Allotments 4 All
General => News => Topic started by: cornykev on November 19, 2012, 15:44:23
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Still digging up spuds and spicey salad leaves, a bit of winter digging and weeding yesterday. :wave:
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Not a lot. Picked some parsley. Ate a few last raspberries- slightly tasteless, nibbled some mustard leaves - bit of a taste kick there. Raked a few leaves off the path and put into my compost bin.
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I dug this up...circumference 16"
(http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac224/gwynnethmary/P1040314_rs.jpg)
Spectacular! Am green with envy, Gwyn.
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Planted some more garlic, just another 2 rows to go :toothy10:
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I picked a few more tommies from my back garden. :wave:
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Stroll on, been a long while since I've been on here. All of a sudden I get a notification out of the blue about this thread.
Bet no one remembers me?
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Stroll on, been a long while since I've been on here. All of a sudden I get a notification out of the blue about this thread.
Bet no one remembers me?
Oh yes they do!!!
Hi Tony. :tongue3: I've not been about much recently myself.
You too busy in the garden?
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Oh yes they do!!!
Hi Tony. :tongue3: I've not been about much recently myself.
You too busy in the garden?
No, I gave up my two plots at the beginning of this summer. A fox got all my chickens and with the vandals I lost interest.
We're moving in a couple of weeks though, into a new house. We've only lived here for 34 years so I never thought I'd ever move.
The good news is, the garden we're getting is 240x45 feet, the size of 4 of my original allotment plots. So as soon as we move in I'll be getting a large, very large polly tunnel, loads of chickens and the Mrs wants a bloody goat.
Not sure if this list popping up all of a sudden is coincidence or fate.
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Lol, sounds a great move, hope it all goes well. Happy home allotmenting (sp?)
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Thanks Jay.
Can't actually do anything in the garden until after the 20th December but this is the garden I'll be doing it in...
(http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/m0awb/IMG_1714.jpg)
From the garage to the end fence where the photo is taken from is 45 meters so I got plenty to play with. Roll on spring, can't wait. Although I have waited all my married life for a garden this size :)
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Wow, a blank canvas, all winter to plan :toothy10:
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Double digging manure. As yet there's no end in sight to that job. Almost certainly have more manure than I can dig in so I guess I'll have an interesting space to put a pumpkin on for next summer.
Cut a cabbage and a few kale leaves.
Ignored the collapsed side of one of my compost bins - it can wait until the next scheduled 'turn over compost bins' date before I attempt to fix it.
I am definitely NOT enjoying these long evenings - roll on spring!
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went along to see if there was any damage from the winds and all was fine
just one plot holder his small tin shed had blown half way up his plot landing on his
fruit bushes as it went
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Someone must be joking - it's been tipping it down all weekend! Not much to do anyway except pull leeks and celeriac as needed.
Tricia
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I picked about 2 pound of ripe/unripe toms from the greenhouse that my tenant left behind.
May make some chutney with them. Anyone got any interesting recipes?
Also discovered that they didnt manage to kill my potted blueberry bush :blob7:
Just clean the doggie doo doos off the raised beds (Tenant's dogs not mine) and I think I will leave the rest till the spring.
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Someone must be joking - it's been tipping it down all weekend! Not much to do anyway except pull leeks and celeriac as needed.
Tricia
It is a joke this weather - I get one long break a week (about 4 hours on a Sunday) so it pours down when I'd really just like the energy to cycle to the allotment and do something different!
(The next dry spot will come along as soon as I can't get out) :BangHead:
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Sunday, I did some more Winter digging and dug up a volunteer spud plant that I had left and got the biggest spuds of the season. :blob7: :wave:
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Despaired. Most of the garden is under water, the willow trees shed tons of branches in the strong wind and it'll ruin the soil structure if I try and clear them, besides which the place I use for bonfires is now a lake. I may hibernate till Spring.
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Too boggy to do much, but DH fixed the rotten feet on the bird table. It doesnt wobble like a jelly any more :blob9:
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Nothing. I had hoped to have a second raised bed constructed, filled and planted by now, but between the weather and a new hot water system I've hardly seen the place in the last ten days or so.
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Photographed the floods.
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Cleaned some more of the inside of the poly while ray moved the 16 new scaffold boards we bought inside, all the while freezing and looking through the fog :toothy10:
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Glad to see I'm not the only one doing absolutely nothing at the moment! :happy7:
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Bugger all. :BangHead: :coffee2:
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Went and had a look at our new house today. Mrs measured up for curtains, I measured up for veg.
95x49 feet, 17 square rods... Should be enough :)
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December meeting today, followed by hot pot and cake, celebrating our accomplishments during the year and looking to the AGM in january, plus 15 tons of topsoil delivered and moved in 1 day, lots of hard work by lots of people :sunny:
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Sent down to the allotment with man flu,harvested Swedes,Parsnips,Carrots,Turnips and Beetroot,and now suffering on the sofa.
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Yesterday we moved 3 redcurrants, 4 blackcurrants and a OH's gooseberry bush to their new home in the long veggie bed against our boundary and I foxed the windbreak around the blueberries. I also took 12 optimisitc hardwood cuttings of blackcurrants to grow on nad give away if they take.
Today I was going to tidy up the other veggie beds but it has snowed overnight so all I'll be doing is picking cavolo nero and purple sprouting for dinner later on.
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Dug up the last of my spuds (Cara) and harvested some beetroot and took them home with some stored onions
Took down netting and winter dug , only about 30% to go. :blob7:
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Bugga all, rain stopped play in Notts. :sad4:
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Got torn calf muscle so zilch :sad5:
I did manage to prop myself up by the sink and get the bird feeders washed out and filled. :toothy10:
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Planted out some very sorry looking wallflowers (late I know)
The OH managed to dig over a bed and his back held up.
Picked a nice bunch of herbs for a lottie neighbour the fragrance was wonderful :icon_flower:
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Broke the ice over my flooded garden so I could get to the clucks and feed them.Did notice that my broad beans had come up in the unheated greenhouse.
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Taking advantage of the fact that the ground was no longer frozen, I lifted my oca and moved the chrysanthemum stools into the greenhouse. That's 2x10 colours of chrysanthemums and 3 colours of oca. I then climbed a tree with muddy boots to saw off a branch which had broken in the wind. Managed to live to tell the tale.
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I did a little more work on the rigid plastic liner of the propagation table in the greenhouse. Tired of the black plastic seemingly to puncture itself each year. Such a pain to off load about a ton of gritsand!
Filled it with water to test the sealant round the edges. (looks god as at 18:00 hrs).
Cheers, Tony.
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Just been to plant a new currant bush - pink. Dug up some parnsnips, and swapped some for a celariac. Also picked a sprout tree, and a cabbage. My anti theft measures seem to be working. Put the netting back over the sprouts not sure why it keeps coming off. Netted the onions: something is after them. Not sure if it is deer, rabbit or pheasant. Pheasant is nibbling the green manure mustard. Hedgehog has been on his rounds does not seem to eat slug eggs. Deer are eating leaves of the strawberries. Put another bucket of leaves onto the fruit patch. Dug up a large potato for lunch. Put plastic bottles over remaining broccoli plants - Zen, was told they would produce in December which now seems highly unlikely the plants are smaller than when I bought them three months ago. If they produce anything at all it will be amazing.
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Broke the ice over my flooded garden
So you are still flooded? Whereabouts are you?
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Broke the ice over my flooded garden
So you are still flooded? Whereabouts are you?
Still pretty wet here too, if it wasn't for the solid frost, all would be very squelchy.
Today, just a quick dash to fetch rocket and cress and a few carrots. The cress looks a bit sorry, but it was just weighed down by freezing fog/ice on the leaves, indoors it perked up instantly. Amazing what rocket and cress can put up with. They are not even cloched and it was -6.7 this morning.
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-6.7 this morning.
Brrrr!
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With the help of a friend managed to get plastic cover over my peach tree to keep it dry over the winter. Just in time too - according to the weather forecast we are in for some heavy rain tonight and tomorrow.
Tricia
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I swept the mud off the path and patio. Six days we've lived here and it's rained solidly for 4 of them.
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Dug up some snips on Christmas day. :wave:
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Started to transplant all the aquilegia, 54 so far, into fresh compost and I've put them outside while it's so mild. Got greenfly on :BangHead:
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Been transplanting more aquilegia, mixed salad leaves and started off some more sweet pea seeds, don't seem to have stopped growing things :happy7:
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Today only a bit of harvesting. Was asked to bring a green salad for a New Year's party and managed entirely from own grown stuff - with the last few cherry tomatoes, the last pepper, lettuce from the greenhouse, baby chard leaves, lots of rocket, cress, landcress, tiny fronds of fennel and a few spring onions.
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I cleared a gurt blockage of leaves from our guttering. Thyankfully we're in a bungalow. :blob7:
Cheers, :toothy2: :toothy2: Tony.
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Plot 2 today, cleared weeds, took out cabbage stalks, raked over some beds and generally had a good time :toothy10:
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Cleared out my two plastic g/houses, washed 'em inside and out thoroughly. Emptied a few pots to re-use compost. Cleaned out seed trays and covers ready for the off!! :toothy10:
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Transplanted the mixed salad leaves into a fish box, potted up the bits of rhubarb crown for the schools and transplanted their strawberry runners into new compost, I reckon all the goodness will have been washed out of the old stuff. tidied round a bit, don't half ache today :toothy10:
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I built the new chicken coop (xmas pressie yipee) and painted it white. took some red currant cuttings and put up the big frame over the beds to put out the broad beans and garlic next week.
Its begining at last. Noticed lots of new shoots yipee.
x Sunloving
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Turned over two compost bins. My back aches.
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repaired my wheelbarrow - broke a bolt when tipping out the frozen gravel back in november, took down xmas lights, started planning new planter
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I staked out a 35x12 foot area ready for my poly tunnel that should come early in the week. And I fired up and tried out my new rotorvator but the ground was far too wet for it.
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Cut down rasps, teasels and JA's. Dug up the remaining weedy leeks as rabbits had chewed the tops off, plus a couple of large but very muddy JA's.
Nice to be able to get out without getting wet, even if the ground is still pretty sodden.
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I spent the whole of the afternoon being dragged around the allotment by the rotavator. Between us, me and it, we thoroughly smashed up just about half of the whole plot, paths and all.
The plan is to re-site the paths completely to get even further away from all this straight line stuff I see everywhere. I much prefer a little mystery to a plot, a bit of privacy even.
I reckon that, with some judicious siting of the paths, bean frames, pea thingies, sunflowers and cardoons and all the rest of it, by the middle of summer in a couple of years when the nettle-clad teepee/tent has had a bit of settling in and is covered in honeysuckle, clematis and summer squashes it will all look great....
Can't wait. :glasses9:
That aside, my pain levels have shot right up again, naturally. :sad1: So bad I had to keep the rotavator going on the way home and ran it off the plot, alongside the path through the playing-fields, and then along the grass besides the road because I simply couldn't have pushed it home. It attracted a few inquisitive looks, but hey, you do what you have to eh? ;-)
New day tomorrow folks! :icon_cheers:
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Cleared out the shed and barrowed council compost for the past three days. :wave:
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Planted 100 stretton onions, 100 red baron onions and 40 garlic cloves, some in containers and some in the ground :toothy10:
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Nothing, but I've sent the last couple of days building and half filling a raised bed.
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Washed greenhouse panes, then put soaked dirty clothes into washing machine. Smelled of seaside/algae :tongue3:
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I've got 16 holes dug and half the base plates for my poly tunnel in but, woke up and there's all this white stuff in the garden so can't do sod all.
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We've had snow since Saturday so I got OH to heave some dustbins full of compost over to protect som eof the rhubarb plants that had begun shooting in the recent warm spell. Fingers crossed we don't lose the lot.
No gardening at all apart from that apart from feeding the birds so they stick around to eat all the pests this spring and summer.
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This is what I've been up to:
http://thisandthat-robert.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/raised-beds.html
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Spent today digging through the permafrost to erect these...
(http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/m0awb/prettypoly_zps025dd3ff.jpg)
Got 3 more hoops, another 15 foot to go on the end but ran out of time today.
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Got down for half an hour, and wheeled four barrowloads of topsoil to finish a raised bed. I won't do more than that in case I mess my back up again. It was snowing so I beat a retreat once I'd raked it all out level.
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Potted on the first lot of tomatoes
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Not done much outside lately. A bit too cold. Just been making trips to the greenhouse to check on things, light the heater if a frost is forecast and record temperature and any rainfall that day.
Yesterday after the snow i spent the afternoon clearing the path to the greenhouse so i can still do this safely. Nice bit of exercise bit not really gardening!
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Just checked around, we knocked the snow off all the polytunnels and I made sure the compost I've covered to try the trial carrots was ok ready for next week :happy7:
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A snowman and a snowcat in the back garden with the littlun. :wave: :coffee2:
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Started the trial carrots under the glass cloche, now to see if they live up to the claims :happy7:
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feed the birds in the garden this morning,and started making a bird table in the outhouse just got to stain it
will do that in the morning
just cant get on the allotment with this snow carries on i might have to make another bird table just to
keep busy
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Barrowed more compost and filled some of the raised beds I've moved for the onions and roots. :wave:
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Dug up strawberries to transplant at home and took the white strawberries back to plot 1, they're a bit wimpey so they will be in their own pots this year, maybe get a few more berries than the 3 we got last year :toothy10:
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Looked out the window seen all the snow was gone and that spring has sprung bulbs have popped up and my climbers have little leaves on i am so excited i have spent the rest of the day cleaning the house. This means more time for gardening if it drys out a little i have noticed that 2 of the paving slabs have sunk so i have a huge puddle and have popped that on to the hubbies list of jobs to do next weekend :)
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Went to the allotment and dug up two leeks and some carrots. it was nice to see my plot again after being covered in snow. We've found evidence of mice in the shed. They ripped a carrier bag to shreds I guess to make a nest but no sign of any mice in the shed.
