Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: grendel on January 01, 2016, 13:13
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just a quick trip today, before the predicted rain, with the strimmer in brush cutter mode to cut down the raspberry canes from last year, ready for this years growth.
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First visit since before Christmas as I have had the dreaded chesty cough and various other lergy attacking me. Just went to check nothing had been blown away and to collect the seed trays that were in the greenhouse so that I could get on and sow my onion seeds. Came away with a good harvest too; the first PSB, Brussel Sprouts, a green cabbage, good sized carrots from some Autumn seed, leeks. Have all now gone into a casserole with lamb shanks to feed us for the week-end.
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Placed my seed order for this year. Getting itchy fingers now but need to wait until I have put up the polytunnel I got for Christmas!!!!!
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Built 3 new compost bins from pallets, but couldn't finish the final one because I need one more pallet. Moved all the compost from the old 2 bin system and put some on the beds to make room. Soil very squelchy but just grateful we are not under water like poor folk in Cumbria and Scotland. Put sweet peas in water to sow tomorrow to decorate new bins😊 Got the Harrods horticultural catalogue and looked at the compost bins in there. Does anyone ever buy them? They are soooo dear! Anyway o/h pleased to hear that when he gets more pallets I would like lids for my new bins, like the ones that are £36 each or something ridiculous in the catalogue. Got very wet and very muddy.
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Dug over a 6m X 3m area of grass which will be the spot for my polytunnel. Will be constructing it next week!!
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On New year's day we fed the compost heap and picked leeks, sprouts, broccoli, beetroot and proved that the water table was level with the top of the soil.
On 2nd January I paid the rent for both plots.
On Sunday it rained. On Monday I did the essential shopping. Today the roads are all flooded so I checked the seed packets at home.
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My allotment is under water at the moment. I have been browsing seed catalogues though. The weather has to improve sometime surely. I only got the allotment late in the season so it needs digging and weeding and preparing and at the moment I am being prevented. Looking forward to spring.
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First visit this year.
I had a cup of tea!
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Looked at my patch: For the first time in weeks it does not look like a paddy field!
Cheers
Aled
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Put new roofing felt on my shed. Fingers crossed it is watertight now!!!!
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Mine looks like a cross between a paddy field and a pig field :(. Still paddled about put the last side on my 3 bin pallet compost heap. Now just need fronts and a couple of lids. More pallets required again.
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Second visit this year.
Sat in the greenhouse and drank more tea.
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It is the first day without teeming rain for weeks. I thought that there might be a few on site, but we were all alone. Harvested leeks, cabbage, salsify, beetroot and leaf beet. Surveyed the standing water, mostly on the paths rather than the beds. OH did his back bending down to undo netting, so we came home.
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Managed to do a little more than drink tea today.
Planted up the saffron corms in pots. Will post some pictures on the other thread later, surbie100.
Treated the floor joists for my new shed. Also treated a few other odd bits of wood that needed doing, while I had the brush out.
Harvested a few of the Christmas potatoes, some carrots and parsnips.
Had a cup of tea.
Cleared some space in my little, soon to become, propagation greenhouse. Laid half the floor with slabs.
A few other small maintenance tasks.
What a joy to be able to do something apart from shelter from the rain.
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finally 2 dry days in a row, so down the plot with the rotovator, the ground was frozen, which was ideal. 2 hours later the initial dig was done, because the ground is frozen, its not too boggy, but the rotovator can break up the frosty soil, I am happy to have got that initial dig done.
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Went up to the plots on Friday for greens (brussels, leeks, cabbage) and to feed the compost heap. Well frozen. Best left alone then except for crop picking. Happy new year to the slugs.
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finally finished installing wood burner and chimney in the shed...bring on the winter :D
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Digging and more digging. We have heavy clay soil so I am hoping the frosts will come soon and give me a hand in weathering this soil before I give up and take up pottery.
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Just jiggled the roof of the fruit cage with a brush to shake the snow through, then came home. Yesterday I cut a load of bits off the overgrown Hawthorn hedge that I've ignored for three years, then tried to burn it, but it wouldn't burn. Will wait a month or so and try again.
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Spent 4 hours up at the plot yesterday - I am sore but oh so happy today (it is amazing how spending time with your hands in the earth lifts your spirits).
Weeded the four beds with my fruit bushes in them, they didn't take too long as they had been done when the leaves fell in the autumn but with the mild weather we have been having weed growth is higher than normal this year.
I then set about tackling the back bed which was very badly overrun with weeds as the plot behind me isn't let out to anyone. It took me 2 and a half hours to get it cleared but boy does it look great now. I have some debris netting which my OH has promised to staple to the fencing to try to cut down on the amount of weed seeds getting into my plot and we have permission from the site owner (private site) to strim some of the plot behind and put weed killer on a strip along the back of our plot to try to reduce the amount of weed invasion while he is trying to let it out.
I am much more organised this year and have a maintenance plan mapped out on the calendar, weather permitting I am going up tomorrow to weed the bed that runs between my existing plot and the new plot I have taken on this year, like the back bed the plot next to me hasn't been let out for two years now so the weeds have been seeding in my plot but we have started work on it so I shouldn't have a problem with this bed next year.
I sowed a row of perpetual spinach in the PT.
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It finally stopped raining this morning and I managed to get an hour in the garden. Dug over the strip on tier 4 where the honey suckle was and Im planning on putting my fruit trees. Most of it was bind weed and nettle roots though, I imagine its going to need a few years of spot treatment with the weedkiller. Forked in some BFB and I'll let it settle for a few days.
I am sore but oh so happy today (it is amazing how spending time with your hands in the earth lifts your spirits).
You're not wrong, even though everything is absolutely sodden, heavy and slimy with algae.
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I cut scions from my apple trees and some from a few neighbours trees ready for my great grafting projects. All wrapped up with some damp kitchen roll and in the bottom of the fridge. How long before the wife notices them and flies of the handle like she did over the onion seeds in the spare room.
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Put on more wood ash!
Cheers
Aled
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Tootled off to the Lottie about 12. Came back at 3 having turned my compost from bin 2 to 3 & 1 to 2, so plenty of exercise there to keep me from freezing as they're all about 1 cubic metres of black gold. Harvested more parsnips & carrots, Then I chopped down the raspberry canes & sunflowers,loaded them onto the wheelbarrow & brought them home to shred along with 2 climbers Mr S cut down last week when he helped J next door replace the fencing. After a revitalising coffee I went out & shredded it all ready to take for DDs choose to enhance their run, hoping to emulate Beeskissed deep litter run on the dark side.
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Managed to get the ground prepared where my polytunnel is going, strimmed the grass, had a fire in the incinerator and got rid of loads of stuff. Pulled up loads of weeds, had a really good tidy up and got rid of all of the rubbish that I have been meaning to bin for months. 9 rubble sacks went to the tip :) Just as I was about to leave one of the plot holders came over and told me he had just given up his plot and that Icould have what I wanted, so I collected enough decking planks for a strawberry bed, some wooden posts and I re-homed an apple tree which is now planted and staked on my plot. Shattered now but I feel like I am getting there!! Polytunnel construction and rotavating on my next visit!!
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I checked on my worms in the bin and they were procreating, as they should be. Then I watched the snow sparkle on the garden, adding minerals to the soil as it melts and insulating the compost so the microbial life there can get on with its business.
Dreaming garden dreams and making seed tapes.....
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/18544067/width/900/height/900/flags/LL)
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Spent a few hours at the plot today. Did a fair bit of harvesting winter veg. Weeded the cabbage bed. OH had bonfire with the prunings from the apple tree.
The plot is still very wet, with standing water in places. The garlic, overwintering onions and broad beans are coming along nicely.
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Connected a new(ish) battery to the solar panel, I think I had a dead cell on the other one. Can now pump water into the oil drums in the propagating greenhouse for my solar heating project.
Dug up the last of the Christmas new potatoes in the big greenhouse.
Cleaned the glass on the cleared side of the big greenhouse.
Started putting up the netting for the melons.
Potted up some apple rootstocks.
Bees were out and about which was nice to see.
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Planted out this years winston / kids orange and last years james grieve I'll prune them back in a day or 2. Still not sure where to put the gladstone as it's a partial tip bearer. :unsure:
Braved the slope and the brambles to cut some scion wood from the damson and plum trees, much Anglo Saxon as I don't think the brambles have stopped growing this year at all and they're all interwoven into the trees.
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Went up for sprouts, broccoli, leeks, cooking apples from the store. Turned over a corner of the newer allotment which hadn't been done last year in the first clearing. Got out an amazing number of deeply rooted dandelions. Will have to turn again and clear properly when it has dried out a bit but it wasn't going to improve till turned as it was on a slope and the rain was running off. Oh and gave someone a bag of red kale for his grand children's rabbit.
Tidied up the rubbish bags on newer plot - must organise getting them removed. Cleared the beetroot bed and composted it.
Started the clearing up of the strawberry plants but more to do there - very chaotic they were despite work in early October. This mild weather not good!
