What I did today 2018

[Baldy]

a good weekend of pottering
took down the rest of the bean canes, harvested parsnips and swiss chard. took a couple of green bins down to the plot (one of them had a lot of ivy in, not sure if that will rot down or not). planted experimental potatoes, and had a fire to dispose of some weeds and some rotten bits o

Ivy... ivy...

Burn it... for the sake of all that is good... BURN IT!!!

(I hate the stuff, have found it nigh on impossbile to compost and have only just managed to eradicate it from the plot after 5 years of effort - and the infestation there wasn't too bad to begin with) ( at home its impossible unless I tackle the infestation that both neighbours also suffer with)

Have I mentioned I hate the stuff...

[Jay-ell]

Added more stuff to the compost bit. Even with it breaking down it's still growing.

[Small pumpkin]

Emptied a few more chilli pots.
Tidied away lots of labels ( bushing dry compost off them first ).
Moved the salad bar and little plant stand into the tunnel for the winter.
Cleaned and bagged some seeds.
Sown some tomato seeds.

[veggiechicken]

One of my favourite jobs - cutting down some of the herbs.
Chopped the Skopelos, Basil and Moroccan Mints, Marjoram and Lemon balm down to about 6" - leaving enough to protect the new growth beneath and stop me walking on it.
Filled 2 trugs and chopped up the bits, enjoying the scent with every snip. Emptied the trugs onto some bare ground in the hope that some of the seeds will germinate - you can never have too many scented plants.

[burnie]

Lifted the last of the roots today, I will add some manure later in the week and tuck the bed up for the winter, I cover my raised beds with chicken wire, stops the cats using them as a toilet. In the spring I will add some FB&B and cover them with fleece before planting/sowing. Last job before winter is to move the compost bin ready for next years heap and finish off pruning shrubs like the buddleia if there's no frost forecast. Then it will be time to start sorting propagators for early sowings.

[Gillykat]

Dug over half the front gate allotment bed thoroughly - removing every single root of dandelion, dock and raspberry as I went....will do more on Thursday when I'm next off.

Potted up five hardy geranium roots which arrived in the post yesterday - completely forgot I ordered them as a special offer from GW magazine

Photographed all the plants still in flower....on my phone camera as numpty me didn't realise I hadn't replaced the memory card in my 'posh' camera until I was trying to take some pics!

Potted 3 elephant garlic cloves up into bigger pots when I realised the roots were poking through the bottom already! Need to sort out a proper bed in the ground ASAP!!!

[Bren In Pots]

Noticed the last of my toms were falling of before they've ripened so I've removed all toms plants from the GH.
Ended up with a dozen green ones and a tray full of almost ripe ones, i was happy with that

[Small pumpkin]

Did my first seed packet sorting of the winter. Always a fun job.
Made lots of labels from a few margarine tubs I've been saving. Another good rainy morning job.
Sown some ramsons in a fish box. Everything that's Perennial gets planted in a moveable bed.

[veggiechicken]

Planted 32 Babington leek bulbils, 3 to a module.
Dug up some brambles and pulled out couch grass.
Cleaned out the chooks and commiserated with Blondie who has lost her tail in the moult.
Watched an assortment of birds flitting around - woodpecker, jays, buzzard (although they don't really 'flit') and all the little tits and robins. Even a wagtail on the house roof
It was quite warm and very pleasant for mid November.

[bario1]

20 minutes to spare between nursery drop off and work, so i stopped at the plot and had a look around. Sometimes it's nice just to assess the state of things, see what's changing with the seasons and plan future tasks. Couldn't help pulling up a few weeds and dead flowers while i was there though, and bingo! - 10 minutes late for work.

[bario1]

More tidying up at the plot yesterday and this morning. Emptied one of my 'two year old' daleks, a lovely vintage with a chocolate cake texture and a hint of mushroom in the finish - that got dumped on my asparagus bed.
An empty dalek meant i could start chopping up the dead plants that have been untidily thrown into a heap on one of my empty beds over the last couple of months - and with the addition of some shredded card and coffee grounds, the dalek is full again! I'm sure the level will drop pretty fast though.

[Chestnut]

Shifted last year’s muck heap onto the new raised bed I built yesterday and mulched a couple of other beds, then picked up some random bits of timber which will become another raised bed and a hotbed next year . Ran out of steam about 3pm and decided to call it a day ;-)

[Small pumpkin]

A little bit of watering.
A bit more tidying in the tunnel. Mostly sorting string ( don't ask ! )

[Chestnut]

Weeded and manured next year’s potato patch, then went and collected my car from its service this afternoon (don’t worry, I went home and showered in between!)

[Small pumpkin]

A bit of pot washing



Strimed the veggie garden.
Swept the spud bag hard standing area and a couple of paths between beds.