Duke
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Planted the first of the meteor peas in a piece of gutter and hung it up in the poly to kep them away from the mice, plus, sowed a salad box, pak choi, mixed oriental leaves, beetroot, lollo rosso, radish and spring onions all in a polystyrene fish box :happy7:
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All i managed to do today was put the rubbish out for the bin men without being blown away. Came back into the house to warm up and dry off and decided to pull my seeds out. Now itching to get out into the garden. The pools of water have mostly gone so i am thinking that the weather looks good on friday i might at least turn over the soil and help things dry out and maybe even get some more onions sets into the ground. Far to cold to be planting seeds yet outside but i think now that the heavy snow has past i can get some plastic sheeting and jerry rig a cover for my outdoor shelving units to make some warmer dryer space for seedlings :)
Wheelbarrow is still piled high with weeds which did not make it into brown bags before the snow hit thats a job i am not looking forward to as its all starting to rot down now :( Wheelbarrow is full of melted snow and rain water so last job at the weekend is to pour that out and cover the weeds with something to let them dry out a little maybe the weekend after i can move them.
If i had the money have been very tempted to get a gazebo thing which meant i could go out and work the soil in the garden out of the elements a little but suspect it would blow away before i got anything done :) And the men in white coats might be knocking on the door :) But how great would that be to bring your allotment/back garden beds undercover for a few weeks while you got them all ready to plant and you can do them in your own time and not get soaked to the skin !! :sunny:
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I'd thought about the gazebo too Cam7 but I could imagine having to hang on to it on the plot!!
Today I potted on some chillis and tomatoes in the comfort of my little shed, they are back in the front room under LED grow lights now.
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Planted half a dozen Shallots in pots in the Summerhouse. :blob7:
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Sowed some more sweet peas as the ones I sowed in January are just showing. Transplanted my pot leeks, sowed a salad box and some pixie cabbages, spring has sprung here :toothy10:
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Sowed some more sweet peas as the ones I sowed in January are just showing. Transplanted my pot leeks, sowed a salad box and some pixie cabbages, spring has sprung here :toothy10:
Gosh - I'm already miles behind. Not got the leek seed in yet....
I'm missing my dad's large lean-to-greenhouse. It catches every splosh of winter sun. Mine is chilly so I'm short of room for sowing anything this year. (He has moved across the road and left the greenhouse for my son at the old place.)
Where did you sow your sweet-peas manicscousers? I wondered how much heat you have given them.
I managed to escape as a care assistant came in yesterday so I left my parents to it and vanished to the plot. Another huge chunk dug. (Catching up slowly). :happy7:
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Where did you sow your sweet-peas manicscousers? I wondered how much heat you have given them.
No heat, just sown in the cold greenhouse in old plastic drinks cups, under plastic covers.
Just transplanted 12 minibeltomatoes and a couple of garden pearls, sowed some corno rosso peppers and will be sowing some more tomatoes this weekend. Planted the smile seed potatoes in a pot in the poly :happy7:
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Just come back from a wet lottie, I barrrowed some more compost and dug out brassica plants. :coffee2:
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Was at the lottie this morning and spread some bark on paths before the rain intervened and sent me home
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Not done anything for days, too cold and wet. Just been pottering about in the kitchen sowing a few seeds. Will have to go on a parsnip raid soon.
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More snow overnight so have just fed the birds. i'm actually quite pleased it's still cold and snowy as I can't hope to get in my garden for at least another 2 weeks depending on foot recovery so I'm kind of relieved it isn't running away with me just now. Huge list of jobs to do though - Cutting back all the old growth in the main garden, trimming back the clems and roses and in the veg patch we need to pull up all the frozen cavolo nero, Swiss chard and purple sprouting, hoe all the beds and cover with plastic for a week or two prior to sowing seeds and replanting the strawberries.
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Not been near the plot since November, wont do any good walking on it till it drys out, prob make a start end of March with spuds and onions, broad beans and peas.
:wave: :coffee2:
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Cleared a bed in the poly and transplanted some pak choi, mixed leaves and oriental veg into it, covered with glass and plastic cloches, just need a slug pub in there now :happy7:
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I tried to work out where I had sowed green manure (tares) last year, and where I had just put on the tare tops as a cover after cutting them down. Shouldn't do any sowing where I planted them, but alas, I did not make notes! I hope hubbie will help me tell the difference. :tard:
Annemieke Wigmore, Somerset UK: http://thoughtforfood-aw.blogspot.com
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Hung out the washing...Looked at the weeds ,its still a bit wet out there so came in and filled loo rolls and pots with compost to warm up so I can sow tomorrow or Monday.. O joy the season has started :blob7:
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Barrowed some more compost and filled another small raisedbed with it :glasses9:
Weeding and dug up some parsnips. :sunny:
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Scrubbed my greenhouse and the staging with Jeyes fluid and pressure washed it yesterday, today laid it all out and stacked all the modules etc ready to start propagating....feeling very virtuous.... :angel11:
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I managed to complete the frame, all the supports and storm ties and get one door made and installed on my 35 foot poly.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BDPyveICAAMltMG.jpg)
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Nice work 69.
They don't go in for a whole lot of triangular support these days eh? State-of-the-art minimalism.
Good luck with it. Before long it'll be a jungle in there....
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well i have made it out to the garden but the soil is just 2 wet and claggy so i don't think i will touch it today its all uncovered letting the sun dry it out however the weeds have still grown under the cardboard and black membrane around the edges and in the odd wind made gap so maybe tomorrow i might just get the shovel out and go for it :)
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Secateurs have been busy...I get bit of sun shine and it gets the tools going :glasses9: Garden is under serious hacking and it gets its 'short back and sides' in more drastic manner as it didn't get done last year..with all that bad weather to blame. Once the massacre is done I will empty the pond and get muddy.. :sunny:
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I cut down the autumn raspberry canes, and offered some on Freecycle. Am pleased I did that, for had not been looking forward to the job. Didn't feel like gardening (!!!) but it was so nice outside, and quiet too.
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Transplanted the rest of the mixed leaves, mizuna, pak choi and oriental veg into the poly border, found my peas in a gutter are through :toothy10:
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planted the first of the sharpe's express spuds in warmed soil, under cover in the polytunnel :happy7:
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Put my nose out of the door and took it straight back in. Brrrr Gone back to hibernation. :sleepy1:
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We have been down the lotty for three days in a row it was lovely weather,we did some weeding and hoeing put some cabbage seeds away and cawli ,sprouts ,broad beans , we covered the with plastic polly tunnel sml one just to keep cold off I hope :happy7:
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went for mushroom compost, came back with 9 bags for 18.00. sowed 8 more types of tom, I'm being good, only 4 or 5 of each, burpless cucs and 2 types of sweet pepper all in the propagator :blob7: :toothy10:
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So envious of those of you who are out there cracking on. It's been freezing here again and we've had snow too. Saw the doc today and i have to wait another 3 weeks to use my foot without the fancy protective boot.
Took comfort in sorting out my seeds and making a spreadsheet list of what I have and when to sow for when I can begin to get some gardening done.
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I managed about 30 min outside today mostly tidying up and taking stock as i have been promised a delivery of wood chips tuesday/wednesday depending on what i get it mostly will have to be wheel barrowed into the back of the garden as the birds have been using most of what i put down to nest in and have had quite a bit rot down as it was all fresh last spring. So monday i need to pop out make holes for the plants i want to pop in and sink these 1/2 into the ground while its still wet so i can dig it and leave it sticking up so i can find it after i pop the wood chips down.
Either way i am still thawing out :(
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All I did outside, was handing over some autumn raspberry canes to an interested party from Freecycle. Otherwise I happily spent the morning behind the computer, working on the May issue of Thought for Food. May seems a long way away still, and it reminded me that, not having any covered crops, the advantage of February is that I can still tuck into my leeks, swede, broccoli, beet, spinach and what have you! :tongue3:
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Transplanted sweet peas into 10 buckets for the plant sale in may, Ray sorted another potato bed in the polytunnel :blob7:
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Took lots of penstemon and lemon geranium cuttings. Ray moved 5 blueberry bushes home from plot 2. More fruit at home, yaaay :toothy10:
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Repotted and divided loads of venus flytrap plants. I have quite a few, so this is week three of being holed up in the greenhouse. Only a couple of hundred more to go.....Then I start on the Sarracenia pitcher plants. Sigh. Then it's up the plot to start off this year's growing. No rest eh!
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Too cold in the
sunny south for doing anything much in the garden. Normally I'd be out there braving the chill but so much time spent indoors at 21oC looking after my parents I'm really feeling the cold at present. :sad10:
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Yesterday i had 2-3 ton of wood chips delivered so i have been moving these onto my front garden and back beds.
These were fresh i am told its pine but does not have much of a smell and very little leaf so its hard to tell what type of pine oh well.
I am leaving a small space around the plants as i know fresh chippings can be quite acidic they have promised me the trees were not sick just getting 2 big.
I have some chippings left do you think that i can bag these up and put them in the garage and it would be safe dont want them to catch fire or combust :) I think that these can be used in a few months to top up what i have already put down :)
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Planted out a few challenge spuds
Weeded
Fleece tunnel cloched a patch of strawberrys
Tried to dig out broken runnerbean post and concrete. :wave:
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Did abit of tidying up in the flower beds still cant hoe as soil is to wet, but lite the chimera burnt twiggy bits will use the ash in the lotty ,also racked more oak leaves up theres a lot this year.nice cup of coffee now :coffee2:
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well having had to stop moving chippings before my back gave out it turned out i had a mild version of the flu was seing double friday afternoon and my the evening had passed out peacefully woke up today about 1pm feeling like i had been 10 rounds with a boxer and with a nasty cough. Am contemplating getting some more bits finished tomorrow but only because i need husband to help with replanting an apple tree and bag up the wood chips.
On the upside my alpine stawberrys i planted 2 weeks ago have there first green leaf :)
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I had four lovely hours at the lottie today, and spent all of it pruning and weeding. The soil is so much drier and warmer than a couple of weeks ago, but I'm resisting sowing anything until tomorrow when the propagator and heater are in situ in the greenhouse. It's looking a lot tidier now, it's amazing how much you can get done in the sun! My back is feeling it now though.....
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First lawn mowing of the year in the back garden. :sunny:
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Everything I could! It was such lovely weather, at last. For the first time I wasn't cold.
However, there wasn't much to do ..... Most of our veg grows down the allotments, which is Mike's domain and out of bounds for me (not that I mind!). I weeded the beds in the garden and gave the Raggedy Jacks some compost. We're very short of compost this year as the cows next doors never went outside, so Mike could not go and collect manure. Didn't sow anything yet - I've learned my lesson and wait patiently till the soil warms up. Mike's been busy though, soaking beans and the like.
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Took grass cuttings, home compost peelings, spent flowers and shredded paper and mixed into dalek on the plot. :wave:
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Transplanted aquilegias, pinks, teasels and cabbages. Sowed more cucs as only 1 of 4 burpless came up :happy7:
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Started to put up poly tunnel from first tunnels. Base plates in ground,hoops, storm braces, stabilizers, crop bar and 2 bars across top of tunnel. Although good video's and instruction booklet there are always bits they do not go into enough detail and this involves alot of discussion before being able to progress.Tomorrow making up doors and putting together base rails. As the weather is getting colder will leave polythene until a warm day.
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Although good video's and instruction booklet there are always bits they do not go into enough detail and this involves alot of discussion before being able to progress..
What bit you having problem with? I've just completed a 35 foot tunnel from them and I found it all very easy to erect. The instructions and video's were really clear and informative.
(http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/m0awb/IMG_0051_2.jpg)
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I just got down to the plot quickly to dump some compost. It's been raining all day, and I'm recovering from a nasty dose of the runs. That's my excuse, anyway!
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Painted more garden fencing, found where animals were crawling in.
Tomorrow seed some little pots!
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Sowed some Celeriac yesterday. :wave:
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Started celeriac and parsnips,calabrese, red cabbage (2 types) and sprouts :happy7:
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Planted shallots, leeks and Dutch irises.
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Painted birdhouses and mounted them on posts. Painted more fence.
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Weeded the front garden and my containers. It looks tidy now!
Potted on my chilli and sweet pepper seedlings.
Sowed some mixed salad leaves and pea shoots.
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Managed to carry all the oak sleepers into the poly tunnel and get the raised bed set up ready for the topsoil that's coming tomorrow. Despite the snow and mud... Anyone ever done a triple toe lutz with a full size railway sleeper in your hands?
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Went to the plot and planted a line of RDOY, Shallots and some Onions
Did a bit of weeding and
Mixed some home compost in the dalek
Sowed Cucumber Telegraph and Yellow Bell Peppers
:wave:
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NOTHING. Worked on the computer and helped by my son got rid of some annoying bugs in the blog. Yippee! Best day of the month.:hello2:
Anyway it was rotten weather. It SNOWED.