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I've done nothing, but I have ordered a new garden sieve from ebay!
Cheers
Aled
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The soil is now dry enough so I dug over and weeded the bed where the onion and shallot sets will go.
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I wish it would stop raining for a good few days!
Cheers
Aled
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Haven't been to the lotty the last couple of weeks. Every opportunity I get its either raining or just too wet. But today I hope to dig up the leeks from one bed and get manure on it ready for potatoes i March.
I'll also be doing my first sowing today as my chillies will be going in the incubator.
Have a great growing year all
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picked a few leeks the other day and sorted out all my seeds but ground still far too wet for any digging. pulled a few of the big weeds out but that was it.
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Monday 1st February 2016
Met 2 guys and a lorry at the allotment site at 07.20 to take delivery of my new shed. 2 hours later it was up and looking very orange. Next job is to paint it a more subdued colour and then to fill it with lots of the things we still have in storage ( no loft, no garage at home now ).
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Pulled up some cabbages and sprouts then took off debris netting.
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I supervised hubby digging some carrots up & then I picked a good handful of cavelo Nero
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too too too wet *sigh*
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Still too wet here as well.
Cheers
Aled
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Same here too! Ohhhh, the frustration!
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Well I have done some ground work! Bought some butternut squash seeds, carrot seeds, and some mixed lettuce leaf salad seeds, which I will grow in a pot. Also got some small pots to bring on some seedlings.
Cheers
Aled
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Yesterday I picked leeks, brussels, purple sprouting broccoli and put a lot of household peelings on the compost heap.
Today I went to the newer plot and started to clear the bed where the green manure was planted. It rained so much back over the last three months that the green manure died back (well it should have been dug in back in November). There was an excellent collection of dandelions that had come up from seeds and grown well in the mild winter along with the creeping buttercups. I also moved some very long old roots - could have been nettles once upon a time. Didn't finish the job but it does look better. Also cleared a lot of debris under the brassicas and pulled up the gone over calabrese. Fed the compost heap on the newer plot (but not with the dandelions, docks, buttercups and assorted roots!). Took the netting back to the shed to be stored.
Never take on a dandelion and buttercup patch as a clearing project she says laughing. Mind we have had plenty of kale, calabrese and psb. Have only had it since June so not a lot of time for planting and it was a proper mess. Way to go with it still.
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Pulled up the last of the leeks, dug over the bed and sowed some Meteor peas in it as an experiment (and a bet on the weather!).
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Turned out to be a good time to pull the weeds out of the raspberries. Soil is so wet they just made a sucking noise and popped out. Even the thistles and dandelions. Then I sort of stirred the soil a bit with my trowel as the holes filled back up with muddy water. Hope to finish over the weekend and mulch with compost to sort of dissolve into the soil and work a bit like a sponge to dry it out a bit... :ohmy:
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Planted a load of hawthorn hedge down the side of plot and recycled some edging blocks to make a nice edge.
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The son-in-law came along with his trusty van full of tools to secure one half of the wavering allotment gate. His reward was a selection of vegetables and most of the banana cake I had just cooked. His wife, the daughter, says that most of the banana cake has now been eaten with ice cream!
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Pulled out loads of couch roots from a 8m X 4m bed, dug it over and rotorvated it then spread manure over where the broad beans will be. Will dig it in in a fortnight then plant my first broad beans. Loads of couch roots left in some of the other new beds so some back breaking trips coming up in the next few weeks!!!
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Another load of wood ash, this time through the sieve so fine particles only!
Cheers
Aled
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laid the rest of the paved path to the shed, lit the wood stove in the shed, had a brew, picked some very young PSB heads to have in a stir fry tonite.
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The veg patch is looking very wet, but My compost is looking good mind!
Cheers
Aled
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Added 16 barrow of manure to my muck heap and put another new bird box up.
(http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q786/61Doug_Palmer/allotment/IMG_1529_zpsfnd9ciam.jpg) (http://s1359.photobucket.com/user/61Doug_Palmer/media/allotment/IMG_1529_zpsfnd9ciam.jpg.html)
This one is for the sparrows who like a communal roost
(http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q786/61Doug_Palmer/allotment/IMG_1498_zpspksdrudm.jpg) (http://s1359.photobucket.com/user/61Doug_Palmer/media/allotment/IMG_1498_zpspksdrudm.jpg.html)
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Yesterday I went digging in a far corner of the newer of the two allotments to get a little bit more cleared and fit to use. What I thought was just a left heap of soil covered yet more rusty metal. There's a long way to go there. So nice to know that there's only a little digging to do on number one plot when the leeks and brussels are all picked.
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Forked some manure into what will be a full bed of Strawberries this year , then planted some runners out.
(http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q786/61Doug_Palmer/allotment/IMG_1530_zpsvw3wladc.jpg) (http://s1359.photobucket.com/user/61Doug_Palmer/media/allotment/IMG_1530_zpsvw3wladc.jpg.html)
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picked sprouts for dinner, leeks for soup.
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Picked leeks, topped up bean trench, bit of a tidy and gave my daughter a ride in the wheelbarrow (don't tell my OH).
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Cleared an old strawberry bed but saved a dozen plants which have gone into the greenhouse to hopefully get a small early crop then they can add to the compost heap.
Potted up some Charlotte potatoes that had 'chitted' in the vegetable rack in the kitchen.
Started clearing the debris from an ash bough that crash landed on the edge of my plot.
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I went up and measured the area, approximately 15m x 7 so 45ft x 21. Doesn't look that big but will feel it when it comes to digging. The ground was frozen solid this morning.
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Potted up the Aldi fruit trees.
Set up the 'Great Polythene Temperature Experiment'.
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It was dry Sun, Mon & Tues, then today its chucking it down again. Veg patch back to soaking wet again!
Cheers
Aled
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Moved an apple tree, pruned a pear tree, cut down the raspberries and broke up a couple of pallets to make a path.
Also my plot neighbor has had his first early spuds in for at least a week now :ohmy:
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Nothing on the plot but I picked up about 500 - 600 pots and trays from a kind lady who was giving them away on Freecycle. Don't need that many but she said I was free to take them and hand them around the allotment site to anyone who wants them. Well chuffed :D
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Put some shredded newspaper in the compost bin, and bought a gardening magazine to remind me of what I need to do when it eventually stops raining!
Cheers
Aled
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nothing on plot due to rain/wind again. sowed tom seeds at home and sorted out pots and lables.
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Finally put up my polytunnel, managed it on my own in about 3 hours. It certainly helps being 6ft 5in when putting these up!!!!!
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Finally put up my polytunnel, managed it on my own in about 3 hours. It certainly helps being 6ft 5in when putting these up!!!!!
Looks good, made me laugh you're 1ft 2inches taller than me, I wouldn't have managed very well would I 😄
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Finally put up my polytunnel, managed it on my own in about 3 hours. It certainly helps being 6ft 5in when putting these up!!!!!
Crikey, if your 6ft 5in that's one very tall polytunnel in the picture. :wacko:
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He He, my son came for the last 20 mind and seems to be claiming credit for the whole thing!!!
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OH and myself spent a couple of hours up at the plot this afternoon. We moved the timber for the raised beds and the fencing from where the delivery man dropped it on the communal patch to plot 2 in case anyone thought it was going a begging. My OH rough dug the bed that the summer raspberries are going into on plot 2 (16ft x 3ft approx), he will dig it over and rotavate it as soon as we get a few dry days in a row. We healed the raspberry canes into a trench until the bed can be finished. I planted out some strawberry plants. We then put up the wires for the fruit along the back fence of plot 1.
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Load of lovet soil and nicely raked now in a new raised bed that my Dad built, not thought what to use it for now.
Dug in all the winter peelings where the beans will go.
Soaked overnight and sowed in trays in the greenhouse, the first seeds of the year, my saved and some new broad beans.
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Hi I lifted the last of my carrots in-between showers, some in sand other now in freezer
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I got 14 yds of atomic red and 15 yds of purple haze carrot seed tape done this weekend, but ran out of flour(up visiting Dad, so just had a little baggy of flour with me) before I could finish all the sugar snax carrots and midnight ruffles (red) lettuce combination seed tape I was working on...only got about 8-9 yds of that done.
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Bought some seeds, and added a pile of paper to the Compost bin.
Cheers
Aled
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Harvested some leeks and cabbage. Weeded three raised beds. Plot still very wet. Noted I need more manure.
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I planted a rhubarb crown on the new allotment with a good bucket of well composted manure around it. This followed serious glass mining - it's going to be a long time getting all the small stuff out of that plot. Some little blighter of the bird variety has been pulling up the winter onions. Good thing I have some more to fill up the spaces.
On the old plot picked the last of the leeks (note to self to compost the bed now), picked some brussels which are virtually at an end and also bought some psb from the newer plot.
