What I did today 2018

[Two_Sheds]

Spent a relaxing 3hrs cutting back currants, blackberry and ivy

[Small pumpkin]

Done a bit of weeding. Potted up an oak seedling that appeared in my raised bed. Tidied my shed.

[Two_Sheds]

- had a serious go at all the creeping wood sorrel infesting my plot
- deadheaded all the dahlia, buddleja and sunflowers
- cut the alfalfa, left clippings on beds as a mulch
- cut another 12 courgettes, made Lotty Sauce (for pasta or jet spuds)
- mowed lawn, left clippings on beds as a mulch

[Small pumpkin]

Yesterday Another 3 beds weeded.
A bit of harvesting
Mangetout has finished so ripped them out and took down the wigwam & net.

[Mark_Riga]

Well I finished picking peas about a month ago, leaving some to ripen for sowing next year. Over the last couple of weeks, while picking the ripening peas, I have noticed some new pods with mouse damage mainly at the bottom of the plants. The broad beans near them seem to be doing the same. I don't usually get any more after the main crop has been picked but this year seems an exception. The row in question was attacked by pigeons early on for the first time ever. I covered them with fleece but it kept being blown off. When I put in supports with string around, the pigeons stopped. I eventually got 3.75kg from the row where I would normally expect 6kg. I put this down to the pigeons and the extreme drought.
Anyway, getting to what I did today, I cleared the pea foliage and found that the mice had left me about 900g of podded peas so in total I got just over 4.5kg from the row - I also found a bag of last years peas in the freezer so all in all, I've got the peas in the freezer that I wanted.

[Dorothyrouse]

Toms, toms, and even more

Picked 5.5 lbs on Sunday, gave to son.

Picked 12.5 lbs yesterday! Huge bowls in fridge, and bags in freezer.
Today made delicious roast tomato soup for lunch, that used about 2.5 lbs, and using another pound or so in chilli tonight. Soup was super!

[Small pumpkin]

Thinned carrots.
Tidied up tomatoes.
Bit of weeding.

[plam]

Picked toms, cauges, plums (the current lot seem to be maggot free!) and apples. Now for some cooking!

[chillithyme]

-Harvesting
-Weeding
-No need to water as it was raining

[Small pumpkin]

Finished tidying the orchard ( used to be the chicken run ).
Ripped out peas, packed away their wigwam and netting.
Did a bit of weeding.
A bit of harvesting.
Ripped up the sunflowers that have finished in the front garden. Tied the heads to the pear tree for the birds to feed on.
Tidied up the salad bar and the overflow garden.

[Chestnut]

Picked apples and burnt jam.
Really didn’t understand why it got stuck at 80C for ages, and never got beyond that- until I got bored and put a bit on a room temp plate and found it could be rolled into a ball...
Unfortunately the rest turned black at that point, so I couldn’t even call it toffee!

[kitty12345]

Productive day today.

Did some weeding - great satisfaction in getting out clumps of couch grass and bindweed, and the occasional dandelion and horsetail. I only managed to cover a small area as we didn't get much rain (not that I am complaining!) apart from yesterday.
Potted up strawberries and cut excess runners. Although still millions of runners to cut!
Harvested beans, lettuce and tomato.
Gave the courgette plants a haircut.

[Two_Sheds]

Pruning (butchering) the excess growth on cherry, bay, bamboo, holly, roses and buddleja. Excess growth is anything that bashes, scratches or otherwise annoys me

[Jay-ell]

Despite saying he was off on three weeks holiday the Compost Fairy has still popped round to drop off three bags of grass cuttings. Took them, alond with some stuff from the garden, down to the plot. Then end gate of the plot was unbolted and the middle gate and come off the hinge.

Someone had been in. Went round into the main bit of the plot and found this

The Sh?ts.

Not a nice way to start off an afternoon on the plot.

That aside I turned the manure pile. Harvested courgettes beans cucumbers, raspberries and blackberries, emptied a dalek that wasn't breaking down and made a new pile mixed with grass ready to have the main pile turned onto it.
Also harvested these - not bad. More than the couple I had last year

[Jay-ell]

Started off waxing my pumpkin.

Looking around the plot I see that the Vine Leeks I planted out earlier in the year are starting to come up (should have a nice naturalised patch underneath the grape vines next year)


In addition to this the welsh onions are growing, the walking onions are setting new leaves and even the 2016 leeks are coming back again.

Taking my cue from the garden I decided to get some overwintering sets into the ground. I took the old mulch off part of the winter allium bed, added bone meal and BFB, added some compost from the potato buckets then planted out 2 lots of potato onions and some Jermor Shallots. Mulched with grass cuttings to settle them in.

Continued piling stuff onto the new compost pile and then turned the existing pile onto the new pile. It's breaking down well - at least the turning seems to be paying off.