Annemieke, http://thoughtforfood-aw.blogspot.com
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:icon_cheers: Seeded TOMATOES:
Black Krim,
Polfast;
Stupiche;
Better Boy;
Roma;
and 3 that are supposed to set toms even in hot humid weather (Homestead, Arkansas Traveler and Atkinson)
Basil
FLOWERS:
Alyssum
Balsam
Marigolds
And set out bowls of water for the birdies near the feeder
And pruned a clematis. It is sunny and comfortable here today :glasses9:
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Seeded;
Cabbage
Runner beans
Peppers
Pricked out
Mixed salad leaves
Cauli
Toms
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Barrowed a ton of topsoil from front drive into the poly tunnel down the end of the back garden.
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Raked over the phantom seedbed which I prepared last week. Frustrated for due to lack of cloche/greenhouse/sills I can't sow yet!
I could put a few things in trays I suppose, keep them in the shed window, but I never know what soil to sow them in. I don't want to use peat (see www.idontdigpeat.org.uk/campaign/), and any other medium needs years of composting leaves and things.
I did buy a pot of parsley plants on Tuesday, though it seems too cold to plant them out yet.
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and any other medium needs years of composting leaves and things.
.
Annemieke, how about mole hill soil? This is what was popular in Victorian times and often mixed with leaf mold. But at least it is dry and well dug and should do well for windowsill sowings.
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We had more snow thismorning and it's still perisihing out there so nothing done in the garden.
Lots of turning and watering of seedlings indoors though.
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how about mole hill soil?
Galina, I know about mole hills, but I thought you had to mix that with leaf mould? Collecting sufficient leaves where we are is more work than I fancy, especially as they then have to rot for years.
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Nothing, apart from letting the chickens out. It was too wet and cold.
If it carries on like this I am going to hibernate.
Spent the day in the kitchen making grapefruit and blueberry marmalade and cakes instead.
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Went to the Edible Garden Show and spent the day listening to James Wong and Bob Flowerdew. Bought myself an Issai kiwi, some new seeds to try and some slug gone pellets with £8.00 off . It was warm in there :sunny:
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Just sowed some carrots and beetroot direct, with a few more onions going in yesterday. :wave:
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Nothing- too wet! Sowed some seeds at home, though- herbs, tomatoes, peppers and parsnips.
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Planted 140 onions, the whites were starting to look a bit iffy so better in the ground. Transplanted some of my competition toms and school windowsill ones. I'm going to have to clear the landing windowsill :toothy10:
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Had to pop out today and a small detour on the way back took me to the organic plant shop in doddington. Have just finished planting up 6 round cabbage, 3 pointed cabbage and 3 cauli baby plants (10p each), a blackberry bush (£1.50) and 5 large potted herbs (£4 for 5) Taragon, mint, thyme, flat & curly parsley. Now back inside warming up with a cup of tea.
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Got the early spuds in outside, transplanted some kohl rabi, pixie and ricoletto cabbage. Sowed some flower seeds for the plant sale. Hope it warms up by May :toothy10:
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Its nasty and cold.. So when the rain stopped I banged in some posts outside the onion bed to give them more room and replaced the net I'd taken off last week.....Got to look after these, the ones in the poly waiting for spring look chilled off... :sad9:
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Pouring rain here, but bought slug pellets, lily bulbs and wood to fix a bench.
Tending my indoor seedlings and repotted 5 cuttings of Wave petunias which are growing by leaps and bounds and pumping out buds. They might become THUGS!
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Barrowed some more compost and filled another raised bed. :wave:
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Transplanted some more tomatoes and made out some instruction pages to explain how to use some of the herbs :happy7:
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Found termites living in a bench! :BangHead: Planed down some new wood for it.
Seedlings sprouting: a few Wallflowers, maybe some Standing Cypress (both experimental for me); transplanted some marigold seedlings
Moved some heavy pots outside, weeded lettuce and tom beds
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Sleet and Snow here today nipped out long enough to check cabbage plants were all ok :) Phew
Visited Harriets Nursery and they are growing veg for there veg plot outside on a nice sunny shelf and there was a sign asking for seeds so tomorrow i am going to pull out some for them. Last week they had some eggs to hatch and Harriet helped feed the baby chickens what popped out.
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:Planned to move a compost heap on the lottie but ended up barrowing tons of scalpings to fill in potholes. It's amazing how the folk who drive down the track are absent when they're delivered :BangHead:
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Temp in the poly 15 degrees so nice enough to transplant some lettuce and sow some more carrots into deep pots. If I can't grow outside, I'm going to pack the poly with as many crops as I can. Weather is doing my head in :BangHead:
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Too flipping cold here so, since OH wasn't here to moan, I potted up some baby toms in the kitchen and then made some marmalade. More snow and horrors expeceted tomorrow but should be dry and sunny for a couple of days after that and just above freezing so I can get out and do some clearing.
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Been digging at a very stubborn tree stump that doesn't seem to want to move! Hoping to get it out soon so I can deal with the small matter of getting the rest of the plot ready!!!
Also been planting onion seeds, artichokes and peas...indoors. Too cold for anything else!!
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While carefully transplanting at the kitchen sink I flipped a tray of seedlings into the water :BangHead: so I cannot tell some of the tomatoes apart now (and 3 of them were experimentals.) Fortunately though, this year I'd divided all the tomato types between two trays, just in case.
All is not lost. :blob7:
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While carefully transplanting at the kitchen sink I flipped a tray of seedlings into the water :BangHead: so I cannot tell some of the tomatoes apart now (and 3 of them were experimentals.) Fortunately though, this year I'd divided all the tomato types between two trays, just in case. All is not lost. :blob7:
That was a bit of good thinking!
In the past I labelled the trays containing small pots of newly potted on tomatoes. All was going well until the cat decided to pull out three of the four labels. This year she has taken to chewing the corner of a few large seed packets. I'm thankful she doesn't come to the plot with me and start digging everything up!
She is a very nice cat really.... my wife says :tongue3:
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Sometimes I wonder with all the things that can go wrong from the time we plant seeds, then pot them up, some cats/critters getting into them etc, then planting them out in chancy weather, is it worth it? And it explains why purchased plants cost so much.
On the other hand I hope to enjoy for the first time some tomatoes that pollinate even in blistering hot weather and also some tall "Chantilly Deep Orange Snapdragons" which are probably not going to be offered as plants locally. So I blunder ahead...
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I've been shovelling snow....and more snow...
All plants are buried under big mountains of the stuff as there is no where to put it in the garden other than on borders...patio has mountain of it...lots thrown against wall but not it doesn't stay there anymore...piles are high enough.
All the neighbours are out and about ...everybody shovelling..trying to make street accessible again..
Definitely no gardening here... :BangHead:
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I've been shovelling snow....and more snow...
All plants are buried under big mountains of the stuff as there is no where to put it in the garden other than on borders...patio has mountain of it...lots thrown against wall but not it doesn't stay there anymore...piles are high enough.
All the neighbours are out and about ...everybody shovelling..trying to make street accessible again..
Definitely no gardening here... :BangHead:
Time for seed catalogues and planning.... as well as a Sunday off. :happy7:
So far the latest snow has missed us but it's pretty cold and drab.
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Finally.... victory for this particular woman.....defeat for stubborn tree stump!!! Just the job of moving it off site!!! :icon_cheers:
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Sowed some herb seeds. Transplanted some more tomatoes and peppers. Pricked out some celeriac, amazing when you put a pinch of seed in a pot, got 30 seedlings out of it :toothy10:
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And your back is still in one piece, vague?
Good for you.
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I planted lots of seeds at my kitchen sink now every windowsill are full in less then a week the cornflowers are coming through :toothy10: my stuff at the Lotty are doing nothing ,am fed up with snow ,wet, cold wind, things for me seem so far behind . :BangHead:
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And your back is still in one piece, vague?
Good for you.
Back could do with bit of a break!!! But feel much better now its out, and have more growing space!!
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Loads of snow still here got a few seeds growing in conservatory
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Took apart some pallets. Hoping to use wood for some unknown project soon! Sowed some salad leaves and radish, plus some baby carrots in the greenhouse border.
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In the garden in this weather!!!!!
I am hanging on with the seeds apart from the tomatoes, celeriac and parsley in the propagator and broad beans, cabbage, sweet peas and early beetroot in the little paper pots in the utility. No sign of the leeks yet.
Can't do anything on the lotty apart from slip sliding away.
This is playing in the kitchen weather, so is another jam and marmalade day.
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Another pallet taken apart today. Burnt some rubbish and sowed some self saved flower seeds from a neighbours plot (yes, had permission! ) Don't know what they are, but when they flower will get her to tell me the varieties and names.
Going to put my seed box in order as I dropped it and everything was mixed up. So will see what's what and hopefully sow some seeds next time I go, in trays and modules in the polytunnel.
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Got some sprouts, calabrese and cauli up. Transplanted some lettuce, sweet peas, and beetroot :happy7:
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Yippee - had manure delivered this morning - bright beautiful day for the first time in ages. Also got first really good pickings from PSB, previously only a small handful. Shame mother in law is nearly here as would be up the lottie but have to do some tidying ....
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Too cold in the garden so did some seed planting in the kitchen. Nicotiana, cabbage, brussels, calabrese, roma tomatoes, and potted on sometomatoes, celeriac, and parsley.
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Still under snow here in W Mids. although just about able to see grass on lawns now. Potted up some tommies but that is about it. Will sow some cabbage today methinks.
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Cut back plants in the garden and did some shredding. Cold wind but sunny.
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Well the weekend has been pretty good... did some tidying up and pruning of the last few non-edible shrubs... shifted various bits around in the greenhouse and potted up what turned out to be 8 trays of brassicas... mixture of Calibos, various kohl rabi's, and an assortment o fbrussels... sowed some carrots in deep pots, some peas in bedding strips (Hurst Green Shaft, Telefono, Jumbo and Ne Plus Ultra), also sowed some poncy salads and moved stuff out of house propagators into greenhouse hotbed (6x3 frame with a 40 foot soil warming cable in it) ... got up the plot, not as traumatic as I'd been expecting, managed to run the rotavator over the potato bed and harvest the last of the parsnips, the allotment brussels adn the celeriac...s till got brussels at home, and noticed that in a rather neglected net tunnel I have several small but perfectly formed savoy cabbages.... so dinner tonight will be home-made veggie baked beans withthe spare dried beans from last years crop, frozen homegrown tomatoes, celeriac and frozen homegrown sweetcorn..... served on roasted parsnips with brussels.... and it will all be homegrown bar some cooking oil and herbs... plus the leeks I'll use in the beans cos I ran out of mine a while ago....
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Sectioned off and rotovated a 1.7M x 4.0M strip of the allotment and then put some cloches and carpet over it. Put in some onion sets that i've been given.
Picked some purple sprouting broccoli and perpetual spinach.
Watered the stuff that's coming on in the GH ready for planting out.
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Gave the grass its first cut of the year, pulled out an old wire fence that had been annoying me for years, and started clearing the strip where my raspberries are supposed to be. Great to be outside, and not too cold if you keep on the move!
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Was grey and cold and a freezing blast until about 4 o'clock, then the sun came out!!! could do quite a bit of digging and finally planted the garlics and shallots that were growing in deep seed trays in the greenhouse because the garden was too wet to do this in October. They have a decent root system on them and have put on quite a bit of growth, hope this hasn't delayed them too much, never had to have them in the greenhouse over winter before, but no choice as we were so swampy. Still very damp, could not rotavate yet as it is too wet for that, but can do some good with a fork. Can feel a few muscles now ...............
I did mostly coarse digging leaving big clods of clay for the frost to break up, but some areas got their second going over and those that had two already got planted. At last!!! :blob7:
Other than that - potted up a bit and sowed a few more tomatoes for the propagator and made a few paper pots whilst watching the telly.
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Had a lovely day at the allotment. Dug over three beds and covered an area with some tunnel cloches to warm the soil. I will sow spinach and beetroot under these next week.
I gave my garlic and leeks a bit of a feed......they need something after the long harsh winter!.
Harvested the last of my carrots they were in excellent condition considering they have been in the ground all winter.
Planted a new rhubarb plant. Weeded the fruit cage. Weeded the leek and garlic bed. Was only supposed to be at the allotment for an hour and spent three :icon_cheers:!!!
oh and I sowed some more broad beans in the greenhouse in pots as my first lot took ages to germinate and I only got about 50% germination.
Tomorrow I will sow some cabbage and cauliflower seeds. If we have a few more dry days I might be able to get my potatoes in.
Duke
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- got depressed over how much the cold wind over last week has dried the soil despite the snow
planted 2 beds of early potatoes which I covered up - ulster classic, red robin and annabelle.
found more couch grass to remove from asparagus bed :(
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Potted on celeriac and tomatoes, sitting in the sun and it was warm enough that I didn't need a coat. Lubberly. :sunny:
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Started my broadies.
http://thisandthat-robert.blogspot.co.uk/
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Sat in the poly and communal greenhouse all day, potting on and sowing seeds. 80 degrees in the communal poly this morning, Took the first of the tommies and put them inside a plastic greenhouse inside the poly, hopefully they will be ok :happy7:
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Cleared a load of rubbish. Made a bonfire pile and a good "to use in the future" wood pile. Bagged up all the plastic stuff I've found for the dump. Dug out a cubic metre of nettle and dock roots in reclaiming new-ground where I didn't get to last year. Covered the area in black fabric and planted gooseberries, blackcurrants and Aldi's very cheap strawberry plants. Then dug over one of last year's beds.