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Topped up the weeded beds with soil excavated and sifted from under the polytunnel. It had to be sifted as the old dwarf wall (from an earlier greenhouse) on which we have attached the polytunnel had been filled in with assorted rubbish and glass as well as soil.
Planted out Vigarmor shallot sets, a new variety for me. Also planted out some Turbo onion sets. Bit worried that the bed they went in is a bit too wet, but the forecast is for dry weather for the foreseeable future, I am hoping that is true.
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Filled the 3 raised beds hubby made earlier with top soil and weeded one of the beds in poly tunnel turned cold late afternoon so lit the the wood burner lovely :D
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I got 14 yds of atomic red and 15 yds of purple haze carrot seed tape done this weekend, but ran out of flour(up visiting Dad, so just had a little baggy of flour with me) before I could finish all the sugar snax carrots and midnight ruffles (red) lettuce combination seed tape I was working on...only got about 8-9 yds of that done.
How do you make seed tape with flour?
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I made a start on digging over the last little bit of my plot that I didn't get round to before the weather broke. It's still a bit wet, but workable. Dug up the last of the carrots and parsnips.
Can anyone tell me the best way to freeze parsnips, please?
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Tonight before the rugby starts, I am going to put my tomato seeds, in pots, and into the propagator.
Cheers
Aled
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Put some Aaron pilots in the ground in my new polytunnel to see if I can have any success. Fleece at the ready 😀
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I made a start on digging over the last little bit of my plot that I didn't get round to before the weather broke. It's still a bit wet, but workable. Dug up the last of the carrots and parsnips.
Can anyone tell me the best way to freeze parsnips, please?
I make them into lemon parsnips (boiled chopped add butter,lemon juice,black pepper) then freeze in take away plastic containers. Then just defrost and heat in microwave - perfect!
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I have been itching to get started on my allotment for quite some time. Sadly it's been very wet, cold and windy but I've checked my compost and it's looking great, I've added some well rotted manure to each compost pile in readiness for my potatoes and other crops etc. Did lots of tidying up generally. Cannot wait for a dry day with some sunshine so that I can paint my bench, bird. table and planter. Have had my favourite spade sharpened in readiness for easier digging and have cleared all of my raised beds. Admired my onions planted in Autumn. Starting to put up cane supports for beans and sweet peas. Started off lots of seeds and bulbs indoors. My plot is going to be amazing this year, so exciting!
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Huzzah! Finally able to get on to the plot this morning after months of being way too wet. Soil was lovely and workable and I managed two and a half hours of digging and weeding. I shall set off some broad beans and wizard field beans this weekend ready to plant out in a couple of weeks. It's good to be back down there - I've missed it!
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Lifted the flags that the old 8x8 greenhouse sat on,Got the Azada out and broke the very compacted soil up to the tune of a 12x16 area for my spanking new 8x15 polytunnel :D,gave the pear i moved a couple of weeks ago 4 cans of water, got the log burner going whilst i tidied the sh*t tip of a shed up, uncovered the compost, watered it, recovered it...and I only went down today to take advantage of a lift down so i could drop off an old belfast sink obtained off the local freecycle group.Walked the 4 miles home, just sat down with a beer...suddenly feel VERY old.
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It’s nearly March and my allotment year is beginning again! And the question every year is .. what should I be doing now?
I’m not an adventurous allotmenteer, and I’m a rubbish gardener. I have lots of other things going on – a p/time job, an old house to nurse along, grandchildren to visit, and a hobby to occupy some time. And a wife who has even more going on, and who likes me to accompany her. So my lottie time is limited. I’ve had the plot for 8 years – it’s a half plot, which I’ve divided into 14 beds, each about 4 ft wide. There’s been a big couch grass problem ever since the helpful council rotovated the plot for me in April 2008 when I took it on, “to give me a good start”. I’ve used glyphosate and digging on the couch and a couple of years ago I bought a big roll of weed fabric - I’ve covered about half the beds.
I grow beans (broad and runner), kale, leeks, spinach, courgettes, lettuces, beetroot, and a couple of rhubarb plants. I’ve got two apple trees that haven’t done anything yet (got them in 2012) and half a dozen globe artichokes which I planted for their looks. And some very neglected raspberry plants at the top end of the plot. Normally I buy little veg plants and put ‘em in after the frosts, in late May. I haven’t had much success with seeds – no greenhouse at home. Plants are a lot more expensive, but the success rate is a lot higher.
Right now I’ve got a load of leeks still in the ground, and the remains of last year’s kale which has put forth little sprouty leaves at the top of the stalks. And a mass of straggly and not very successful cabbages – I’ve never got the hang of cabbages. Several beds are covered with fabric, and some others are bare soil. Some are just weeds. And that’s about it – some months ago I planted green manure on a couple of beds – that grew nicely and now looks well over.
So .. what should I do first to get started with 2016? Dig each bed over? - or will this encourage weed growth? Is now the time to get some manure and dig it in? Where to start???
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After the awful winter here in north wales, ventured up to plot 2 yesterday for the first inputs of the year. Full time work and life and the frankly terrible weekend weather just hasn't been conducive to going. She's survived. A little storm damage to the shed but otherwise ok. Garlic, onions and some baby gems still in the ground.
Dug the old raspberry bed up yesterday as ongoing to split the plot into 2 with a central line of fruit. Given the efforts of others to start to fence plots to keep the rabbits out, looks like that's an early job too otherwise the law of diminishing returns will apply.
Ruby the jack Russell has taken to sprinting round the spade and barking incessantly as I dig. Which is interesting. Pete
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Another one here who has finally got to the plot and even then it spitted with rain as I left, but 2 1/2 hours and the whole plot has now been rotovated again, my second visit this year. there is still work to do as the previous tenant of my newly acquired front half left all sorts of junk buried, and some patches were pretty well grassed over, but its certainly getting there, the front half will get a generous lot of potatoes this year to help clear the soil, with maybe some beans. yesterday the spare freezer in the shed was found to have failed, leading to the throwing of a fair amount of beans and apple that had been stored in it (a messy job clearing a freezer that obviously failed several weeks ago).
Grendel
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Did far far too much digging. Spent 3 hours solid digging out couch roots and mares tail then rotorvated it all. I have been trying to get this big bed cleared for 2 years and it is finally done. Beer in hand now and with the polytunnel going up last week I feel I have really got somewhere this winter. Roll on the warmer weather so I can get planting!!!
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Cleared a pile of rubbish, and had a bonfire! Also my tomato and squash seeds are now in, and are in the propagator by the windowsill. Rain arriving again tonight!
Cheers
Aled
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Lifted some leeks. Put a load of seaweed on the beds and weeded the onions and garlic. Lovely afternoon, but v squelchy up there still.
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Not at the plot but in the garden,pruned the Acers,bit to late really as they started to bleed. Then cut the grass,having sorted the mower out after mr S had used it last. He never cleans it after he's cut the grass,wouldn't leave a piece of his kit in that state😡
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Aren't mowers like soap - self-cleaning :lol:
Im about 6 weeks late but finally found 5 minutes to put the chilli peppers and some physalis in the propagator.
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Planted a victoria plum and Stella cherry tree.
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On Sunday I sowed the first seeds of the season - chillies - it felt really good to get started!
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Busy day for me, I planted 2 Apple trees that I picked up from Aldi for £3.49 each, sowed 3 double rows of broad beans then sowed carrots, parsnip and radish outside under plastic cloches. In the polytunnel I put up some staging and sowed spring onion, red cabbage, sweet peas, Brussels sprouts, celery and filled 2 lengths of guttering with compost and peas. Pottered around some more and had a big tidy up.
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Bit of a clean up, burnt (well tried to) the old raspberry canes and the asparagus stems.
Potted up some Blackmoor MM106 rootstock, not impressed at all - virtually no roots :mad: I need to find some more pots for the rest.
Not sure what to do this year about my unproductive raspberry and blackberry beds. :unsure:
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Not at the plot (been holed up with man-flu for the past four days), getting itchy fingers so braved the GH in the back yard and sowed some calandula (african prince?), sunflowers(earthwalker,black magic) and chrysanths(rainbow...but much prefer the higgledy garden name, rainbow hippy love child).Had a looksie at the indoor chillis in the tent under two 96w T5`s (scotch bonnet,ohnevic,trinidad scorpian,red 7 pot,carolina reaper and two over-wintered bolivian rainbow) and the tent was full of scarid fly, had a root around in the top inch of compost in the two bolivian rainbows that came indoors from outdoors last year..teaming with larvae so despatched them to the GH till i can get some sticky traps, sharp sand and tights.
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I had some charcoal pieces on the patch, from when I put on some wood ash. Cleared most of them off on Saturday. Also put a few more tomato seeds in pots.
Cheers
Aled
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Finished trenching the polytunnel cover into the ground. Under cover growing here we go.
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Just spent my third full day (10-3) over the past two weeks digging out some old autumn raspberries and nettles. Had a fire again today to get rid of raspberry canes. Accidentally dug up a rhubarb plant - mine are late ones so it wasn't showing much! Popped it back in and hope for the best. Also accidentally dug up some of my blackberry roots - again realised my mistake and put back in the soil.
