia x sylvestris "Viola Klose" to replace one which got both hit by frost and then munched by slugs. The old one doesn't look completely dead so I've potted it up and put it in the greenhouse. It might survive.

Also realised we've lost a couple of white flowering salvias (Schneehugel) and about half a dozen agastache too. I'm hoping to take cuttings from the healthy ones remaining in Summer, which I'll overwinter and re-plant next Spring.

Finally got around to supporting the broad beans which have put on some extra height in the last month. Potted on my other two Padrons into bigger pots (these are staying in the greenhouse) and pricked out my calendula seedlings.

We've also finally discovered what had been making a mess of our paths and throwing strulch from the flower beds everywhere when I caught it in the act - a hungry blackbird, looking for food. It's slightly annoying but I'll leave with it if it takes care of any leftover slugs!

[bramble]

Had a busy day.
Have been filling in the space that used to be a pond.
Planted it up with my dahlia plants which I sowed earlier in the year.
Planted out corn, Swift.
Dead headed the tulips and daffs.
Staked up the Sweet peas which are growing really fast now.
Earthed up the potatoes.
Weeded and then weeded again.
Watered all the Tom's and peppers in the greenhouse.
A very satisfying day,

[Bren In Pots]

Planted out my Kale, PSB and Sprouts under the brassica frame.
Planted gutter sown lettuce.
Moved self seeded Nasturtiums to grow up tripod.

[Small pumpkin]

Put 12 barrow loads of manure on 2 beds.
Sprayed weeds on all the paths between the raised beds and around sheds.
4 more chillies potted into final pots
Sowing seeds
dug over 2 bed with help from the mantis.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Another productive day so far. Mowed the lawn and brought the height down one step to 55mm. I won't go any lower now until the newly seeded grass in various patches is a bit more settled, but it looks much neater at this height. Strimmed the hard edges and around the path, then a trip to Homebase to pick up some lawn edging shears and finally tackle where the lawn meets the flower beds.

Also gave all of the plants in the greenhouse and raised beds a good watering and planted a third tomato into one of those one plant Grosure grow bag things. Even though it's "extra deep" I got a wide, shallow pot, removed the bottom and stuck that in the top, then half buried the plant in the grow bag before topping up with some decent multi-purpose compost.

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#...7-4775B46F3313

After deadheading the pieris japonica, I mulched it with some ericaceous compost.

Found two of my cosmos collapsed in a heap in the greenhouse where they'd been eaten at the stems. I eventually found the culprits - two snails hiding behind some of the chilli plants. ***** things! Fortunately I've still got about 7.

[Jungle Jane]

I found this broad bean yesterday

[Billy's lad]

started planting up some old lorry brakedrums that are metal that I scrounged from my neighbours who run truck repairs and planted a Papaver in my surprise bed

[bario1]

Finally made a start on Blueberry Mountain.

[Baldy]

Grass cuttings added to compost bins and used to 'earth up' spuds. Fired up my new/old steel drum incinerator - it was splendid - I've had my eye on it for 2 years and a recent plot holder finally decided it was no longer needed for water collection so left it in the communal share area. I've drilled a rather large number of holes in it now so would not be any good in its former role. Seems to burn stuff very well...