Knackered ... but making up for lost time.
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I had a very upset plotholder phone this morning to report a burnt out shed on another plot, but I had something else on and couldn't get down to see it.
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Transplanted 10 tomatoes into bottomless buckets of our compost and covered with a glass cloche , got to start, too many plants, no windowsill space left :toothy10:
Sowing the first of the inside dwarf french beans tomorrow, the edible seeds from RHS arrived so sowed some nasturtiums and marigolds :happy7:
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So far not a sausage!
Went over to my parents at 10:30am and got back at 3:30pm - the planned escape cancelled.
I knew something would scupper my plans. :BangHead:
Did breakfast & drinks, changed the bedding, washed kitchen & bathroom floors, Vaxed a couple of carpets....... then it was lunch time.... so the day wore on.
And no Personal Care Assistant in this evening - (got a cold) - Yep...the sun's out so it's down to me as usual. :hmh:
I might have the time and energy to cut the lawns but that'll be it for the day.
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Too full of a cold for the allotment, but pottered in the greenhouse and garden at home, sowing a few more seeds and cutting back some more dead stuff. It actually felt like spring at last!
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I spent an hour cleaning the garden scrubbing trampoline etc and watering followed by another hour trying and failing to put up a mini greenhouse given up on idea and going to make own once i finish the coshes. Husband thinks i am mad as a box of frogs so no change there :) Harriet said it was 2 cold but did stay out and help for a good while and loves watering so i think tomorrow i will be taking her gardening things out of storage soon :) Weather forcast is for a cold tomorrow and the week gradually getting warmer so fingers crossed i can get my garlic, shallots, onion, cabbages into there final planting places and that means i can get the seeds out again and i might actually get to plant something!!!
Also need to pull the seeds out for Harriet to take to nursery for there veggi garden going to send them some teenie weeny runner beans and patty pan as well as some herbs and tomatoes. They have broadbeans in at the moment.
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just sat in the lovely sunshine and talked and talked to a fellow plotter, did nowt on the plot, will see how the weather goes before I make a start planting things out.
:coffee2: :wave:
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Yesterday in the Sunshine :sunny: I Planted some Rhubarb and Asparagus Crowns the OH bought in the 99p shop, repaired the R Bean post and had a clear up on the plot. :glasses9:
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All spuds in bar 1 bed, sowed and transplanted some more seeds/seedlings for the plant sale :happy7:
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Planted a few peas. Carouby de Mausanne and Latvian.
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I only have a small patch but this weekend I have turned it all, dealt with weeds and grass etc. I have put in the onion sets too.
Also been ruthless and dug up the rhubarb, it looks worse for wear and we never get any decent sticks from it, we never eat it. I had loads of onions to go in so I managed to get in a few more where the rhubarb was.
I also noticed 3 gooseberry bushes have died this year. 3 sprouting nicely and 3 dead. So thats next weekends work and will free up some more space too.
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I have been growing peas indoors in 5 gutters and put them out on the plot yesterday, securely covered against rabbits, birds and frost. Same with broad beans grown in loo rolls - I never do this normally, but this is not a normal spring..... Rabbits are so desperate they are trimming the leeks back but strangely not as far as into the stems - and also eating parsnips greens.
My family helped me to put up a 3x2m polytunnel over Easter - my first ever! - and I put some lettuce seedlings into it that had overwintered crammed into a pot in a useful coldframe I won from the RHS two years ago. Hope they come to something in this splendid shelter.
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Done the first coarse dig on a lot of area that is still damp but now finally workable, took out buckets of convulvulus roots. Dug over the places that had been previously coarse dug. Planted broadbeans and peas under bottle cloches, but there are a lot of peas still to go, this will keep me busy a few more days. Planted out the first lettuce and harvested a full salad bowl of greens from the greenhouse - second bowl of salad greens this week :toothy10:
Potted up pepper plants in the conservatory. I can see the first buds on one pepper plant. At last this feels like spring. :sunny:
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Ray startes our first lot of tall peas in milk cartons. Built me a cold frame for all the brassicas, it's too warm in the poly for them. I kept on with the transplanting and Ray earthed up the inside spuds, again. The smile seed potatoes are really doing well :blob7:
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Transplanted some cabbages into peat pots and put them out in the Summerhouse
Sowed 8 sweetcorn under glass
Sowed 4 Cucs in a bagged pot
Sowed some Sweetpeas. :toothy10:
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Cleared dead branches of my grass then raked it,planted a few Peppers,(sweet) seeds
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I planted some more peas yesterday. Carlin Pea, Goldensweet and Dwarf Grey Sugar Pea. I'm only planting the round-seeded varieties at the moment; wrinkle-seeded ones can wait till the temperature's up in the teens. Don't think I'll be down today as I'm helping with the food bank and doing church stuff.
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Actually got to spent some time in the garden last 2 days, yesterday i managed to dig over 2 of my beds and 1/2 plant one yesterday with my cabbage plants. Also Sowed Yesterday
For Front Garden
melianthus major,
Fatsia Japonica,
Lobelia
For Back garden
Flower
Poppy - Pink Fizz
Marigold - Scarlet
Veg Bit
Sweetcorn - 8 cells each of Cherokke White flower, Cherokee white eagle and cherokee long ear small popcorn and 9 cells of sweetcord ambrosia
Today i have planted my garlic, shallots and onions as well as some rows of carrots seeds.
Am very sore but lots of rain due tonight ideal for giving everything a good start before the promised warm weather.
:) Cam
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Lurked outside. Looked at rocket, looked at peas, looked at mustard greens. Avoided eye-contact with the beets. Smiled at the Ideal Red carrots starting to poke through in a large container. Went into GH. Lurked. Looked outside. Looked at stuff inside. Smoked a f*g, drank some tea. Still couldn't find anything to actually do. There doesn't even seem to be any slugs to kill. Gave up, went inside and got on with the housework. I'll be doing my April sowings on Monday, so I suppose it's the calm before the storm.
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More peas planted. Kent Blue, Winterkefe, Salmon-Flowered, Mummy, Mummy White, and two Umbellatas which only have accession numbers attached to them.
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Well got pea seeds in and broad beans ,planted cabbage and cawlis plants put in onions ,and we re covered our cages with blue scaffy netting started to rain so came home :wave:
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Go t my potatoes in (only a row and a half this year) and some broad beans. Sowed french beans and cucumber at home and started courgettes chitting on kitchen towel.
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Brought back the mini greenhouse i bought from B&M and had it replaced with this one http://www.bmstores.co.uk/products/deluxe-hexagonal-greenhouse-251887 been a bit wet to do very much in the garden today. Fingers crossed i can get this greenhouse built tomorrow and then i can get sowing the rest of the seeds i need to get going :)
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:BangHead:
Nothing it's been raining here all day!
Duke
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Spent a pleasant t four hours down the lottie in the sun wind and showers! Actually felt like Spring! Cleared a few more raised beds of old brassicas and weeds, covered my potato beds and hoping to plant next week if the weather holds, very enjoyable!
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Big couple of days in the greenhouse... all the peppers adn tomatoes etc are now potted on, along with a lot of other stuff.... plus given the weather report (mild, some showers) I've moved all of the hardy stuff out of the GH, leaving the shelves free for the tender stuff when it coumes out of the hotbed.... there are trays and tray sof brassicas and peas everywhere all of a sudden. Given how big my GH is shifting most of its contents out take a while so I decided against trying to get the spuds in tonight.... feel happy at what I got done though, that annual migration into hardening off mode generally limps along for several weeks... the only hardy stuff still in the GH is some very freshly germinated carrot seedlings in deep pots, a trough of salad getting over being transplanted , some Chinese artichokes (ditto), and a couple of pots of radishes I sowed today... did also get the cucumbers and beetroot sown in modules, along with another couple of strips of spring onions and a tray of poncy saladings in strip modules...
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I've been planting potatoes...18 varieties in ground and another 5 left to do (must remember not to hide my seed potato stash away so I don't end up buying more and more :BangHead:) We emptied chicken pen bedding onto allotment and moved the lawns..FIRST CUT :icon_cheers:..to get plenty of 'good stuff' into potato trenches.
OH rotavated our rubbish piling/bonfire area and now I've got lovely 'new' big area to grow loads of more 'stuff'..though it will need couple of more rotavation sessions before it can be used..no doubt there is lots of weed seeds to come through as that part of the plot is not used for some years...and there 'was' my JA rows..no way I've been able to dig all the tubers out in one go...so lots of more digging to do yet :BangHead:
I gave cardboard mulch for some black currant bushes..hopefully it saves me from some weeding this summer :glasses9:
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Oh yes...and I prepared bed for the sugar beet..now it needs layer of compost..another turn over and left to rest for few more weeks and then the seeds can go in :icon_cheers:
Oh..and I've been laying slabs on soil too...carrying making beds smaller and saving them being walked over and hopefully no need for digging anymore :icon_cheers:
..and now I'm going to hang down from my 'bat board' to straighten up my aching back... :drunken_smilie:
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Are you living on another planet where there are more hours in the day, Anja? I was out most of the day but managed to sow some swede and more herbs and wildflowers when I got back.
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Are you living on another planet where there are more hours in the day, Anja? I was out most of the day but managed to sow some swede and more herbs and wildflowers when I got back.
Ah...that list of jobs included what I did yesterday as well as today...but each day I spent good 6 hrs outdoors... :icon_cheers:
Not more hours in the day but certainly lots more day light now :icon_cheers:
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I went down to lotty yesterday Sunday, and planted more cawlis,and brussels,and broc, did the netting over them ,came back home like the hunch back . :toothy10:
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Ray planted out some cauli and early fennel. I sat and sweated transplanting . Watered everything :icon_cheers:
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seven hours today so excuse my sitting here with a glass of red and a cigar.
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Just got back from my 1st full days graft on the plot this season...........
6 rows of spuds,Annabelle Salads,and Maris Piper 2nd Earlies.
Planted 40 Vigarmor Banana Shallots in 1 Raised bed.
Planted 100 Centurion Onion sets in another Raised bed.
Planted 200 Sturon Onion sets in another Raised bed.
Planted 100 Red Baron sets in another Raised bed.
Planted Raised bed of Picardy White Garlic.
ran out of gas..................phew.......been gagging to get me finger out but weather just hasnt leant itself ....but today was different gravy.... :blob7:
Gazza
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Not a lot far 2 windy checked my propagator and the poppy seeds are all up should be able to pot them on soon only took a few days!!
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Got the rotavator out adn put the trenches in for the spuds (will try to get spuds in in next couple of days)... moved the big sheet of black plastic to a bit that was the weedy bit left on plot two.... tried to have a calculation of how much space I can let fruit have and it looks like I'll be OK... need to practice my row lining for the spuds though... I can live with some slight bendiness, but I've got to plants some for a friend at the weekend and I don't know how OCD they are about straight lines.... Looks like I'll need to water everything that went outside yesterday... predicted showers didn't get to us an dno rain likely for a few days.... that'll be an early start tomorrow....<sigh>
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20 Charlottes went in sunday and I sowed 32 sweetcorn yesterday. :happy7:
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This week busy, busy, busy
Onions red and white
Potatoes Desiree, Annabelle (Did so well last year) and Mayan Gold
Found some strawberry runners in pots which I though were dead and planted them out
Sowed carrots, parsnips, beetroot
Put some more chitted broad beans under bottle cloches.
Weeds getting active mostly fat hen and dandelions so did some hoeing and chopping.
Feed the raspberries. Netted strawberries to stop deer nibbling the leaves.
Removed couch from amongst strawberries. Dratted nuisance, luckily last year in this postition so will get dug through when they have cropped.
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Planted Rhubarb and Asparagus from the 99p shop
A bit of weeding
Watered a few of the seedlings. :toothy10:
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Broadbeans are planted.. :icon_cheers:...and first lot of peas :toothy10:
Did teeny bit of weeding and gathering old dry plant matter together for my FIRE CLAMP :glasses9:..but it was too windy for fire..huh, almost dangerous gusts at times.
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Finished getting the spuds in and planted out the broadbeans (only growing "Express" this year cos still have most of last years in the freezer) .... whoohoo for Howard rotavators is all I can say, the odd bit of soil moving I had to do with the shoel at the end I couldn't get the rotavator in to do showed me how claggy it all was.... wouldn't have been practicable by hand, or would have been epically back-breaking labour... as it is all the spuds are in (2 poles) and my back feels fine :D.... hopoefully in the course of the next week or so I'll get the onionsand shallots (both from seed and many varieties) out and maybe the first mixed row of peas (Ne PLus Ultra and Telefono tall ones and Hurst Green Shaft and Jumbo normal ones.... the "Ruthless" earlies are in a big pot and can stay there...)... might also think about getting brassicas like Kohl Rabi and cabbages out....
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I have spent the entire day watching and re-tightening the cloches...oh how I want the sandbags to arrive...bricks and old stones just aren't up to the job in this wind....need some dead weight....
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Right.
Oilskins...check!
Wellies...check!
Lifejacket...check!
Inflatable life raft...check!
Little wubber ducky from bathroom ...check!
Peas for the floating of...check!
Soil for the planting of peas for the floating of...check!
Will to get all togged up, fight the wind and cloches, get soaked and catch pneumonia and spent half the season too ill to garden...MISSING!
Bottle of home made wine from 2009 crop...check!
Eggbaconmushroombeanzandtoast brekkie...check!