Took my eye of the ball last year and let my allotment go a bit. I have a bit of help this year so I'm hoping to have a better year.
Having a go with some rootrainers. This evening I have planted some green and some red mange tout, beetroot, corriander, rocket, courgette and squash in them. Haven't done many of each as it still seems early. As I said I am trying them out for the first time, so I want to see result from a variety of seeds.
Might go back for a few hours in the morning to do a bit more digging.
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.............I need to find some more pots for the rest.
I had this problem, got carried away and ordered far too many rootstocks then realised I had no pots for them and don't want to commit them to the ground on the plot as they are destined for the back garden next year. I happened to go to our local dump (the local authority waste recycling plant not the pub) and there was a stack of about twenty-five reasonably sized pots, a bit of haggling and I got the lot for £1.70.
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Couple of hours at plot digging over area for potatoes. Ground still very wet so leaving rest for longer til drier. Luckily hard work last year means minimal weeds so just need to dig over where last years sweetcorn was.
At home tidied greenhouse and sowed some tomatoes as need to get going although still so cold.
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Planted out garlic and overwinter onion sets which I had started in modules. Potted up my dahlias. Finally tidied all the wood out of the PT. This is the first time in 3 years that there isn't wood for a project in the PT for me to fall over :lol:
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Tucked up fig cuttings in the propagator. Fiddled w seed packets.
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Between times over the last couple of weeks I've cleared all the leeks and Brussels off my long term plot and dug in compost/manure. Today I gave the mints I have in tubs that were showing growth a haircut to tidy them up. Some may need re potting but that's a matter for consideration and tub management another day. Good thing I got this plot in order earlier in the winter as it's the one with the good soil.
Have been clearing out the brassica beds on the newer (clearing project) allotment - these were just planted as spares to test the soil. Not very fertile but not a total failure. There are many creeping buttercups underneath - trouble is that it's slow clearing to get them all out but you can't really do it in the cropping season as the brassicas like a firm bed. Ah well.
Also cleared out a corner that had missed out on last season's major works to find a large piece of rusty metal (think three large seed trays size) buried along with what was probably a fence post concrete footer and the remains of a greenhouse frame along with a quantity of netting. Now what was that I said about the previous tenant who levelled the plot with a mini digger before clearing it (supply fluent rude words of your own choosing). I also manured and planted up a small area with some spare about 14 spare polyanthuses (or is that polyanthi?) that I had in pots. Oh and planted up some rhubarb in a corner with plenty of manure.
Things have started then.
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I went and spent an hour or so clearing the first 8ft x 8ft patch, covered most of the rest with black plastic apart from about 20ft x 6ft of gone wild and then strimmed (thank you council - NOT) raspberry canes. There is also a tree. I am not sure it was deliberately planted so I'll see what it turns into before digging it up. Currently it's about 7ft tall. I am going to start on removing the raspberries next week weather permitting. The ground is still wet but as it's fairly sandy it isn't sticking to my boots too much. Working away from where I am clearing so not walking on the newly turned soil.
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Planted shallots and dug over/weeded the bed the potatoes will go in
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washed greenhouse down, filled a new bed with manure and topsoil,planted seeds, lettuce,beetroot,radish, peas,sweet peas,in the shed currently 11c warming up nicely
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Finally managed to plant my new row of Glen Ample autumn fruiting rasps. :)
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Planted up my new strawberry planter :)
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Sowed: shallots and broad beans. Planted four fruit bushes and finished digging potato bed.
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Finally managed to plant my new row of Glen Ample autumn fruiting rasps. :)
Glen Ample are summer fruiting or was it a typo.
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Turned over enough for me to plant two rows of sharpes express first earlies, planted them and put a few handfuls of 4x in the trench
For safety put a fleece cloche over both rows
Happy to be back on the plot
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have been planning to get there all week, except fixing the water pump on the car yesterday didnt go as planned and it still leaks at the gasket, so today I have to redo it all with sealant.
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Finished digging it all over and planted 3 rhubarb crowns, sowed spring onions and planted garlic, red onion sets and various white onions. Rebuilt the cold frame and erected the brassica tent.
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Painted half the fence. Weeded, fed and mulched the gooseberries and black currents. Tidied up all the pieces of wood that were in various places around the plot. Dug the bed where the comfrey is going.
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Collected a load of free strawberry plants from a nice bloke off Freecycle and potted them all up. Should keep the kids happy this summer!! :D
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Put out onion and shallot sets. Ground heavy, but cultivatable, so carried on digging in manure spread last October time.
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More digging of nettles - as far as I can until the old raised planter is removed. Think I got most of the old autumn raspberries up also. Will get some replacements which I think I'll plant where I'm digging up the nettles. Put some eracachious around the blueberries. cleared some ivy away from the front of the shed and cleared some paths of grass growing across. Came home, put my one remaining strawberry plant into a recycled planter I bought last year - will buy or beg some more to finish filling the planter.
Off to work tomorrow fir a rest. Will miss being outside all day though. Loving this mild weather.
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I sorted out a large willow tree, and we now have a lot more natural light on around the place.
Cheers
Aled
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Digging ground for a potato bed, had a good hour in the last of the sun. Going to need a few more hours on it and then some well rotted manure.
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Cleared two compost piles and spread over the potato bed, also put sprouts and cabbages in the cold frame. Finally put the pea frame up in readiness for next month
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Carried on digging potato bed after work
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Yesterday I pulled up the finished kale and dug over the bed, planted red and white onion sets, mulched the rhubarb and blueberries with composted manure, fed the spring cabbages and sowed chard, beetroot, cauliflower, cabbage, calabrese, lettuce and spring onion seeds :).
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Shifted 2 rhubarb crowns (yesterday) to a new dedicated rhubarbarium. Which is my new word and a lot of fun to say.
The crowns are both a year old, one from a wizened root stub in a garden centre sale, the other grown from seed. I was really surprised at the size of the roots coming off both.
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Not allotment today but back garden. Cut grass and sorted pots out for tomatoes and tied up my tayberry which had gone bit wild through winter
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Finished the digging of both plots ,then went over them both with my new mantis.
I was very impressed with the mantis ,yes it did clog a few times but that was due to stones which will get better every time it's done as the stones will hopefully get lesser
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Got my potatoes in today, a 10m row of Arran Pilot, a 10m row of Maris Peer and 3 X 10m rows of Cara. Just have to keep an eye out for them popping their heads above ground now!! Sowed a row of Boltardy and Coggia beetroot as well.
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Set some seeds in trays in the polytunnel. Replanted rhubarb in some well rotted manure, tidied up and carried on with preparation of ground for planting up soon.
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I was going to have a day off after yesterday's busy day, however some kind soul had spare well rotted 4yr old manure spare so I ended up opening up four rows ready for the second earlies and main crop spuds filling them with muck and backfilling them over with soil, simple now when it comes to planting just open pockets with a trowel and pop them in.
I also spread 100mm over wher the runner beans , broad beans and peas are going , then for luck I filled one of my three compost daleks ready for later in the year.
Seeing as my plots are on the top of the hill and the gate is at the bottom I think I did well in the 3hours it too
BACK IS A BIT STIFF NOW THOUGH
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Cracking spring day yesterday. I emptied my compost dalek and put it all on the veg patch and dug it in. Will double dig next weekend, and put some horse manure in. I'm away for the first week of April, so crops won't go in until the week after weather allowing!
Cheers
Aled
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Finally getting something more planted in the garden. Today doing several hundred sweet onion~from seed~garlic, lettuce, carrots, broccoli, asparagus, sugar snap peas, and spinach. From here on out I'll be doing succession plantings of lettuce and carrots, lettuce, spinach, etc. I want to grow enough for our consumption, for extended family and also for giving away.
It's almost 70* here today with breezy to gusty wind, so not too bad of planting weather. I'm loving the soft, dark soil under the wood chips and leaves...such a HUGE difference from our usual tan, hard as a rock clay structure. You can clearly see the line where the wood chips and leaves are being composted and pulled into the soil by earthworms, making that layer more crumbly, darker and less compacted. Each year that should be a deeper and deeper layer of loose, rich soil as these chips continue to break down.
And worms....I've never seen so many worms in a garden in my life! :nowink: I'm sure that folks out there with good soil are used to seeing a lot of worm life when they dig in their gardens, but I'm not used to seeing this number or size of worms in this soil. I can lay my hand out on the soil and be on top of ten worms, most of them large but some smaller, half grown worms. Every scrape of the hoe to move the chips back is cutting worms, which I hate to do but I accidentally left my rake at my son's house and had to resort to using a hoe today.
I'm really loving this BTE garden method and I'm loving planting with the use of these homemade seed tapes...what a breeze!!!
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Not so many worms here today, but I did dig up a frog/toad! He'd been hibernating. Luckily I didn't do any damage and gave him a new residence near a stream.
