[angelavdavis]

I spent the majority of the day straightening out the greenhouse topping up the tomatoes with manure, potting on cucumbers, melons, aubergines, tomatoes and peppers into their final pots.  Composting any plants that weren't going to the plant sale on Saturday.  I also fitted capillary matting into the trays under the tomatoes but ran out eventually.

Then had a good ole chat!

[hen maiden]

Had to brace myself the day before to go to the plot "come rain or shine" as waiting for dry weather means I never get there. So....in the pouring rain, I planted some small onion plants, some small tuscan Kale and built a kind of make shift cold frame with scaveneged bricks and window pane over a section of a bed to sow salad, in the hope that it will be come on better with a bit of protection, shelter and warmth. Wish I had a polytunnel

[HHH]

A quick early-morning visit today to:

• Spray soapy water on the broad beans to remove the aphids
  
  Pick some nice young spinach leaves
  
  Water the tomatoes in the Growmate frame
  
  Tie up and nurture the peas
  
  Check the condition of the runners and climbing french beans - both looking good
  

Serious weeding reserved for the weekend - lots of serious weeding!

[gavinjconway]

Got to the stables and picked up 6 bags of manure which I added to the current lasagne bed I am building. 

I'm intrigued... please tell me what a Lasagne bed is.. ??

[angelavdavis]

Got to the stables and picked up 6 bags of manure which I added to the current lasagne bed I am building.  

I'm intrigued... please tell me what a Lasagne bed is.. ??

It is where you pile up alternating layers of composting material (green, brown, green, brown, etc) straight on top of clipped weeds and top with compost ready for planting.  You can wait for the materials to rot down over winter or, like me, plant straight in.

I have found it useful as I have taken both my plots over in June when the clay soil was rock solid and choked with couch grass and bind weed.  It is recommended to prick the soil (as you would when aerating a lawn) to open up the soil a little before covering with the layers.  

If you look over on my allotment blog (link is on my sig), the early posts show us developing our allotment beds using this process.  I have just started setting up new beds on the new plot we took over two weeks ago.  I will post up photos of this later today as I have now found my cable to transfer the images from my phone!  More information can be found on this link:

http://ourgardengang.tripod.com/lasagna_gardening.htm

There are also lots of examples on Youtube.

[grendel]

  well its been too long, on my second half plot the weeds are knee high, there is a good bit of work needed there, I just havent had the time or when I was available the weather to get there. still under the weeds the peas are doing well - better than my other half plot (I guess they were hidden from the birds by the weeds). so time is being planned (weather permitting) to go and weed.
today I weeded the strawberry beds at both plots and picked strawbs, raspberries were picked at home. then the rain started again.
Grendel

[Abbeyview]

Turned compost heap and picked broad beans too wet to walk on plot without compacting soil.

[Paul Plots]

"Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun......." and then there's allomenters!!

Like hen maiden I ignored the rain and kept going. 

I'd gone down to pick strawberries and put a final patch on the shed roof but the second the patch was in place the heavens opened. A good chance to see if the roof was water-tight. It was. 

Then.....on with the waterproof that my mother made for my dad years ago and.....

• picked strawberries and weeded the bed
• picked baby-leaf spinach
• forked over the row of "should be turnips"... (but wasn't!) and planted lettuce out
• planted out another batch of french climbing beans
• hoed all over the place and hand weeded the carrots
• changed the covering on some brassicas as the pigeons can reach them now they've grown
• cut the edges of the paths - cleaned the tools, packed up and sloshed home

Only 3 hours late home. 

[Charityuk]

3 weeks of neglect due to half term and bad weather. Attempted to harvest potatoes (see separate post), weeded sweetcorn (5 plants survived and doing well), leeks (mostly still alive) and caulis (1 doing well, 2  dug up and gone, probably a fox?). Lots of weeding required to even find the poor baby leeks. 

Was going to plant out the runners but the potatoes are still occupying the bed, so put them in pots in the garden instead for now.   

[mjpalin]

1st visit of the day - despaired as the last of the cucumbers and butternut seem to have succumbed to the weather, also looks like one of the courgettes is headed in the same direction.  Laid yet more slug pellets and then strimmed around the outside of the plot.
2nd visit of the day a picked enough strawberries for my pudding (thankfully o/h isn't a fan as would hate to share such a small amount) and then came home and planted yet more runner and french bean seeds, as the ones i've planted directly at the lottie show no signs of appearing.

[AnneB]

Some of my CofE peas had flopped over in the wind, so propped them up against the netting with some twine.  Filled 2 large wooden containers with compost.  Planted turnips in one.  Did a bit of weeding.  Netted the brassicas.  Took some scapes off the garlic. 

Noted that the 2nd sowings of carrot and beetroot have both failed to appear.  Slugs have been at the courgettes and squash, which are looking wind battered.  Sweetcorn struggling too.  Potatoes and brassicas and beans all smaller than they should be.  Then it started to rain more heavily, so we came home.

[Paul Plots]

This Saturday I have done absolutely nothing on the plot, in the garden or on the veg plot across the road even though the sun was out for a while.

Lazy?  Just wondered today whether it was worth the effort with the wind bashing everything about and more heavy rain forecast.

Indoor gardening might be the answer to this summer's weather. 

[angelavdavis]

Plant sale first thing, we made £50 from our small sale of cakes and plants.

Helped hubby to build a new taller brassica cage as they have outgrown the other one. 

Added another layer to the new lasagne bed on the new plot.

[Mafro]

Weeded and planted 104 leeks

[Yana]

Put in climbing French beans, weeded Beetroot (not that there are that many to weed), thinned out parsnips.
Picked peas, broad beans and kale.
Set up hidden camera to try to see who has taken the tops off 15 of the sweetcorn plants. I am devastated as I have nurtured the sweetcorn plants for so long and then to loose them like this is so annoying. Will need to download pictures tomorrow.