Interfret on...check!
Allotments4All on screen with huge backlog of stuff I haven't seen (as a newbie)...check
As wosisname said to Scott of the Antarctic, "I may be some time"!... :wave:
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:toothy10: Hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. the big yellow shiny ball has come out...hahahahaaaa
2 rows of peas in..1st Kelvedon wonder, 2nd Mangeytoots...Brill thats my pea pod wine sorted for this year hahahahhaaa!
also found 8 'volunteers' under the weed suppressant fabric and they are now in potato bags...Bonus!
AND it didn't rain on me...
And the wind died so I could do the sheets....hahahahaaaaaaaaa! wheres me wine!
On a serious note...Polytunnel temp up to 88 in under 20 mins of sun...watch out!
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Managed a quick 3/4 hour in the GH before the allotment soc meeting started so I managed to pot up my leeks, happy with progress this week due to spuds being in along with the broadies, hopefully get the onions and shallots in in the next week or so, then look ahead to the tender stuff getting sown and the brassicas going out....
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If you're interested...this..
http://nomspatch.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/frost-and-furkleing.html (http://nomspatch.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/frost-and-furkleing.html)
:sunny: :blob7: :toothy10: :glasses9:
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.and then I sat here doing some sun soaking...temp on the temp mesuring device is....86f...real little sun trap this one..have recorded 140f on here..couldn't sit out that day...
That's 'er indoors, outdoors by the way!
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=2498 (http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=2498)
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Potatoes in, first peas in today so I'm feeling quite virtuous....just need to get my alliums all in now... Ha! :sunny:
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Yesterday sowed brassicas. Today watered and then covered them. Today planted out 36 brassicas, Watered strawberry plants that went in during the winter, they were looking very dry. No significant rain here for several weeks, while underneath still wet, the surface is getting dusty. Hoeing puts up clouds of dust.
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Well I am now ready to plant my courgettes / acorn squash, main crop Sweetcorn and onions.. Just got to get them ready for planting in a few weeks..
I spent a few hours at the plot today and got all my weed fabric set up ready for growing. A few weeks ago I made all the holes in the fabrics so today I sprinkled some general fertilizer, forked it in and raked it all flat. Then set up the fabrics.
Burning the holes The Onion bed All finished
(http://chat.allotment.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=101023.0;attach=44999;image) (http://chat.allotment.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=101023.0;attach=45001;image) (http://chat.allotment.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=101023.0;attach=45003;image)
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WOW what a BRILLIANT Lottie you have there Gavin...excellent work, congrats on 3rd place best Lottie and the prizes in the show...methinks you aren't a beginner at this game!
Where did you get the wire fencing panels.. the oblong stuff... from please?
And again...just WOW! excellent picture blog....
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Planted the rest of my Kestrels yesterday
Transplanted cucs
Sowed some more brassicas
:blob7:
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Planted out beetroot, kohl rabi, turnips and sowed some more carrots. Planted chitted parsnips and bedfordshire onions from seed. Transplanted more flowers for the plant sale. My sweetcorn are just showing so I've got out all the bean and squash seeds . Ray sowed the next lot of tall peas in milk cartons :icon_cheers:
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WOW what a BRILLIANT Lottie you have there Gavin...excellent work, congrats on 3rd place best Lottie and the prizes in the show...methinks you aren't a beginner at this game!
Where did you get the wire fencing panels.. the oblong stuff... from please?
And again...just WOW! excellent picture blog....
Hi Nomspatch.. Honest I was brand new to allotmenteering and total beginner to showing veg when I started the plot in November as well as the photo blog. I have grown veg for years on my flat roof here and in Zimbabwe on my 12 acre plot (just a wee bit bigger than my 10 rod plot here).. I did all the work as you can see from the pics and am now really chuffed with it. Digging this year has been so easy because I dug really deep last year. Now its just one spade depth (instead of 3) and then I got a rotavator to break it up once it was dry. I need to update my blog now with the latest workings over the last few weeks..
The security fence panels I got free from a building site. I just popped in and spoke to the Gaffer and asked if I could have some bent and broken ones when they finished on site - I got 21 in fairly good condition!!
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Spent three hours digging couch grass and creeping buttercup out of a patch about 10ft x 6ft. :BangHead:
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nothing been watching alternate Sun, Rain and Hale :(
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Making a 'new' bed for the squashes, against the fence in the sunniest part of the garden, going to train them up the fence.
Opened the planted cloches for a bit of a breather..the sun is HOT!
Now on a breather, afternoon glass of home made Blackcurrant wine and a peanut butter cookie also home made...
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More sweetcorn transplanted and some seeds direct
Last of the spuds in with last of the Desire and 20 Cara in
Planted some brassicas I was given on the lottie
Sowed 5 Butternut direct
Hoe-ed, weeded and watered
:sunny: :blob7:
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Got the rest of the currently sown peas in, will resow some more soon, also got in the last of the Kohl Rabi, all of the shallots, most of the onions, the rest of the carrots, and a small patch of parsnips (enough for me) ... hoping the rain waters them in tonight/tomorrow, and hopefully I can get the rest of the onions in tomorrow.... then apart from the brussels adn a few cabbages it'll be all about the tender stuff, tomatoes to go into the GH border at the weekend, peppers adn chillis into biggish pots, fruit plants from biggish pots into the ground and the fruit trees and shelling beans to harden off... and sow the pumpkins, squashes, gherkins and sweetcorn into the hot-bed to germinate while I'm away at a festival........
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Planted out 24 celeriac, 24 cabbage and a yacon on plot 2, cut all the fruit trees back to 6' and dug up 3lb of volunteer spuds, most of which are ok to eat :icon_cheers:
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Sowed lettuce, calabrese, spring onion, coriander and swede. Admired my early tomato plants, congratulated myself on having them (now doomed to failure). Threatened the forming fruit to get bigger and redder faster. Harvested bunching onion, lettuce, chives from the garden and a cucumber from the windowsill.
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Sowed lettuce,........................ and a cucumber from the windowsill.
Gordonmull, very envious about the cucumber. What variety? When and how did you sow cucumber?
Cucumber now would be just brilliant. Would you please tell us how it's done?
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Short and sweet, not a lot. Come on sunshine you can come out to play..go hide those tears. :blob7: :blob7:
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When is this weather going to get better? well I sat in poly today and repotted and pricked out... my Fushia, parsnips,beetroot, Brussels, leeks, snowball Caulis,and made up 2 hanging baskets which I bought from Aldi today reduced to .99p they had red trailing begonias in basket. Was not warm at all in there,had to come home for a hot shower to get warm.
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Hoe-ed weeded, watered and sowed a few PSB yesterday. :wave:
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We had a friend with a chain saw visit us to take down a flowering cherry tree that was in danger of toppling on to the chicken run. All done, wood removed. We just need to move the composter over the little stump. I just need to take out a lonicera fragrantiisima & I have another area for fruit. Hooray :icon_cheers:. Better still, I babysat for them so it hasn't cost a penny :icon_cheers:. Can't be bad.
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How annoying is that? just wrote what I had done today and lost the darn thing. Never mind will post again tomorrow on what I have done.
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Not much. Just pottered and got rid of some fat hen around the carrots and parsnips, and sowed some sprouts.
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Just back from holiday so had a good look round at how everything had jumped up in the last week. Including the weeds :BangHead: Lots of work ahead.
Gordonmull, very envious about the cucumber. What variety? When and how did you sow cucumber?
Cucumber now would be just brilliant. Would you please tell us how it's done?
I sowed 5 Wautoma cukes to a 3" pot and put on top of my fish tank in Feb. It was my first seed save so I wanted to see if they were viable. All 5 germinated so I thinned to 1 and just put it in a big pot on the windowsill with some canes for support. Wautoma don't produce big cucumbers but they are tasty.
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Planted out some borlottis that had outgrown their macdonalds coffee cups, great depth of roots in them. Started planting up the edible pots for Wigan in bloom, while the 'lads' were moving our free 3 tons of topsoil :icon_cheers:
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Yesterday I hoe-ed, watered and set up two wigwams and sowed some French beans. :glasses9:
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Thinned my May sowing of swede, mooched about, tried to find an excuse to stay in the GH for as long as possible, realised that wasn't an option and went back into the house.
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Set up another wormery in the shed. Erected a net to grow my melons up and got stuck in the poly tunnel because it started raining too bloody to make it to the house... Not that I'm complaining though.
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I potted on some coleus seedlings,some marigolds and had a tidy up in the greenhouse
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More pricking out seedlings, cornflowers, night scented stock, broccoli, and the list goes on but too tired to recall. Started some winter cabbages, late cauliflowers, tagetes, more peas, romanesco, conical beetroot, cucumbers,water melon.melon, was busy, busy, busy.Now the question if they all come good where am I going to put them all l.o.l. Oh and planed some runner beans. Roll on the sunshine... :glasses9:
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Spent our first couple of hours on our new lottie & it doesn't look like we've touched it? We do however have a full compost bin & a couple of lbs of rhubarb.
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Yesterday I mixed/made 600 litres of compost and planted tomatoes..today the play with the compost continue....loads of things to pot up, sow and transplant..soooo busy, I'm glad the weather is fine. And now, off to lottie while rest of the household is still in sleep..time to get loads done.. :icon_cheers:
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Just back from a week's holiday and only 1 page on this thread that I've missed- guess that's an indication of what the weather's been like!
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Yesterday I sowed more carrots, parsnips, beetroot and onions, transplanted some brassicas and celeriac. Give the marestail and other weeds a bit of a going over. :sunny:
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Last of the onion and shallot plants are planted...as well as leeks, chard and yacon :icon_cheers: I do have come covers ready if there is frost in forecast. Potted up some bedding plants...weeded few beds..sown some seeds :icon_cheers:
Now I'm on my break, then some shopping and back to lottie :sunny:
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Managed to get to the plot on Sunday - pleased to see no housing estate has replaced my shed and the weed patch... during my absence.
It's not quite that bad although I'd be happier if it looked tidier.
What's doing well?
strawberries and potatoes looking after theirselves and the raspberries and blackberry haven't missed me.
Today I:
- planted out some more french climbing beans as well as the first runners
- planted out some lettuce at long last
- put in some kale and plonked a wire-mesh cloche over the top to keep the pigeons off
- transplanted another half row of sprouting onion sets (I know they are late... just hoping!)
- watered the carrots and wondered why I still hadn't any beetroot in!
- topped up the baths and left the barrel to fill with rain water
then belted off again to do my parents dinner...... arrived home to find my wife had sorted it out for me so all I had to do was deliver it and serve.
A nice afternoon in the sunshine. :happy7:
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Yesterday I sowed more carrots, parsnips, beetroot and onions, transplanted some brassicas and celeriac. Give the marestail and other weeds a bit of a going over. :sunny:
Oh I am so pleased to hear you've just put parsnip in... I think there might be hope for me yet.
I'll aim to go back to the plot tomorrow and sow some myself.
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Planted out 18 sweet corn seedlings under the plastic bottles I had removed from the celeriac plants. They had grown apace under their protection so hope the slugs will leave them alone now they are stronger. Rain is forecast for tomorrow afternoon - am hoping the celeriac will get a good watering, they need it!
Tricia
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Yesterday I sowed Peas, F. Beans and transplanted some Swede. :wave:
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Yesterday I planted out my parsnips, a few french beans (hopeless germination for some reason) and 4 courgettes (a bit risky but they were getting pale and pot-bound). Made my first cut of comfrey and did some weeding.
Today I weeded the garden and moved a few plants around.
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Hardening off the tomatoes, planted out more cabbages "savoy best of all " ('hope they are),weeded French beans-not easy squeezing between canes as OH has glass along one side. Planted out some peas "greenshaft" and sowed more. The OH planted out more potatoes and we stood back and waited for the heavy rain.......nothing :cussing:
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Almost at the point now where I am having trouble working out where to put stuff.....only the squash to go out now, they are hardening off nicely in this weather, then some more direct sown salad onions and lettuce and I am pretty much up to date at last!
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Had busy day yesterday,and not before time.
Planted 150 young globe and cylinder beet root plants in raised bed.
Hung some late season strawberry plants in baskets.
Taken a chance and planted some Tommy plants outside,risky,but hopefully worth it.
Planted 4 ridged cues in poly tunnel.
Transplanted mixed salad modules outside in large pots.
Set up waterfall strawberry pots outside shed.
Set up me little wooden fisherman onto driftwood logs outside shed.
Trimmed plot outer fences of weeds.
Oh and got me back frazzled by the sun.
Gazza
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Just final potted up my biggest tommy (Sungold) in the back garden, off to the lottie soon. :wave:
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Planted out 3 pumpkins (fingers crossed it stays warm!) , watered the stuff I planted out at the weekend, and dug out some more weeds. I do love it when I can go down to the plot after work and stay as long as I need to without it going cold or dark!
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Got the gooseberries netted and - with help - the loaded Morello cherry tree too. Used the contents of one water butt this evening to thoroughly water everything that has been planted out over the past couple of weeks. The sunshine has brought everything on well but a nice overnight soaking from above would be good!
Tricia
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Yesterday evening I weeded, watered and put home compost into dalek. :sunny:
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Not a lot since we're getting ready for Church Anniversary on Sunday. I got down for an hour, did a bit of watering, and planted two more bean varieties (Trionfo Violetto and Petaluma Gold Rush) as some of my original ones have germinated very badly. Last year's seeds were no good; it's the same problem with both climbing beans and broadies.