I've been trying to removed creeping buttercup today... a long and laborious task. Feel like I'm getting nowhere fast. Then stumbled upon another crop of nettles, left it half cleared, will have to go back and finish on Friday I think.
Went grocery shopping this evening to Aldi. They have strawberry plants back in. Bought 3 tubs of six plants and filled my planter at home. Will clear an area in my fruit cage and but some more. I've also recently bought a honeyberry plant which I'm deciding where to plant on the allotment, also picked up another blackberry reduced to £2. I want some Goji bushes too, but am hoping to buy some locally, also looking for black raspberries. I intend to fill an entire freezer with fruit this year to see me through the winter.
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Peered into the propagator and all 3 of the Marvel Striped tom seeds are up and waving leaves already - seeds via the Forum's seed circle and they really are enthusiastic! Am starting all the beefsteaks first this year as last year they were slower to produce.
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Took up all the gravel in the greenhouse last weekend and laid new weed fabric down so I don't have to weed the greenhouse so much this year. Also put weed fabric and paving slabs down on the path to the compost heap as I couldn't get to it last summer due to all the nettles. Dug out an overfull wheelbarrows worth of nettle and bramble plants and roots from an area of about 1.5m by 0.5m along the fence between the compost heap and main patch! Also tied a tree branch back which was shadowing the back corner of the patch.
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I got up for a few hours during the week. I popped some lettuce seedlings and rocket seedlings into some spaces in the beds in the PT. I also sowed a row of lettuce seed and Carrot seed in the PT border. I just have one bed left in the PT now for some Brassicas that I have started off to go into and that will be the PT in full production until the Tomatos go in towards the end of May beginning of June.
I started clearing out the shed as well as I have a new Rotavator coming tomorrow and I need to make room for it. I have been eyeing up this rotavator for about a year now but it was too expensive. We were in the shop getting the strimmer serviced last week and the guy offered me the shop soiled demo model at less than half price so I jumped at it. He is cleaning it up for me and I can collect it tomorrow :D :D
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Transferred all the tomato plants to bigger pots they all looked very sorry for themselves to begin with but they have made a remarkable recovery this evening! Bought some gardening related tubs and seeds this afternoon. To finish i have put a pile of horse manure on the plot and dug it in. We're getting there! I'm away on a family holiday for the first week of April, so things should be nicely settled by the time i get back.
Cheers
Aled
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First earlies (Peatland Javelin) are in. We're off. Yehhaaar
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I bought Pentland Javelin yesterday as well! Anyway its chucking it down with rain here today.So my daughter and I planted some stawberry plants in the garage! The pot will be going outside once the rain stops! My tomatosand squashes look very good!
Glad i dug the manure in yesterday.
Cheers
Aled
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Got three beds rotavated with the new rotavator. The shed has been cleared out and room made for the new rotavator. I am going to do some potting on in the greenhouse this afternoon as the weather is awful here.
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Sowed leeks (Elefant and Bleu de Solaise) in a gravel tray. Also sowed tomatoes - Sungold, Sweet Million, Ailsa Craig, Outdoor Girl (thanks to Pass the Parcel :)) and Dancing with Smurfs (big thanks to Surbie100 :D). Potatoes are in - Sharpe's Express in bags, Lady Christl and Charlotte in the ground.
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Weeded around the autumn planted onions. Gave them a feed of Growmore. Hopefully I'll be able to get them out end of June ready for beans to go in. Similarly with the overwintered chard- I gave it a good cut back and removed all the rotting and damaged leaves and gave it a feed. One more good cutting from him hopefully. I sowed my first carrots and the parsnips. Sowed cucumelon, lettuce and more turnips.
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Planted a bed of first earlies. Also sowed a bed of cauliflower and broccoli in the PT.
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Getting a late start but will be sowing pepper seeds into seed trays....might do the rest of the seeds as well. Windy and cold out today, not a good day for working outside.
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Continued weeding the plot. It's still too wet to dig over but I'm hoping that I've broken the surface up a bit with the weeding so air can start to penetrate and dry it out.
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After picking up after the stormy night and helping neighbours mend their fences.
Sowed all my tomatoes and cucumbers in the greenhouse.
Put in some Duke of York potatoes in bags, that had chitted like mini trees.
Over Friday, Sat and Sun, a last dig on the bean and potato plots. Good tidy up.
Collected loads of small slugs for the nematode bucket.
Sowed leeks, sweet peas, spinach, chard, kale, parsnip and some more sprouts.
Growing nicely are sprouts, marigold, broad beans (will go out next week), sweat peas, lettuce and parsnip.
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Picked up the bits of my mini plastic greenhouse which was smashed by Storm Katie overnight :(. All my newly sown seeds in module trays were trashed and need to be sown again. :( :(. Also had to fix the enviromesh covers over the onions/shallots/garlic as they had been ripped off and tossed around the plot :ohmy:. Although it's definitely a :( moment, I am trying to look on the bright side - at least it's still early enough in the season to sow everything again.
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Took the plunge with a little spare cash and am fencing the plot as the rabbits are a nuisance. So having moved the compost heap last week in readiness I've this weekend got the posts in (all 26 of them) courtesy of some digging and hire of a post rammer. Over-clad the broken shed windows with feather edge and a lick of cornflower blue on 3 side of the shed, much to the amusement of the duffers. At least it's not used engine oil!! Now I'm, for want of better, (self moderated) words ******* *******ed. thank heavens for light nights to get the wire up and then down to some growing. xxscenicxx
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broken plastic bottle greenhouse in the garden- bottles all fine, but the Upvc sheets were a mess, tidied up the mess- seedlings overwet, but brassicas so should pull through....
Went to the lottie with hubby; weeded, and moved some strawbs; such amazing free draining soil that it's lovely to dig the morning after a downpour!
He got his flower bulbs in <sheesh- I've given him a tiny bit of my plot, and he's choosing to grow flowers!!!> but he's never shown an interest before so I'm cutting him some slack...
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Cried a little inside at my newly erected pallet greenhouse frame that had been toppled by the gales :( then set about picking up the roof which had been torn off by the wind. Thankfully I hadn't put the plastic sheeting on when we put it up on Friday so that's one thing I don't have to try and fix!
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Cried a little inside at my newly erected pallet greenhouse frame that had been toppled by the gales :( then set about picking up the roof which had been torn off by the wind. Thankfully I hadn't put the plastic sheeting on when we put it up on Friday so that's one thing I don't have to try and fix!
My heart went out with you ref the wind and the pallet greenhouse,
I walk my dogs past the future allotment, its only 5 mins from our home and deep in the countryside so the only sign of life i see is the bull in the field behind ours.
Ive plenty of work to do to get this into shape but every time i get the strimmer out and spend hours tackling the bramble's i feel really good to see the space they've taken up,
Its amazing how big a piece of ground is once its cleared,
Ive big plans for this piece of land and every time im looking at it i can see how its going to be in the future. ::)
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Planted 4 rows of beetroot that I'd set off in the propagator. Detroit Crimson, Golden Globe, Bolthardy and Chiagogia or however it's spelt
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Forked over the bean trenches and covered a path with plastic, then it started spitting with rain :(
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Spent a gloriously sunny, warm morning digging over an area of raised bed no.1 to plant my broad beans. I planted a couple of rows of beans and then needed to go down to the house to cook lunch. I looked at my gardening tools... should I take them down too? I looked at the blue, blue sky... naaah. Nevertheless, I popped the packet of seeds in my pocket - can't be too careful. During lunch we had a hailstorm... :ohmy:
Finished planting the rest of the beans later, when the sun emerged.
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Planted 4 dwarf apple trees near the garden. Worked on building my top bar hive, trying to get it ready to bait in a swarm. Checked the sweet onions I had direct sown in the garden for signs of germination....found it. Little sprouts underneath that soil, not yet poked through. Garlic, strawberries and potatoes looking good there.
Will finally try to get seeds into seed trays tomorrow...about 2 wks behind now.
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I envy all of you who can get down the plot during the week - I sit here at work looking out the window, thinking about what I can do at the plot this coming weekend - only to have it rain all weekend.
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Take early retirement, Grendel, take early retirement (I did it in my forties). ;)
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I tried that when I was 51, though it paid off the mortgage, I couldnt manage on the income from just the pension to keep 3 of us (wife and daughter who was at uni), and because of the pension was not eligable for any benifits, so after trying a zero hours contract (doesnt work when they give you 1 hours work in 3v months) I had to go out and find a new job, where I am now very happy.
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I tried that when I was 51, though it paid off the mortgage, I couldnt manage on the income from just the pension to keep 3 of us (wife and daughter who was at uni), and because of the pension was not eligable for any benifits, so after trying a zero hours contract (doesnt work when they give you 1 hours work in 3v months) I had to go out and find a new job, where I am now very happy.
Yes, well, my comment was tongue in cheek really. It's not always possible to take early retirement when you have dependants, is it? Anyway, good to know you're happy in your job.
