What I did today 2018

[Baldy]

I'm cream crackered...
Second raised bed filled with (spent) compost - sown some early nantes5 carrot, barrowed 6 bags of compost across the site to my plot, fixed my tumbling composter, added batons to reinforce the plastic compost bins around the bottom openings, half-inched some fleece material that has lain unused for 4 years, carrier bag of weeds pulled up, fat babies sown, beetroot seedlings planted out, lettuce sown, old parsnip seeds liberally sown

phew

[Chestnut]

Long day at work, but managed to cadge a few empty cardboard boxes whilst I was there ;-)
Also watered seedlings, and upgraded a few to ‘sheltered outdoor spot’ to free up space in greenhouse. It was 23C in the greenhouse this morning!

[muck lover]

Getting a giant pond filled in so had huge lorries and Digger Man about most of the day. I have persuaded Digger Man to remove some huge awful looking pampas grass clumps elsewhere in garden which will be chucked in under the fill for the pond. Honestly the best place for this pampas grass.
Also today constructed a wee new polytunel.
Happy to see some germination of sunflowers basil and broad beans in pots.

[Nannysally99]

Planted out 12 builders buckets with seed potatoes.
Thought I was late, but diary says same time as last year.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Out mowing the lawn again, it grew fast in the last week. Going to give it its first cut on the next height down in a few days. Took some time doing the edges with a strimmer and some shears.

Gave our bamboo plants some TLC. They were moved during our garden landscaping last year. One is looking quite healthy but the other not so much. Gave them a very light trim and pruned out some dead branches. I dug up the muscari I’d underplanted. They didn’t look great, were quite messy and got in the way when mowing the lawn. Weeded, lightly cultivated the soil around the bamboo, removed some large stones, gave them some blood fish and bone, a good drink and finished by mulching them with a mix of rotted manure and compost, before topping off with Strulch. Looks much better and hopefully will do them some good.

Pulled up a few crocosmia corms in places I don’t want them and potted them up so I’ve got some spares for elsewhere in the garden.

Loads more jobs planned for tomorrow.

[Baldy]

Most of the morning at the plot - cleared out the shed and had a tidy which was just as well as there were a few heavy showers to be dodged. Put up some more staging in the GH - should be able to fit another 4 seed tray in the beast now. Finished off bubble wrap layer on the inside of the GH - the GH is the very essence of a 'rattle' job.
Third raised bed got a cardboard layer and some spent compost - hopefully later will be able to add another few pots of spent stuff and finish off with a bag or two of fresh. Tadpoles seem to be enjoying the solar fountain I put in the pond yesterday. Two water snails were either "making out" or in some sort of battle to the death.
Sowed some parsley seed I happened upon during the shed clearance. Intending to get back there this eveing for a fire to annoy the neighbours...

[Small pumpkin]

Mover spud bags out of the tunnel. Earthed up some of them.
Now watching F1 as it's gone very dark out there, like it's about to chuck it down!
Hope to play some more later.

[Bren In Pots]

Planted out 12 builders buckets with seed potatoes.
Thought I was late, but diary says same time as last year.

I've planted my Charlottes this morning NS, I'm 4 days later than last year but thats down to this weeks rain getting in the way.

[Mr Bones]

Got five rows of spuds in. Kifli, King Edwards and Purple Majesty. (Pentlant Javelin, Kestrel and Nadine went in last week).

[self-contained]

* Planted my potatoes (first timer): Anyas, Kestrels and Roosters
* Planted my oca (again, first time)
* Sowed some winter lettuce mix, oriental leaf mix and stir fry mix salad leaves around two of my raspberry canes and on top of the biggest oca container, and then two varieties of radishes around my third raspberry cane - space is at a premium and I have lots to plant, so I'm aiming for lots of companion and catch crops this year. Planting over the oca may have been a mistake if I end up doing any earthing up, but it's all an experiment, right?
* Sowed two varieties of beetroot (one from last year, one new)
* Sowed spring onions (new for me) in the other half of the beetroot container - when I start pulling them, I'll succession sow beetroot in their place
* Sowed some cosmos around the edge of the beetroot/spring onion container - if I'm going to be saving seed for the seed circle, I will need to attract more pollinators (at least, that's my excuse for splurging on some cosmos and poppy seeds in Wilko yesterday )

It's been drizzling lightly on and off all day, but it's suddenly gone very dark and turned into a proper shower, so I think that's the end of my outdoor sowing. I've been trying to use a mix of new compost, last year's multi-purpose compost and last year's coconut coir, with a generous shaking of growmore. I wish I could have used just new compost, but my single 125L bag (plus a smidge of leftover potting compost) probably needs to last me until the end of May at least (bar an occasional 25L bag carried home from town). Plus, I have to put last year's stuff somewhere in order to free up containers! Last year's stuff looks okay, and it's packed with earthworms. I'll just have to make sure I stay on top of feeding my plants this year.

I've been getting rid of slugs and snails as I go, but it's been a good prompt to think about low effort pest control, so:

*Bought some Nemaslug (three treatments, to be posted at six week intervals) - I thought worth giving it a go

Trying to decide now whether to collapse in a heap, or crack on with the potting on of seedlings that I should have started doing about a month ago... Not feeling tip-top today, and all that compost mixing has taken it out of me a bit. Maybe I'll have something to eat and see if I fancy some gentle potting on after that.

[1Bee]

Sowed beetroot, carrots, radishes and spinach in the raised bed. Put the net curtain over it. Capered like a mad woman when I saw the compost bays had been put up. Sowed lettuce. Cleared clutter off the new half of the plot because the site manager says he'll clear and level it this week.

[1Bee]

Sowed sunflowers. 30 seeds of 5 different varieties.

I have nowhere to put them. *hysterical laughter* I'm sure we'll find a way...

Dug half the brassica tunnel (paying my annual grateful respects to Cadalot for help with the design - this is it's third season now), covering with black plastic and treading down as I went. Planted out heat treated red onion sets and laughed a lot to see that my onion/leek and parsnip bed is now 80% full of onions. *facepalm*

Transplanted some big tussocks of grass from the half of the plot that is going to be levelled to strategic locations. I rather like them, and they're fabulous habitat, so I couldn't let them all get squished.

Moved some more of last year's manure heap, which is still sodden, raw and stinking, so needs another season to break down. Lobbed it into the new compost bays with some shredded newspaper and card, and covered with black plastic.

Sundry weeding.

[the big lebowski]

today i used my mattock to gently tap out the bigger lumps of the soil i dug over before we had snow and rain ,did a good job ,got quiet a nice tilth on the top of 1 bed and got a 2nd 2/3rds done ,soil below the surface is still v wet but we have a dry week planned so im going to dig my potato trenches tomorow too ,still lots of standing water on the plots on the flat of the hill,the fastest growing thing up there atm is the grass n weeds atm lol, cheers

[Bren In Pots]

Potted on my toms, weeded a empty bed then topped it up with dalek compost.

[Dead Dogs]

Potted on the Globe Artichoke seedlings.
Replanted the squash and melon seed that had not emerged. When clearing out the modules could see that the seeds had germinate. Will keep my fingers crossed that all goes well with these.
Moved over wintered cauliflower, onion and leeks in the Autopot grow easy system out of greenhouse 1. Now have room to put the toms.