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well on the WE anyway :
Sowed the runner beans and some climbers (Blue Lake, a new variety for a change)
planted out some beetroot and swiss chard modules
planted out the last 9 peppers
weeded the peas (so crappy this year) and put some string to hold the broad beans in place
covered some bare areas with cardboard
weeded the edges quite a bit
harvested artichokes, strawberries, rhubarb, the last of the winter chard, a lettuce and some mizuna
I still have more things to get out - more beetroot, and I will have to buy in some brassicas and leeks as I didn't manage by sowing them. It has not been a very successful year in terms of time free!!!
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replaced 4 red cabbages that were dying due to underground slug damage, they look fine a day later, phew
put large cages over 3 gooseberries
watered again, very dry on the plot
tied up some new blackberry shoots, already very strong too
thinned carrots
took protective wind net cages off the courgettes, plot is extremely windy so everything gets battered
Had a think, will reduce veg beds by 2 and put in more gooseberries and 2 redcurrants, I am not getting any younger and some veg are very cheap to buy
took up 20 autumn sown radar onions, all had flower buds and may as well cook them down for the freezer. Decided not to grow onions next year, will stay with shallots and garlic
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Pulled my first two Winter Onions and a handful of finger Carrots on Thursday, off to check on my spuds now. :wave:
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Before the rain came, I resowed some Peas and Dwarf Beans, Planted 5 spuds someone gave me to finish the last row. Weeded, watered and home composted in the dalek. Dug up 23 challenge spuds, washed, steamed, eaten with lashings of butter and mint sauce. Gave away 4 onions to my mate on the plot. :blob7: :glasses9:
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Went to the garden centre and found some Rocket seed spuds reduced to 99p. They weren't in too bad a nick so planked them in sacks of compost. Will see what happens. Hopefully a wee extra bit of goodness if the blight don't get 'em.
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weede and watered yesterday. :wave:
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Apart from completely kn*ckering myself as I had little time between two cloud bursts (!!), I:
weeded a lot! they are taking over the shop. My kingdom for a strimmer!!! Pulled out some turnips that were just rubbish, all woody
harvested - a couple of garlic heads that were ready (lovely this year!), a lettuce, a big bagful of mizuna, some spring onions, about 10 sticks of rhubarb (already chopped in freezer), about 5 pounds of new potatoes and 4 artichokes
planted - some French marigolds and asters that I had sown indoors, pricked out about a dozen lettuces
sowed - wild rocket, basil, more beetroot, lettuce, romanesco, red drumhead cabbage, holland winter cabbage, calabrese and white sprouting broccoli
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Planted swede,beetroots more runner beans ,first ones were not very good and the birds don't help,and radishies. :happy7:
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Yesterday I harvested Strawberries, new spuds, Carrots, Onions and some baby Beets. :wave:
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Sorted out another swarm. that's two arrived this week, one on Thursday and one today. Picked some mangetout peas. Goldensweet, Kent Blue, Dwarf Grey Sugar (which isn't dwarf), Carouby de Mausanne and Winterkefe.
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I cut the grass,weede most of my plot with the hoe,and let the sun dry it out,picked some strawberries,tied a few tomatoes up,in the greenhouse,The wife started the BBQ I then just chilled out with a few beers.oh I nearly forgot,i did the washing up as usual.
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Water, weed, harvest.
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Hopefully, pollinated a Crown Prince squash with flower from a Friulana Rugosa courgette. So far have had only one male flower open on a squash (Festival) but three females on one Crown Prince plant. Also fed all squashes and beans in containers with liquidised chicken pellets - a good handful in a 7 l watering can left overnight to dissolve and then well stirred.
Tricia
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Hopefully, pollinated a Crown Prince squash with flower from a Friulana Rugosa courgette. So far have had only one male flower open on a squash (Festival) but three females on one Crown Prince plant. Also fed all squashes and beans in containers with liquidised chicken pellets - a good handful in a 7 l watering can left overnight to dissolve and then well stirred.
Tricia
It won't have been pollinated because Crown Prince is a cucurbita maxima species and friuliana Rugosa is a cucurbita pepo. The don't have compatible pollen under normal conditions. However occasionally a squash can get tricked into thinking it has been pollinated when it hasn't and produce a fruit. This is seedless and may be aborted by the plant. Lets hope you will soon get matching male and female flowers on the Crown Prince. Because there are a lot of c maxima squashes around, and bees travel a long way, there is a good chance that a bee may have already provided compatible pollen for your female flowers. Fingers crossed.
I did exactly the same, watered and fertilised squashes here. The first male flower opened yesterday and there are some female buds on the plants with miniature squashes underneath the flower bud. They are coming on well in this weather.
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Nothing i cant even get the shovel out of the soil i was digging over 2 weeks ago ! Suspect tonight i will be going around with the weed killer after we have given everything a soaking i cant keep up with them.
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Yesterday I watered and weeded
Harvested spuds, carrots, baby beetroots and received a large swede from one of my lottie mates. :blob7:
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Well after a very wet start to the day the sun came out and i legged it outside and dug over all but 2 bits of my 3 beds before the rain descended again. Uncovered another ants next which i distroyed 1st with a full kettle of hot water (well full less enough for 1 cup of tea) and then dug it over.
Black membrane is going down again and going to plant though that with some wood chips on and more carrots and parsnips are being sown into grow bags to make winter harvesting easier - cunning plan :)
I have spent the rest of today shredding paper :) tempted to dig some into the soil shame to waste it but the ants might like that :(
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Harvested the last of my RDOY and my first Charlotte's at the weekend. :sunny:
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Harvested several kilos of tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, courgettes... did a bit of clearing on an overgrown border.. :wave:
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Most of the peas have stopped producing and the plants have been removed, prepared the area with extra compost from a newly 'harvested' bin and planted late autumn mixed greens. Protected with bottle cloches because the slugs are a menace again. Harvested International Kidney potatoes and broccoli. I had been winnowing home saved lettuce seeds outside the back door earlier in the year and found 5 couple inch high lettuce seedlings in the grass last week. Hoiked them out quickly before the next mow and into small pots. Today they will be transplanted with a bottle cloche each. Also nice tiny endives, which are also in little pots at the moment. Shouldn't have mown, because now the 'lawn' looks very brown but overnight rain will hopefully fix that. Harvested really pretty patty pan courgettes and tomatoes too. More late sowing today, cress, rocket and lamb's lettuce.
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This was Thursday (was working yesterday so it was just enough time to water the toms, peppers and cucumbers after work and before it got dark) ...Stripped the plum tree of all the decent fruit (3lb so gave some to a friend.. rest is going in a crumble) before the birds got at it, weeded around the fruit bushes, looked to see how the onions are coming on (they were planted late so I've no idea if they will grow like they are meant to or not, but figured with the upside down weather we have had this year, I had nothing to lose by planting them) and gazed lovingly at the cardboard which is covering over a recently dug empty patch..
Today, I'm glad of the rain as it will make the ground easier to dig, but would like it not to rain all day so that there is a hope of getting out there at some point.
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Weeded, weeded, hoed, cut stuff back, cleared paths, ......and the weeded some more!!!!
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cleaned out the shed what a tip, and picked 3lb blkberrys and they are bolied up with cloves and spices smells like Xmas , they are now in the jelly bag dripping away until the morning then jam making :toothy10:
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Over the weekend I pulled up a load of old marigolds
Weeded and watered
Heped the littlun making our ladybird home thingy
Harvested Sweetcorn, Beetroot, Carrots, French beans and my first Romanscu. :sunny:
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Harvested Beetroot, Spuds, Onions and Mustard Leaves.
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cut down the last of my sunflowers, hung some of the smaller heads out for the birds and put the biggest into the garage to dry further, hope to harvest some seed for next year.
harvested my beetroot - not much as I hadnt thinned enough, only enough for a couple of jars for my nieces.
cleared out the tomato plants from the tent greenhouse
and dodged the rain
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Bought another bag of 50 daff bulbs half price in Aldi. I know its late but what the heck.
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Picked and stored apples and pears before the storm 2 days ago. Fruit is so late this year. Today I put windfall apples and pears to good use by preserving them in jars. The pears had a few autumn olive fruits added (shiny red fruit the size of redcurrants) - looks pretty and as the autumn olives are quite sharp a nice flavour contrast too. The apples just got cinnamon stick added for a bit of extra flavour.
Still loads of windfalls left. Will make apple sauce and also juice some in the next few days. Ah and harvested some yummy Golden Chasselas grapes from the greenhouse, also a month later than other years.
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Planted out broad beans,and in the glasshouse planted out me pea plants....hope they do as well as this year. :toothy9:
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Harvested a few beans to dry out for seed. All but one variety are still green, but I'll need the seeds for swaps in a few weeks.
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Found a new, full bag of broad bean seed that our special needs group had left on the plot 10 days ago. Well, with all the rain the pack had split open and half the seed had sprouted so, I've potted up 28 beans for them as they're not here until monday, hope they'll be ok :happy7:
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Dug in a bed of buck wheat,weeded round me savoys, emptied a compost bin and spread it over three beds. The best bit was as it got dark sitting round a fire made from a load a pruning's having a beer :occasion14:
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I got to the plot to harvest beans a couple of days ago, and had a little (very little) go with the fork on one of the raised beds. My back's still aching.
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Everything is very squelchy. Just hoping the worms are working hard.
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Everything is very squelchy. Just hoping the worms are working hard.
Same here. And to think you were looking for that moisture all summer to no avail ...............
Loads of worms here at the moment, but digging is very awkward.
Harvested Rocoto peppers from the greenhouse (the plants grew extremely tall 6ft plus) and tomatillos this weekend too. Still a few tomatoes left. Must get in before any serious frost. We just picked and ate the last few grapes from the greenhouse, which were very late this year. Turned over a couple of compost daleks that had been 'brewing' since last autumn and spread contents over dug areas as well. The not yet composted stuff all went back into the daleks, in layers with nettles and rotting apples and torn cardboard. The rest of the daleks can stay until spring.
Last grass cut (we think) for the year and clippings spread on dug areas.
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This weekend we planted a further 40 strawberry plants. Dug over 2 beds and cleared a 3 foot x 3 foot x 3 foot pile of soil/rubbish so we could build a chicken wire cage to do leaf mould in.
So far we have planted 80 strawberry plants and cleared/dug over 6 out of 14 beds on the allotment. Not bad seeing as we have only had it for 4 weeks lol
Next weekend we are planting 200 onion bulbs a well as continuing with the digging. :toothy4:
Paul
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Went out to the allotment for a walk and some fresh air. Bought a box of veg peelings and leaves with me to chuck on to the compost bins. Had a nose around, surprised I was the only nutter there Went back home got in car and went to garden centre for some compost and perlite to sow my onion seeds in. That's tomorrow's job before going off to work nights!
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Going back to the plot today, wondering if the other half of the tree is fallen and hoping it has landed in the field insteead of on our site :BangHead:
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Happy new Year everyone - hope is a bumper year for our veg and flower gardens.
Yesterday just had to tidy up my house roof where we nearly had a disaster... a firework fell on my flat roof where I keep my old long plastic troughs (that I used to grow onions etc on the roof) and ignited them... Thankfully we saw the flames it in time and although most were burned we saved the house and roof!! Could have been nasty had the roof caught fire!!
And now as its raining its a in house day so I am busy making finishing touches to my light growing box to start of some show onions..
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Yesterday just had to tidy up my house roof where we nearly had a disaster... a firework fell on my flat roof where I keep my old long plastic troughs (that I used to grow onions etc on the roof) and ignited them... Thankfully we saw the flames it in time and although most were burned we saved the house and roof!! Could have been nasty had the roof caught fire!!
Crikey that sounds nasty, sometimes I wonder about the wisdom of fireworks.
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Took household composting material to lottie and put on compost bin. While there, I pruned the raspberries down. Let out about 100ltrs of water from the lbc tank onto the polytunnel soil. Dug some carrots and parsnips out and was quite happy with some mooli I grew. Then off home for a cuppa!!!! :coffee2:
Just looked in the garage and.........a bag of daff bulbs i got half price, forgotten about!!!!!! Need planting asap :BangHead:
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To-day was lovely and sunny so oh and me planted 20 bare root climbing roses into pots hope they will be all right ?we raked all the oak leaves up in half the garden until the poor old rake broke(died) oh said it was dead this time! and we had to go out and get another one, I was sad to see it go it was 20yrs old but we got a nice one from Wicks £6 99 all metal I'll test it tomorrow :toothy10:
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Its been harvesting day..getting 'stuff' together before the 'big freeze'.
Cut some kale, collards some cabbage into storage, lifted last of the swedes, bucket full of leeks. Put all Yacon 'roots' in 'bed' after cutting all edible bits off..and brought them home for eating.
Dragged several big pumpkins and squashes home...more to eat...YUM!
Picked last lot of apples from tree that still has loads on...rest of them is now for birds and we shall start eating from storage after these.
Not very nice day for it..but had to be done..now it can freeze and we are 'stocked up' for time being..
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goodlife I am amazed that you can still pick apples! thought they would all be rotting by now.
I feel quite virtuous as I worked pretty hard yesterday (and the shoulders are telling me so today!) - I moved the rose bush, several raspberry bushes to the "new plot" (the top half that I am keeping on), and the irises (a few of them at least) and the grapevine. I also got quite a good harvest - several leeks, some salad doings (mizuna, rocket, parsley), enough perpetual spinach and swiss chard to have a meal, the last little cabbage and over a pound of brussel sprouts which look absolutely wonderful.