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Well the weathers been a bit chilly one minute and then the sun tries to come out the next,
So no other place to be "the greenhouse"
And i continued to sow another 20 trays of the taget seeds ive saved from last years plants plus sown 20 plastic pots of the sweet peas ive soaked last night (they've now shown signs of life) Im hoping to have a really good show of the tagets all around the borders this summer,
They are a really good hard and long lasting plant and the bugs (white fly etc) dont go near them.)
So thats been my afternoons gardening and of cause the daily walk around looking to see whats knew,
The ribes are in bud and the rhubarbs just showing through, most of the fruit trees in the orchard are again in bud and when we get a few warmer and sunny days im expecting the blossom to show, (now thats a really lovely site to see)
As far as flowers for the inside of the house we've plenty of verious daffs,
Im keeping the geraniums warm in the greenhouse and they're starting to show signs of growth and i should get a few cuttings of each plant in time for starting off the verious troughs and hanging baskets.
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Am going to go and attempt digging up my apple, which is in the wrong place. I need to bareroot it too, just to make sure that the horsetail in that bed doesn't travel with it. Wish me luck! :nowink:
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I put in my second early potatoes, a variety called Athlete. A blight resistant variety. Planted out savoy and round cabbages. I forked over the manure that has laid in my main crop potato bed. They will be going in in a week or two. Compost mulched around the rhubarb. Weeded and growmore'd the autumn sown broad beans.
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On Thursday I planted out my Mangetout (green and red) under bottles and cloches - they'd all been grown in rootrainers. Planted strawberries in my fruit cage, planted blackberry no 3 and pruned my redcurrants and blackcurrants. This pruning led to four branches that had been on the ground and taken root being replanted elsewhere. Huge fire made of my old fence which has been replaced.. Didn't burn myself this time but singed my hair instead!!
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Lovely weather here in Hampshire yesterday.
Turned over my potato bed sprinkled some fertiliser ready to plant in a couple of weeks.
Sowed some peas in a covered raised bed. Hope they aren't just food for the mice🙈🙈🙈
Cheers HH
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I double dug the border soil of my greenhouse incorporated a lot of well rotted manure and planted out San Marzano and Super Mamande tomatoes and a couple of Q's. Potted on PSB, Kale and celeriac. Sowed a couple of courgettes
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Serbie100,Good luck with the apple tree, sounds like a big job.
I've been making some seed tapes too, quite therapeutic.
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Just lovely weather yesterday for gardening.
Hoed over the broad bean plot and got three rows in.
In greenhouse, sowed some Golden Bantam sweetcorn, such a great crop last year from that variety.
Had to give the garden and especially the early potatoes a good watering, as no rain since last Wednesday.
Sowed outside, beetroot (Chioggia, Boltardy, Crosby Egyptian, Golden Detroit, Burpees Golden, Albina, Cylindra ), mixed radish, Chantenay red carrots, Purple top milan turnip and broccoli
Prepared the Brussels sprout beds and made a new mini fence, supports and covers for them.
Gave the potato plot another nemotode dessing and lightly dug in a load of compost.
Prepared the runner bean areas, ready for the last dressing of kitchen veg waste before the plants go in mid may.
Sowed a load of last years saved marigold in pots around the plot.
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Got down to the plot yesterday, quite a lot of damage from the winds last weekend, one shed totally collapsed, another complete, but on its roof, the only damage I had was 1 compost bin gone - nowhere to be seen on the site.
Still managed to give the plot a once over with the rotovator, Then managed to plant up all my potatoes, then it started raining.
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Serbie100,Good luck with the apple tree, sounds like a big job.
Thanks - it took just over an hour to do. Fingers crossed it won't die on me now. Planted up in a big bag with plenty of bonemeal for root development and a handful of growmore mixed in at the bottom. I can't stake the tree properly, so it's tied to my munty frame for some protection.
Next up, shifting the shed.
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Planted a row of Sharpes Express
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Planted out some Feltham First peas. Planted some strawberry plants in an old wheelbarrow. I'll have a crop off them and use the runners this year to replace the allotment plants in the autumn. Planted out purple milan top turnips, lettuce and raddichio. Sowed some golden beetroot and radish.
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Finished digging and covering the new middle section with some of my own produced compact. Very nice stuff it is too. Sowed a row of rainbow and boltardy mixed beetroot seeds, a row of red spring onions and my single line of brand beans. Back at home sowed some mixed courgettes and and patty pan, sweetcorn and some late toms. Nothing beats the site of seeds trays covering the window cills does it?
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Sowed seeds today: cauliflower, broccoli, leeks, fennel and mixed lettuces. This is my first attempt folks, so I'm unduly excited.
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Sowed D.F. Beans, C.F. Beans and Runner Beans. Started to spread compost on the row where the onion sets are to be planted out.
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Finished big potato bed after work and got the first earlies in. Planned out growing spaces for the year and watered some seeds in the polytunnel. Shallots also gone in. 😊
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got the metal work up for the polytunnel with the help of me dad...many profanities were whispered, shouted and hissed... going back tomorrow to do the door frames, I expect many profanities will be whispered, shouted and...erm, you know the rest
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Spent an hour at the plot this pm. Got the broad beans planted out. Got the potatoes in the PT weeded and earthed up.
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I think I forgot to mention that I planted out shallots and sowed basil. Today I sowed broccoli, more P.S. Broccoli, and fennel. Also continued preparing planting strips. Strips are easier for me rather than beds. Christine came and weeded the overwintering onions because I had tried and pulled a couple up, bad idea. She also made a list of the fruit trees that my retired farmer friend had bought and then realised that he didn't have 350acres any more but an old folks bungalow, so they came to me. Here's a list:
Pear Conference, Pear Concorde, Apple Gravenstein, Apple Superb, Plum Yellow Pershore, Plum?, Damson?, Damson Shropshire Prune
Plum Victoria?, Damson?, Plum?, Greengage?, Plum?
??, Apple Guilevic, Apple Vilberie, Apple Harry Mater's Jersey, Crab Apple John Downie, Apple Dabinett
7 Gooseberry bushes - serious risk of finding lots of babies methinks.
Lots of these we have never heard of so any advice would be gratefully received.
They are all bursting into life. The middle row, apart from the Victoria Plum are all 3 years old, all the rest are last years saplings.
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Sowed seeds today: cauliflower, broccoli, leeks, fennel and mixed lettuces. This is my first attempt folks, so I'm unduly excited.
Don't expect it to wear off, I get unduly excited about sowing seeds every year! And this year I'm extra excited because I have a new (well new to me) greenhouse coming next week!
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Filled in a space between two beds to increase planting area. Bit wet the ground though.
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Yesterday it was just doing a general tidy up. Started a bit slow this year due to the weather, not been to the plot much this year mainly because of the weather. Over the past couple of years I have had the plot our kids have shown little interest in coming with me so I have done all the work on my own. Our youngest daughter has shown a little interest, but this year she loves it. Yesterday for instance, after I weeded a small patch, she started to dig it over while I hoed around the onions and leeks. She kept saying how soft the soil was. Maybe that's because last year when I had any clear space I dug the plot constantly. Its quite heavy and I can see a difference in the soil from when I first got the plot, probably due to all the digging I do. We enjoyed it yesterday and we are planning to go back in the morning, as it looks like today will be another wash out, as its already raining. I know we have to get the plot ready as I have already started 100's of seeds of in the potting shed at home.
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Sounds like you have a plot partner to take with you now miggs. How lovely that your daughter is getting interested in growing as well. I'm sure you will have a lot of fun together :)
I'm working later on, but I'm going on a seedling inspection this morning. My greenhouse is filling up and on the quick dash past yesterday, I saw lots of little green shoots. Excited to fully explore it now :)
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today a quick trip to pick up my new key, as they are changing the locks, wet and windy.
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went down to drop off 500 l of B&Q VERVE mp, got the usual blanking from the allotment mafia/clique/cabal ???...potted up my one surviving(out of three) over wintered Bolivian Rainbow Chilli`s into an 11L airpot and popped it back into its temporary home ( the cold frame)...me old man informed me its looking like tuesday gonna be the day for tunnel skinnin`.Had a brew, effed off home...not really a good day.
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Continued preparing the beds, working the soil, bit of bonemeal in, tidying up, then came to the social club next to the allotment for a pint! 😊
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today was nice weather, so onions now planted.
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Two 4x5 meter beds dug and six rows of spuds planted in one of them.
Not a bad weekends work between us!!
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Since Friday hubby has rotovated 5 of 6 beds, I've put all the canes,netting,hoops away in the 2 sheds I tidied out, weeded in front of hubby rotovating. Dug out the gladioli that got left in. Few cups of tea, said hello to a few old faces & a few new ones.
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Had a weeks family holiday, so gave a general tidy up, and have dug in the last of compost. A bit of warmer weather to rotovate and then ready to plant!
Cheers
Aled
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Yesterday I planted some Bolthardy beetroot, seeds on homemade tape. I then did the same with marigold seed and planted out some Nasturtium plants I'd grown in root trainers.
