What I did today 2018

[the big lebowski]

today i went up the plot and did abit of strimming and hoe`d around my garlic which is now starting to pop up then i went to my folks to my folks for a chippy tea and to order a few bits and bobs , i ordered 2 lots of raspberrys (x10 canes) 5 for my mum and 5 for my sister , 2 pino noir grapevines and a pack of chilli seeds 6 x 10 packs of hot ones ,good day , time for a beer

[Chestnut]

Put in 3 sides of a raised/terraced bed. Gave up when I couldn’t feel my hands and feet any more despite wearing lots of clothes.
Came home and made a batch of apple and ginger jelly, then took a drawerful of blackberries from the freezer and stewed them, currently about a quarter are hanging in muslin overnight to extract the juice for bramble jelly (muslin not big enough to hold a full stock pot of stewed berries, so will have to strain it in batches).
Whole house has a gorgeous autumn fruity smell

[Small pumpkin]

Had a play with the shredder.
Harvested stuff.
Went for a little walk. Checking out potential water supplies.

[Chestnut]

Built another raised/terraced bed and filled it with a mixture of soil and part rotted manure, dug up a couple of comfrey plants, split and replanted - hoping it will provide some good ground cover for a steep/shady slope next year ;-)

[bikermike]

(well, the weekend)
Built a new bed (now have 5 beds in the new half) - and filled with home-made compost. covered the experimental potato bed with leaf mold.

Harvested the last of the parsnips, harvested Oca (see other thread - bit of a disappointment). Harvested sweet pots - a complete disappointment - no tubers at all... oh well, they were a supermarket plant that sprouted.

tidied out the compost pot that the cucumbers and sweet pots were in, emptied out the peppers (except for the last fruits that I'm hoping might ripen)

Took a bay tree cutting (managed to get a runner with roots attached and transplant them intact). planted some succulents that were trying to escape their original plant.

Had to prune my rose cutting - the top 6" had died off, but there was a growth point with a small green point on it below that, so I cut it back.

Ate the parsnips with confit duck on sunday *burp*

[Chestnut]

Built a small 5’ square raised bed, filled with mixture of soil and manure. I will pretend it was artistically designed, but in fact the layout and size of the beds was determined by the location of a large tree stump I could not dig out, and could not drive stakes between its roots ;-)

[the big lebowski]

today me and my dad went up the plot , i did some strimming ,planted 2 grapevines ,while he he did some brackets holding the guttering up on the shed and fitted a water butt , another tidy up job ticked off the list ,v happy

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Took Granddaughter up to the stables again, early doors too, she's loving it! and now realises it is otherwise not all roses

Was asked to send a text next week if we intend turning in so as a saddle and helmet will be available so she can actually have a ride!

You should have seen her Face! Priceless!


Funny this morning, as before we set off she asked where's the "Apple's" He loves an apple, so had to detour past the allottment!

Then told today he loves carrots too! Darn' have the face to say that is the only thing I am unable to grow!

[self-contained]

Went out in the garden for the first time in about three weeks. Tipped out two of my three tigernuts. No harvest from one pot, but a small one from the second. Except I didn't finish picking through the soil as it was taking far too long and I felt so short of breath (blooming cold) so had to abandon everything to head back inside. Hope nothing eats them before I can finish next weekend.

[SarrissUK]

Full on day at the allotment! I wanted to finish the bed from the shed down to the two composting bins, so more carpet lifted, rolled up and hoisted away, leaves, shredded paper, horse manure and coffee grounds spread, weed roots pulled up, leaks in bins found, rosemary bush saved from its grassy hell and more allotment neighbours greeted!



And Effie was well chuffed with the new bed!



And I found some garlic growing in the tiny little raised bed along the shed



Great day

[Baldy]

Couple of visits to the plot over the weekend - first for a week - took up cardboard and compostables - wind had been a bit brisk for most of the weekend so compost-bin-lidens all over the place - tidied up, burnt off some rubbish - decided it was a bit too bleak to spend any time there so went home to studiously ignore the new kitten...

[Chestnut]

Only a brief visit to the plot today, due to choir practice and carol service. Tapped in a few posts for making some steps on the pathways, very easy as the ground was so soft after all the rain we have had. Checked the experimental carrot / parsnip bed and didn’t find a single one, but still came home with a hatful of sprouts and Late sown radishes ;-)

[Chestnut]

Defrosted the fridge freezer. First time in months we’ve had enough space to be able to do without 2 freezers!

[Gillykat]

Couple of hours tidying on the plot. Left dead seed heads etc for hibernating insects but took 'human' rubbish to skip - bags of broken pots, empty & unusable compost bags etc). Then picked up a couple of cheap blowaway greenhouses from Argos - reduced to third of their normal price - and put them into the shed ready for the spring. Then got thoroughly filthy moving planks of wood which were resting on poly beds into greenhouse to create an extra bit of shelving (and save them rotting over the wetter winter months) Final job was to move any remaining tenders (osteospermum & carnivorous plants) into greenhouse.

Still got a LOT of bulbs to plant out but thse will have to wait until the weekend or days off next week

[Chestnut]

Too wet to do anything on the plot today, but I think I have more or less worked out what I want to grow next year, and where I will put it. Next to work out how many paper pots I will need.
I wonder if there’s a way of estimating % losses for each crop between sowing and 2 weeks after planting...