I also started to redo the path (which was lost under soil and grass!) and started to move useful things from teh bottom half up the top (wood, old shutter lengths that serve to delimit the plot, big rocks, posts etc.). Although I will not actually dig over the bottom half I do want to leave it as empty as possible for the new person. For now I have left in place a gooseberry and several raspberries, in case they would like to have some. If they don't I will have to dig them out and find a new home for them :-)
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Finally started clearing and tidying the lottie shed. Looking a lot better now. Still need to make more shelves for everything, but at least I know where most stuff is!!! Lol
Plus result from Freecycle. Not one but 2 compost bins acquired :blob7: :blob7:
Still have'nt planted those darn bulbs!! :BangHead:
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Bought some lidl living lettuce and planted up a couple of troughs in the poly. Started some primecut carrots in a big pot with a large bottle cloche over, they were free seeds from DT Brown last year and they can be sown in jan and they did well last year so finishing off the packet. Took the sprouted long red florence to the plot and put them inside the poly to gently grow :happy7:
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We came, we saw, we went home.
Cold, wet and no milk.
Home, warm, dry and milk, will try again tomorrow.
Digmore. :wave:
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Ray dug a pit to put kitchen waste into, the peas with be growing on top eventually. I cut back the rest of the raspberries and currants, sowed some primecut carrots in a big pot in the poly and covered it with a big bottle cloche and planted up some living lettuce from Lidl. He also emptied a bag of mushroom compost onto the end of the leek bed and I planted out the overwintering caulis, all in all a good day :icon_cheers:
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More seeds sown today.
"Medina" spinach
"Reddy" spinach
"Winter Density" lettuce
A few radishes in the poly border. ;)
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looked out the window. :coffee2:
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"Bramley" and "Breaburn" apple trees pruned.
"Conference" pear tree pruned.
Planted 3 bushes of each:
"Ben Nevis" blackcurrent
"Jonkheer van Tets" redcurrent
Had a general tidy up as well. Great to be outside!! :blob7:
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Took pink , some geraniums and scented geranium cuttings. Transplanted the small experimental onions into coir pots so the children can transplant them without damaging them. sowed some more tomato and cucumber seeds. Transplanted some challenge tomato seedlings :toothy10:
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Sorted seed tin. :glasses9:
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Transported hazel bean poles cut from coppice on Tuesday,ahead of latest flood,Tied them down to prevent them floating away on plot.Will we ever get a tilth this year?,I have my doubts.
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Dug some, yes, dug up some spuds, mainly Kestrels
Cut down raspberry canes
Planted three Winston early spuds under cover.
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Went down to the allotment today to have a quick look round. The soil is pretty waterlogged at the moment but hoping, if it stops raining for a week or so, that will start to dry out.
I put an interest in a second allotment, the one running on from my one and got offered it just before Christmas so I have two allotments now. The second has some well established strawberries on it and not sure what else underneath the weeds.
Looks like I'm going to be very busy this year.
My original allotment, where we dug up before I went down with 'flu or whatever nasty bug it was, has very little weeds on it now so pulling out as many weed roots as possible, although slower I think has been the best option.
Feel sorry for some of the other allotment holders though. Several sheds have been completely destroyed by the gales we've had. I don't have a shed on mine yet and perhaps that's been a good thing.
Felt really good to get back down on the allotment again. Really missed it over the past few months. Roll on the light evenings. Can hardly wait for the clocks to go forward.
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dug up some late oca tubers- perhaps 2 kg
cut some purple sprouting broccoli and romanesco flowers
rescued shed which had blown over
pulled some leeks
strimmed down some couch grass
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First decent day at the lotty this year. Removed all the hedge cuttings that the council had kindly scattered all over; it makes good kindling so not all bad. Planted sets of shallots. Turned over one plot that didn't get done last year. No rain to speak of. Knackered now.
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I've forked over the last of my raised beds during the week. I still have to top it up and mulch it but it'll have to wait till next week as my back's aching again. I'm giving it a miss today.
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Been a while since ive been on here and hope everyone is well :happy7: I was absent at the allotment due to a back injury last year,but ive made a good start for this year.
Managed to dig over most beds and just have a large bed to go which ive covered in plastic.
Pruned and chopped at various borders ect and have hoed the pathways,sowed a few things today and have bought my spuds and onions.
Still plenty to do but im in the running again,having a long time off boosted my love for it,got plenty of ideas to aim for :happy7:
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Lumped 3 car bootfulls of horse manure and spent hops from the local brewery to the allotment and filled up my newly built hotbed/coldframe (complete with velum skylight nabbed from a local skip last week!) to see if they actually do make heat (seems a bit like magic to me).
Also finished off digging in manure and raising up the new asparagus bed that will be planted up later on in the spring. Despite the water logging on the lower parts of the allotment the higher bits are back to workable again. Only 2 years to wait ... but it's going to be magnificent ... I'm planting so much that it will eventually be coming out of my ears.
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Yesterday was my allotment birthday the day that five years ago I took on my allotment. So I planted out a couple of pots of parsley to celebrate. Normally I buy them from Tesco but this year I had grown my own. :icon_cheers: This is our 6th year.
Though I have been growing veg for 40 years so this will be year 41.
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Planted up 3 bags of smile spuds inside, transplanted some tomatoes and celeriac, windowsills are filling up :happy7:
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Digeroo, I like the idea of celebrating allotment birthday :wave:
hope that the troubles you were having with people helping themselves to your plants will ease and hope that this allotment year will be the best ever for you!
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Spread some old compost around my asparagus, artichokes, raspberries and rhubarb. Harvested some leeks and parsnips.
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Dug up the last of the spuds
Pulled up sweetcorn stalks
A general tidy up
All the jobs I should have done months ago. :drunken_smilie:
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Planted out second batch of broad beans and put bottle cloches on them. Just about dry enough for a bit of digging in some parts of the garden.
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I had planned to have my first long session of the year at the plot today. Got there at 10:00 in warm sunshine and harvested some leeks and parsnips and dug up my Jerusalem artichokes. Was about to start weeding when the ere was a huge hailstorm, and by the time it stopped the ground was too wet to do anything! :BangHead: It's been sunshine and showers (mostly hail) the rest of the day.
I hope some of you had a more productive day!
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Just popped in after work today to drop some leaf mulch off but have been busy in the week gone by.Started a good few things of in the gh and have my spuds and onions ready to go.Dug over a few beds and had a good tidy up,chopped plenty out of the trees on the fence line and had a nice bonfire.
Also managed to make a oscillating wind turbine thing to help keep the pigeons at bay near my fruit bushes,was a few hiccups but it works well now :happy7:
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Sowed a few more tomatoes (indoors), then put a fleece over anything vulnerable in the greenhouse, in case the sharp frost (or a bright sunrise afterwards) causes damage.
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Forgot to say, a mysterious benefactor had left four bags of leaves for me!
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Started to upgrade my rain water collection.We have mains water on site but with the climate of council cutbacks and hearsay of water bills ect I should upgrade my rainwater collection,an excuse really as its something I didn't get around to..
I now have two 1000ltr ibcs as headers/collectors of rainwater,and five 210ltr butts fed inline across the plot.lots of connectors to fit and a couple more water butts to add but close and worth the effort.
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Pricked out a few more tomato seedlings, dug (where possible), mulched, watered greenhouse. Harvested PSB and kale. Pulled all the nettles behind the greenhouse and stuck them into the liquid fertiliser bin. Mowed a bit (a bit too damp really).
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Planted outWinston earlies at last . :drunken_smilie:
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I had wanted to do a big bit of digging on Sunday but when I got to the plot, I was told that maybe soon I would be getting a big water butt from the council ! Woo hoo, after 7 years!
So I thought I had better make space in case they plonk it down without asking! I had a little makeshift flower bed full of sage, so I broke that apart, planted the sage in a big pot, raked out the soil. Then I decided that there was getting to be a lot of long grass around, so attacked that a bit with the long grass shears, raked it over, put the weeds in compost.
Next, I attacked a patch for sowing the leeks, added some nice black stuff from the compost bin, sowed the leeks and fleeced them.
After that, I filled two big pots and a big tub and sowed coriander, spring onions and baby leaf for salad. I was quite chuffed!
Picked rhubarb, parsley (have a LOAD, self seeded) swiss chard and perpetual beet leaf (yum). Perused the plot and saw... the bloody vole! Scurrying near the swiss chard. Now I know why it looks nibbled !!! Picked up the cardboard mulch next to it, he's making a little larder for himself!cheeky sod. I put a spare leaf under there for him, maybe he will stop nibbling!
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Finally got my broad bean plants in- they were practically climbing out of the modules! Also harvested the first rhubarb (can't believe one of the plants is bolting already!) and some leeks and parsnips.
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Scythed. All the paths round 2 plots. Some weeds. Some docks and nettles just beyond my plots. Can barely stand now.
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Well its may and i have not planted a single thing ! I have nematodes for the ants which i am hoping to pop in later today when it cools down but i am wondering what i still have time to plant ? :BangHead:
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Got my French beans in today and plenty of watering.
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put nets over my gooseberries
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Planted out beans with bottle cloches, squash with bottle cloches and an anti-slug surround of crushed egg shells, transplanted cabbage from the greenhouse to make room for tomatoes. The dwarf tomatoes - Silvery Fir Tree, Mydwa and Demidov went out under a large cloche.
I gave MIL cucumber seeds, then MIL gave me two of her tiny cucumber plants, then her's got eaten by slugs, so today I took my plants to her place. :sunny: I have another cucumber variety coming along and she was very happy.
Also spent a good while just enjoying the garden. The hawthorn is flowering, the elderflower is not far behind, all the different Aquilegia are in full bloom, the first roses. The garden is a picture at the moment, including the first pea flowers. And tomato and pepper flowers in the greenhouse.
Sprouting broccoli are still going strong, ditto the Daubenton kales and last year's regular broccoli (overwintered in the mild winter weather) are still producing lots of side shoots, rivalling the sprouty brocs. The different lettuces are looking their best at the moment, the celery is still producing and the very first pea pods have set. Broadbeans are in full flower with their lovely perfume too.
Such a lovely time and glorious weather too. :sunny:
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Give the plot a good watering, picked a load of Strawberries and harvested some winter Onions. :sunny:
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I had BIG gardening day today :icon_cheers:
Got finally round to 'drag' rest of the chilli plants from spare bedroom to lottie to be planted into quadgrow planters, but before I could do that...I had drag (this time literally) bags of compost, fertilizers, sand, composted straw etc. all into one place and make big barrowfull loads of 'my own mix' compost.
Then all 'greenhouses needed watering'....other potted veg plants needed topping up their compost....putting some canes up ready for beans....planted some dwarf beans....during the day I slurped several dripping ripe peaches to keep myself going..*burb* :toothy10:
And after all that...I tended to chickens and walked the dog..and now I'm knackered!
Time for a BIG :coffee2:
I did spend little time on phone too...talking about plants....with GJ.. :tongue3: :icon_cheers:
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LOL goodlife, don't knock yourself out!
I too was very busy.
Trimmed and tied in the tomatoes, tied in the achocha and cukes, watered abundantly and tried to mulch as much as possible as it is scorching out here. Gave some food to the toms, peppers, squash. Weeded the onions and fruit bushes. Ripped up the broad beans that were covered in rust. Sowed lettuce, beetroot, turnips, snowpeas and french beans. Planted out more broccoli. Picked rhubarb, lettuce (bolting), broad beans.
Pretty knackered today in fact!
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Dug up more new spuds before the rain came down.
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I like this time of year when you come back with as much stuff as you take down. :toothy10:
I had to dig over the spud patch since the potato thieves have ruined all the haulms (grrr even the PinkFir Apple which are nowhere near big enough to harvest) and so in its place I planted out my winter leeks and 6 brussel sprout plants plus sowed some swiss chard to plant out. I ripped out the peas that are finished, dug in several bucketfuls of compost and sand and sowed late carrots, mizuna and parsley (bit of wishful thinking there). Planted out 12 lettuce plug plants, tied in the cucumbers, added a new stake to the achocha that is going wild, and added the rest of the compost as mulch round the tomatoes and squashes. Sowed some French beans to fill in the gaps in the existing rows.
Picked the remaining spuds (King Edward 7, they look great, what is left of them...), the last peas and the first French beans, the first 2 onions (one red one brown), and two lovely young courgettes. I also picked all the red gooseberries, they are small but lovely so I shall have to make jam this week.
And I was totally knackered coming back ! Plus my legs today feel like lead!
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On to my second line of early spuds. :happy7:
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I pulled up the first lot of onions that were ready, tidied the tomatoes, tied in the cucumbers again, picked more courgettes (soooo productive), planted out a wild volunteer tomato plant that had sprouted in a corner (might not have time to fruit, but thought I would give it a chance! and nicely weeded the beetroot, carrots, cabbages.
Suddenly I thought to myself, hmmm the light is a bit funny and I turned round to see the hugest black cloud just to hover over the site. Quickly I whipped the onions up off the ground and into the bag, and ran into the shed to put away the hoe and spade. Came back to get the onions and went to the shed to put my shoes on, when suddenly the heavens opened up and I spent 20 minutes cowering in the shed while torrential rain poured down. Oh well, we did need some water badly...