Also popped another 3 strawberry plants in next to my Elsanta as they were given free! No idea what variety.
Checked on my Mangetout under bottles and cloches, they are doing quite nicely. My netting had fallen down so I'm glad I was there to put it back up and save them from rodents or pigeons.
Was hoping my Asparagus crowns would have arrived as I'm away until Sunday now. Probably a job for me on my return.
Did a good turn and gave away some top soil to an old friend who needed it. Gave them a rhubarb plant I'd accidentally dug up for the second time too! It's a late one so only just in bud, hence I keep missing them and digging them up!!
Watering all my seedlings indoors, hoping they will cope until Sunday.... perhaps my mother might water them.
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put out my pea plants under fleece, pricked out some onion seeds and leek seeds given to me by a friend. and also started some begonia tubers in the elec propagator
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Partially dug the trenching for the Polytunnel, laid the central path with 400mm pavers we salvaged from under the old polycarb cube, planted up a bag of Abbot (earlie`s?), gave the onions,garlic, shallots an un-enthusiastic hoe.Tommorow we put the skin on, not looking foward to it tbh, once the tunnels up, gonna give the garden a break for a few days...need to rest
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And on the saga goes...finished digging the trenches, got the visqeen over the frame and fastened to the lintls,got the cover partially trenched in and started the fixing to the door frames.Had a few head scratching moments over the pleating on both ends and tensioning the ends then i had the Eureka moment...no winds forcast tonight, weigh everything that isnt trenched in down with bricks, call it a day and nip for a couple on the way home.Back in the morning to finish the job (or it finishes me).
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Grafted Egremont russet, Queen cox, Pitmaston pineapple apples onto 1 year old MM106 root socks, fingers crossed. I still have another 4 varieties to do but Im waiting for the 2 year old root stocks to wake up.
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finished the tunnel, praise be, praise be.
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Finished planting onion sets. On to the potatoes next.
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I'm feeling rather proud of myself and wanted to tell people my good news.... today I am now the proud builder and owner of a pallet greenhouse (finally) ::)
It took 2 attempts, the 1st try was thwarted by the 70mph winds last month. However I hadn't put the plastic on then so I only lost my pride but not my greenhouse cover ;)
I have now finished installing the sides and roof and have started to put up shelving etc.
Isn't it fab to own a greenhouse :D
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Added mulched wood chips around the base of two apple saplings. Then took the rest of the load to my son's small garden and added it there.
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Planted out the last of my potatoes. Sowed Crown Prince pumpkin and placed in the incubator. Sowed dwarf beans that'll go out under cloche quite early in May. Potted on my tomatoes peppers and aubergines
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Watered seeds in polytunnel and not a lot more as it's gone cool out.
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Misplaced my fork and Canterbury hoe, I mean I couldn't remember where I had left them. I knew I had left the fork next to a job I was half way through, but I couldn't remember what job. Eventually I went to finish a job and lo and behold there it was. The Canterbury hoe should have been next to where I am preparing the planting strips but it wasn't with the other stuff. It will turn up but until then grrr.....
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I'm feeling rather proud of myself and wanted to tell people my good news.... today I am now the proud builder and owner of a pallet greenhouse (finally) ::)
It took 2 attempts, the 1st try was thwarted by the 70mph winds last month. However I hadn't put the plastic on then so I only lost my pride but not my greenhouse cover ;)
I have now finished installing the sides and roof and have started to put up shelving etc.
Isn't it fab to own a greenhouse :D
pics please
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I can't seem to upload from my phone.keeps saying it's too big a file!! ???
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Gave the new mantis a good thrashing today. Half the plot done and only used 1ltr of fuel.
The rest will hopefully get done tomorrow, and then it's time to start planting the spuds onions and peas. ;)
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Sowed beetroot in rows and some in greenhouse.
Topped up first earlies in bags and buckets.
Compost down and dug into maincrop plot in preparation for their sowing end of this month.
A good turn over of the runner bean rows with the recent garden waste.
Started a new season nematode bucket, with all the recent slugs and snails caught.
Emptied last seasons nematode bucket all over the maincrop plot.
First weeding of paths and their treatment.
Covered over with netting all the recent sowed carrot pots.
Today picked first rhubarb
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Grafted 2 more apple trees - King of the pippins and Sunset, made a complete hash of taping them up :( all fingers and thumbs today.
Weeded the raspberry bed, or at least tried to. Im going to have to relocate them this winter I need to be able to dig the bindweed out of the bed annually as it's starting to make a break for the rest of the garden. I was about to plant out the broad beans but stopped myself as I haven't done this years plan yet, you can bet if I'd put them in they'd have been in the wrong place ::)
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Planted out some black Tuscan kale and created a cover from the pigeons out of canes and debris netting. Also gave both plots a much needed mow.
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Harvested the last of my leeks. Had a really good crop this year. Had to give some away which was good to do. I prepared the freed up ground with manure and chicken pellets ready for purple sprouting to go in soon. Uncovered a couple of beers. forked over the manure and removed the perennial weeds that had started to shoot.
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Sorted a load of soil and used it to part fill a bed that I will grow root veg in. It's ready for topping up tomorrow.
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weeding digging weeding digging and more weeding and digging ....its never ending!, oh the joys of heavy soil.
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Uncovered a couple of beers.
Really? I must learn how to grow those :D
Picking PSB and weeding. Mostly.
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Rotovated!!My tomato plants are doing well.
Cheers
Aled
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Started planting potatoes and preparing canvas bags for sweet peas.
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Pigguns- I noticed the beers too! Unfortunately only the beds that got uncovered sadly.
Potted on celeriac, sowed dwarf beans carrots spring onions more lettuce and radish. I'm going to plant out my Bedfordshire Champion Onions grown from seed. I've only got a couple of dozen might be good enough to post a pic in the Onions grown from sed forum come the autumn
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I'm going to plant out my Bedfordshire Champion Onions grown from seed. I've only got a couple of dozen might be good enough to post a pic in the Onions grown from sed forum come the autumn
If they are grown from seed, then do post a pic. Its not a competition and we all enjoy comparing notes :)
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Finished filling the last bed up. All ready for planting now. Gave everything a water in and out, seeds in polytunnel doing ok.
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Chitted the potatoes.
Cheers
Aled
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5 x 10' rows of Hurst greenshaft peas have gone in this morning.
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Dug and weeded the second bed in the polytunnel... in what felt like a squillian degrees celsius.
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2nd rotovation done. Ready to plant.
Cheers
Aled
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Finished levelling top end and putting down paving slabs for a sitting area. All ready to plant & enjoy now.
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fitted tap to blue 45 gallon drum then dropped it and knocked the new tap out. grrrr.....
2nd attempt tomorrow.
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Sowed at home two raised beds with various lettuce, mini gem and iceberg and mixed leaves. Filled guttering with peas and broad beans.
Sowed courgettes, squash, cabbage, sweetcorn and sweetbaby tomatoes in pots.
Raised bed in front garden sowed nasturtum, echinea, and sweet william.
Potatoes ready for plot at weekend.
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All tomatoes, aubergines, chillies and peppers which have been in pots in the greenhouse growing on for the last month are now in their final positions in the greenhouse. All wrapped up nice and warm in fleece. Sowed some more baby carrots and planted out some more lettuce. I'll need to get up the lotty and earth up the potatoes before the end of the day. Maybe i'll uncover a beer- you never know :D
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Sowed my first sweetcorn this year. Lark F1 extra early. Plan is get them in the propagator and nurtured along in a really molly coddled way and harden off and get out as soon as I can. Second sowing early June. I hope to have an early crop and a late crop from Aug to October
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Started planting out sweetpeas, continued planting potatoes - there's an awful lot of them - and was given a big pile of grass clippings by the new neighbour.
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Put up my plastic house, planted strawberries and lettuce. Got some cucumber seedlings.
Cheers
Aled
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Too cold here to plant anything out but I now have all the beds rotavated and ready to go. The Greenhouse is bursting at the seams and the polytunnel is fairly full too.
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One of the bags of seed potatoes I bought turned out to be 3Kg instead of 1500gms so I am working my way through that lot. I think I may be giving some away. Pulled the first few radishes and the last leeks.
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Earthed up my first earlies that have just peeped through. This'll be a daily job this week I think. I've got some first earlies in bags against a southern facing wall, these are in full growth and quite lush about 18 inches high. they are covered in fleece and bubble wrap. I hope they'll be OK. Potted on crown prince pumpkin and cucumelon.
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didnt get down the plot, but harvested Rhubarb and cooked up a pot of stewed rhubarb to go with my tea.
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Almost finished putting up eBay greenhouse which has taken 2 solid weeks to renovate, but so worth it, very excited. Also made 2nd lid for 3 bay pallet compost heap. Getting there!
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Filled and lit my Paraffin heaters for the tunnels..... for the first time this year :ohmy:
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An hour and a half of weeding. A lot better.