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Dug up more Kestrels
Hoe ed weeds
Watered
:wave:
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Been planting out my strawberry runners, some of the plants very sturdy indeed with a whole litre pot full to the bottom with roots. I am hoping they have another month of growing so should produce some nice fruit next year. Fed and watered them very dry here.
Now starting on the over winter onion patch. Bit of a jungle at the moment.
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Harvested the last of my Kestrels and started on my Roosters, also a few Onions and three Sweetcorn. :happy7:
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Winter break.
Yesterday I planted up a bag of compost with Manille strawberry plants. Picked some kale and started to thin baby peaches.
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Winter break.
Yesterday I planted up a bag of compost with Manille strawberry plants. Picked some kale and started to thin baby peaches.
What!...thinning peaches already! Mine are nowhere in that stage yet. I can see that fruit have set but even the now dying/dead flowers haven't even dropped off yet, very early stages.
When is you fruit ready for cropping?
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No idea of harvest date, just when they are ready. Not sure why but plants have been quite staggered flowering this year. The most forward are the dwarf ones and they are ready for thinning, but the nectarine dwarf still have dead flowers hanging on. They are all in the poly tunnel so sheltered although the doors are open all year.
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No idea of harvest date, just when they are ready. Not sure why but plants have been quite staggered flowering this year. The most forward are the dwarf ones and they are ready for thinning, but the nectarine dwarf still have dead flowers hanging on. They are all in the poly tunnel so sheltered although the doors are open all year.
Ah...dwarfs!
Well..my big tree has been flowering for loooong time..not the usual 'one off' flush of flowers and 'job done'. But this year the tree is has been getting much more 'fresh air' since I lost several glass panes from the GH. Let's hope that this 'long flowering' does stagger the crop too..the fruit always seem to ripen all at once and many get wasted as one cannot keep up with 'sucking and slurping'..though I do prefer them slightly crunchy stage of development..sweet and crunchy :icon_cheers: :happy7:
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Earthing up spuds
Sowed Carrrots
Hoed-ed weeds
Covered some ground that has been a bit over ran with weeds
:blob7:
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Sowed beetroot, shredded some clippings and picked rhubarb, PSB and perpetual spinach.
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Prepared the last of my four smallish raised beds then, having caught a b........dy cat using one of my young apple trees as a scratching post, hastily erected chicken wire protection round three of them. Need to buy some more tomorrow for the pear, plum and cherry trees. Hope the damage already sustained won't kill the trees! They are just starting to flower.
Tricia
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Looks like a good year for my plum and greengage trees, both are absolutely covered in blossom so I'm hoping for good crops. I'm always shocked at how many flowers my morello cherry can produce, but we never get many cherries because I always forget about netting it until it's too late and the birds have stripped it.
I need to prune those trees this year, they've been sadly neglected.
I'm hoping my pears don't get rust this year. It's been quite bad the last few years, poor trees.
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HI All,
I have spent the last 3 weekends doing a little bit most days and have managed to plant up my large flower bed in the garden with Harriets help.
Raised beds still have to be done but other things more urgent and taking things easy as i get so tired.
I have found a great local gardener just setting up who has been attacking some of the jobs i cant manage any more so a couple of problem areas have been fixed. Mother in law is moving in with us on a perm basis in a few weeks so have been clearing space for her things. Will be nice to have her here and not worry about her being so far away.
I have runner beans and peas growing on and will be able to plant these out into pea and bean beds in about 2 weeks.
Sewing herb seeds tomorrow with Harriet so i can populate the herb bed - had to rip out most of the plants thanks to next doors cats pooping on them.
Feeling hopeful :coffee2:
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Planted out a line of Kestrel, a bit late for me. :drunken_smilie:
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Planted out a row of red onions grown from seed. (Think I'll go back to sets next year as germination was poor). Spent an hour or so digging out grass, buttercups and bindweed, mostly in areas where I did the same thing a couple of weeks ago. :BangHead: (Just did a search and can see I have contributed 30 times to threads on bindweed!)
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Dropped off some paving slabs to start making the base for my shed, chatted with the next door plot owners, checked how the weeds are dying after nuking them with Resolva. :D
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well as ours is a garden as we moved and lost our plot I let Jude loose on an earth mound full of weeds with the strainer and yours truly tipped the resulting clean soil onto the tatter toppings,so now their steadily getting a nice earth cover.
Transferred some Beetroot seedlings from the GH to different parts of the garden,not something ive done before as I normally
just plant the seeds in situ....so will see how these get on.
Netted our cabbages and sprouts as last years were destroyed by cabbage fly.
set up our salad mini GH did the usual cheat by placing a grow bag in it and sprinkled some cos lettuce and mixed leaves.
nipped the seed heads off our autumn planted Onions....enjoyed the stalks for lunch in a cheese roll.
had lunch..................
transferred some mini olive tommy plants into the soil in the GH.
most important job was to dig a trench along the back fence and place an old door as the latest anti Badger device....I guess the chicken wire is next.... :BangHead:
GazNjude
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planted out spuds
dug over more ground
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Potted up some saved Elephant garlic cloves, I'll plant them once they have rooted and I've decided where they are going.
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I finished off making my mouse-proof strawberry bed with wire mesh running under the soil to stop them from tunnelling in as well as a full net support. Just waiting on some deluxe Mara des Bois plants to stick in this autumn for a crop next year.
Also finished stringing up the last of my tobacco leaves on wire to cure under the shed eaves before it gets too cold and damp.
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I usually consider the 1st October as New Year's Day in allotment terms.
I see it as a time of getting rid of the old and preparing for the new.
To this end I have started my winter digging, well actually I started yesterday as the weather was so nice.
By the end of the month I expect to be finished with the digging and manuring at least as far as I can due to having a couple of beds dedicated to winter and spring greens.
Then in November I put my potted more tender stuff into cold frames and the heated greenhouse for winter storage.
Meaning December is free to indulge myself in preparation for Jan/ Feb when I start up my seeds that need a long growing season.
So that is what I will be doing not just today, but for the foreseeable future.
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Surveyed the first minor frost damage, no air frost yet, but a couple of squashes are clearly not happy and their leaves are damaged, ditto one bean plant - cold spot in the garden furthest away from fences and hedges. The min/max thermometer says it was 4C at the lowest, but it is in a little more sheltered place. Squash foliage usually dies here at 3C. The squash fruits are fine down to 0C.
For the rest I can't complain, still harvesting blight-free outdoor tomatoes and the potatoes are still growing (although also looking a bit worse for the frost) - this has not happened for such a long time, and it really bumps up yields dramatically.
Lots of Achocha too. But Wautoma cucumber in the greenhouse is still going well also (thank you to the kind person who added seeds to the round-robin parcel) :wave:
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today well where do i start renewed 3 posts with donated fibre glass 3inch square posts cut the grass planted out the spring boarder cut edges dug 2 beds half filled 1 bean trench with blown lettuce then covered that with pigeon droppings dead headed dahlias collected cosmos seed feed the pumpkin 3 times with 60 litres each one each time then come home and started on the garden a busy day
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Well, I confess that for one reason or another, my three plots on two sites have been dreadfully neglected for months and got into a shameful state. Galvanised by a Town Council Site Inspection this week of two of them, it took me 8 long sessions to transform them over the couple of weeks I had before the inspection, and they have passed, and I feel a lot better about them.
That leaves the third on the second site, even worse. So today I made another start on my plan to fill giant weed bags with weeds, soft prunings and compost from home, spread them over one area of my allotment weeds (slightly stamped on), and cover the lot tightly with tarpaulin, fastened down with ground staples. I have done this before when a bed has got out of control, also adding thick grass scythings on top of the weeds and under the tarpaulin, and one particular bed has been the best of the lot ever since for crumbly fertile soil and good plant growth.
I also unearthed from earlier plantings two marrows, three cucumbers and a lot of dried bean pods, plus some apples off the tree, so not too bad after all.
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there is a train of thought when the tarpaulins come out its time to leave don't mean to be negative and its none of my business but 2 well looked after plots would prob give you more yield than 3 half worked :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny:
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Big old day on the plot today! Pulled up all the blighted tomato plants (desperately hoping that the green fruits I collected might ripen on the windowsill - but I don't think there's a chance!) Pulled up all the sweetcorn plants (complete with rat decimated cobs) Pulled up the bean plants to dry the beans in their pods under the shed (Brighstone and yin-yan from ACE - looks like a good crop) - dismantled the beanpoles, took the netting off the brussels sprouts which had been growing between the bean rows, erected larger hoops for the brussels sprouts to carry on growing and put new larger nets on them. Weeding, weeding and more weeding!
It's coming to that busy time!
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Netted the fruit cage, had to get the Yeti in Pink Knickers to help, so not the most restful of a morning. But on the good side she did do it very economically so I have plenty of spare net to raise the height of the brussels. I told you that you ordered too much! put it over the frame the other way! now you have netted me in! why don't you have a door to get out with! She does have a native American name It is Five Horses, nag, nag, nag, nag, nag.
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thought id harvest a few sweet and chilli peppers from the greenhouse and continued the winter digging even though its 22 degrees at the mo
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Snap! Dug and mulched with cut grass where I have an empty patch of garden. Harvested tomatoes and beans. Turned over a compost heap. :wave:
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So not much has happened in the garden since I was last here, they must all be terribly overgrown. I've done nothing today because it's raining, exactly what I need to bring the worms up to all that manure I finished spreading yesterday.
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Watering again. This is getting very tedious.
I have been covering my dahlias at night we have had three frost in a week. Last night ok so let them be.
Clearing away courgettes beans etc they have had it. Have planted green manure, keep having to water it.
Really enjoying flowers on my dahias. Watered them.
Planted Wizard broad beans. But them next to a couple of water butts which I hope will keep the worse of the wind off. Watered them. Put some more to chit.
Spinach sown about three weeks ago looking good, grazed a few leaves. Sown some more. Watered it.
Russian kale looking good, watered it.
Chatted to some plot neighbours. They had amazing potatoes, they had watered them 2/3 times a week.
Found half a bucket of potatoes.
Barrowing Manure. Have filled a compost bin with it, added some yoghurt hoping this helps re weed killers.
Someone is stealing my carrots!!!
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Right at the very beginning of this thread, I posted a picture of the garden in my new house how it was before we moved in. Well, here it is 6 years later, complete with child labour...
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I've been sh** shovelling. Moving a delivery of well rotted horse manure into a large compost bin. Also preparing a site for a new cherry tree - variety Stella on a Gisela5 rootstock. Expected soon.
My allotment is in an urban setting, and so far I've not been affected by frost. Still got some tomatoes ripening, French beans, tomatillo, that I hope to harvest before any more frost damage hits. It has been a good season for squashes, but I still have about a dozen on the ground that I hope will ripen further
I have several patches under green manure. But some bare patches where crops like sweetcorn have been cleared. Thinking about where to set autumn garlic. The elephant type needs to go in soon.
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Nothing none in last few days had gardeners in to clear a load of stuff out etc but still lots to do. Greenhouse still going full of tomatoes etc but will be clearing that this weekend of some of the plants. Also need to take some cuttings for next year of some of the plants and move some of the tender plants into the greenhouse once i make space :)
Incinerator is all setup (metal one) and will be getting some jacket potatoes and triple wrapping these in tin foil and popping into the bottom of the incinerator to make jackets (no idea if that will work but though it would be fun to try :) might microwave them a bit first ) I have been clearing out loads of paperwork as well to help get the wet stuff going.
Also moving the marigolds to the brussel spouts as a sacraficial plant for the green fly and will be attacking them with a paint brush to try shift them this weekend.
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Continued with my garden renovations;
Managed to get my shrubs transplanted today.
Been waiting for some rain in the forecast and apparently we can expect some tonight.
Based on predictions in the past few months I won't hold my breathe so I really drenched my transplants.
As I was doing it I thought that they might have got more water this morning than at any time since last winter.
I am optimistic that due to the very dry rootballs I saw, they will soak up this drenching quite quickly and settle in before the onset of any really foul weather. (see below for before & after pics)
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I went to Baytree garden centre in Spalding to try to get some raspberry canes, they had everything but. So I bought 6 bags of farmyard manure for the bed they're going in. Can't use that provided by the council as it's far too fresh. Going to dig up the primacanes I have in the garden and see if they fare better over the plot.
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I went to Baytree garden centre in Spalding to try to get some raspberry canes, they had everything but. So I bought 6 bags of farmyard manure for the bed they're going in. Can't use that provided by the council as it's far too fresh. Going to dig up the primacanes I have in the garden and see if they fare better over the plot.
How old are the canes you intend to move? They tend to lose vigour after a few years. Sometimes they will crop well for seven or eight years. sometimes even longer, but sometimes deteriorate sooner. If they are five years or over, maybe better to go for fresh canes rather than move them. Also if a bed has been used for some years you possibly need fresh ground. Even new canes may not thrive if planted in an old raspberry bed.
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Moved my canes yesterday. They're only a couple of year old at most. I think my garden soil is too heavy for them. They're now in a well prepared bed with plenty of well rotted manure. They've got two chances.
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Moved my canes yesterday. They're only a couple of year old at most. I think my garden soil is too heavy for them. They're now in a well prepared bed with plenty of well rotted manure. They've got two chances.
Well done! That is a shrewd observation about your soil. Raspberries do not like getting waterlogged.
I picked two punnets of raspberries today. (Autumn fruiting types). In an urban setting with slight extra protection from the netting over the fruit cage I've avoided any frost effects so far. Fingers crossed for one or two more pickings!
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The plot a month on.