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Oh blimey, I'm well behind. My potatoes are going in this evening!
Cheers
Aled
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In the last week I've planted my Asparagus crowns - that was a bigger job than I anticipated! Looks like I have been burying bodies! I've planted out Nasturtiums. Uncovered my mangetout yesterday - only to get snow today. Got a second lot of mangetout to plant out and some sweet peas but didn't get it done. Potted on cougette and winter squash. Nedd to sow the cucumber seeds I got free in kitchen garden magazine, and also the sugar snap peas that have arrived from Amazon.
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Planned on putting the sweet peas out, but just had a 'quick' hail storm, so won't bother today! ???
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Potted on cucumbers, courgettes, tomatoes, celeriac, lavender, all the brassicas in my new greenhouse. Sowed the delphiniums, tegetes, nastersiums and various other flowers, including some I collected but didn't label because I 'would definitely remember them'. Have to see what comes up! And cut asparagus- first 6 stems.
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Weeding this afternoon until I got snowed on!
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Potatoes are in!
Cheers
Aled
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Just earthing up my first earlies at the moment. My purple sprouting is coming to the end now so I'll soon be getting them out and preparing the ground for my celeriac. I need to clear out my cold frame, which currently has some rather large overwintered spring onions in it, ready for first planting out of french beans which are now about 7 inches tall. Busy day ahead
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French Beans! We have a severe weather warning in place until 16.00HRS on Friday for snow and freezing temperatures, that is Central Scotland although it probably applies for all of Scotland.
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Yes indeed. They'll go in the cold frame sometime next week. They'll do fine there. We've got 12+ during the day and 4-6 at night next week. If we have another arctic blast I'll have lost 48 Sprite seeds. No big deal. If not I'll be having a few early French beans.
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I went to the plot on Wednesday and in between hailstorms earthed up first and second early spuds that are just showing through. Then covered one row with a fleece tunnel and the others with netting to give some further protection. Glad I did, hard frost Wednesday night and this morning woke up to snow everywhere.
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Quick visit in between hail showers! Harvested some leeks and retreated to warm home.😊😊
Cheers HH
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Spuds all in. Another fruit bed weeded. OH rotovated 3 beds for me. Put onions from seed and sweet pea out to harden off.
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Starting, finally, to warm up so planted a dozen strawberries then sowed carrots, beetroot, couple more rows of parsnips and spring onions. Caned the tomatoes up and potted coriander on. Have a load more stuff to go in but forecasting rain for bank holiday!
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put in the support wire`s for the toms in the polytunnel, sowed spring onions and lettuce in modules, drilled hole in water butt to connect to blue barrel (drilled hole too big)... back down tomorrow to set up tunnel bench (my wife treated me to...58 quid :ohmy:), install sticky polytunnel gutters and seal the too big hole in the water butt with sealant
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Yes indeed. They'll go in the cold frame sometime next week. They'll do fine there. We've got 12+ during the day and 4-6 at night next week. If we have another arctic blast I'll have lost 48 Sprite seeds. No big deal. If not I'll be having a few early French beans.
My dwarf French beans went out today. They've been hardening off in the blow-away for a few days. Temps are nice and mild now and forecast to get warmer as the week goes on. I've given them a windbreak but they are hardy things. Think I will wait a few more days for my runner beans
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Yesterday, maincrop (Sarpo Mira, Rooster, Desiree, Maris Piper) all now in.
Topped up the first and second earlies.
First early Duke of York now to top of the bags and buckets.
Dug in a load more veg scraps ready for the runner beans later this month.
Good bit of weeding around the broad beans and on the paths.
Picked a load of slugs and snails around the garden and added to nemotode bucket.
Regular daily watering now each day now for potatoes and the greenhouse.
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just about to get in the car to go to the plot this morning, when my dad rings,, can you come over there is a water leak. 4 hours later and the pinhole leak in 2 pipes are fixed, but the free morning at the plot has gone.
Hah well at least my good deed is done for the day.
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Just catching up with the forum as I've been busy with other projects. Although, I have been doing 'stuff' in the veg garden too.
This is my first year at growing vegetables and it's all very new and exciting.
Most of my onion sets are showing green shoots. Likewise, most of my broad beans are poking out of the ground.
I have all sorts of seeds germinating under a cold frame... I transferred my leek seedlings into individual pots yesterday. What a fiddly job that was! And I'll have to do the same with lots of other seedlings over the next week or two. In future I shall sow all my seeds into individual pots and save myself the time and aggro.
Very much on a learning curve here!
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Maincrop in, 5 varieties this year, including my favourite Yukon golds. Still no sign of the Winstons planted on 30 March, reason for concern?
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First lot of maincrop onion sets in, piroska red and turbo white. Have jet set and Stuttgart (?) to add.
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Almost finished digging the whole plot over - at last!!!!
Potatoes are all up and earthed up. First three rows of seed grown onions are in, and the carrots are up.
Hoping to get parsnips sown this coming week.
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Today I potted up 53 tomato plants. Do I need treatment? ;)
I still have a few spares.
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Maincrop potatoes in (Picasso, Desiree and king Edward). More onion sets planted. Set some more pea seeds and French beans after a disappointing germination yield.
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All the spuds are now set. Onions and leeks from seed are hardening off. All the beds are now rotovated.
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Set more peas, beans and French beans as hardly any germinated. Sorted out the water butt and guttering on new eBay greenhouse. Finished tidying new eBay shed. Shredded up all bits of cut down shrubs and tree twigs lying about.
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Just got back from a few days away. I took all my potato bags out of the green house and put them by my warm wall. Hopefully thats the last of carting them back and forth. Watered all the tomatoes chillies etc in the green house. A busy week of evenings ahead I think with potings on and sowings.
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Sowed pumpkins, squashes, herbs, more lettuce and spring onions, potted on the tomatoes and sunflowers, earthed up the potatoes and weeded the garlic/shallot/onion bed.
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Had a blast at it over the weekend. Carrots, Radishes, Squashes, & Beetroot are in. Some tomato plants are in as well. To be done this evening after work: Runner beans, onions, cucumbers, and another batch of tomatoes. Nearly there! Also felt rather proud (I hate going high on ladders!) as I cleaned a pile of algae off the weatherboards, they now look sparking clean, and got a pile of logs ready for next winter. More to do this week.
Cheers
Aled
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Sowed my first climbing beans today. Enorma runners from seed I'd saved from last year and borlotti beans. Both in root trainers and hopefully will be out at the end of the month. Really seems like we're off now.
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Watered potato rows with nematodes and sowed parsnips in 14 toilet rolls.
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Sowed parsnips (Tender and True) and carrots (Red Elephant, Touchon, Jaune Obtuse de Doubs and Long Lisse de Meaux). Covered with enviromesh.
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Finished the veg patch last night. Brocoli, Onions, and Runner beans in. Cucumbers in the growing house, a few more tomatoes to go and let the summer begin.
Cheers
Aled
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Finally sowed the parsnips. If previous years are anything to go by, the ones that will germinate are the ones that were blown out of my hand by the wind.
Also sowed turnips, radish, beetroot, spring onions, fennel, spinach and mixed lettuce. Covered all the newly sown seed with canes and string as the foxes are becoming regular visitors to the plot. This morning's offering was the remains of a pigeon, just the wings, loads of feathers and some bones. Mr Fox had started to dig a hole in which to bury them, but apparently decided it wasn't worth it, and left a might excavation in the middle of one of the beds.
Tomorrow the strawberry bed is going to be weeded, fed and covered. Isn't it wonderful to be able to make a plan without having to add "If it doesn't rain!".
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Sowed more spinach and beetroot. Cut asparagus for dinner. First beans have stuck their heads through in their modules in the greenhouse. Bought mixed leaves as mini plants at sainsburys which I will plant out to get some early leaves as I forgot the early sowings. Also bought spring onion seeds as my carefully stored packet from last year was empty!
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I ran some string around my broad bean bed to support them if it gets windy. They have lots of flower so I'm looking forward to a good harvest soon. Took up the last of the spring onions from my cold frame and prepared the soil for my french beans that will be planted out at the weekend
As well as the spring onions I harvested rhubarb and more purple sprouting.
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All the tomatoes are in! Veg patch and Growing house are both full. So now the work of pastoral care begins. :)
Cheers
Aled
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Dug over area for potatoes and finally planted them. Late getting them in but been unwell so good to get to plot. Dug over large area with superficial weeds. Should get rest done on next visit. Small area which should have done last year has some rather large clumps of weeds. :( OH can tackle that!
Strawberry bed needs weeding and going to move some of strawberries to another patch so they have more room.
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Sowed a load more seeds (f1 gladiator) in the parsnip bed after a poor germination yield from first sowing.
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finally - while making sure my parents werent going to interrupt I got to the plot today - I had to take a day off to get a puncture fixed on the car, gave the remaining unplanted area a once over with the rotovator, went over a couple of beds, then planted up with my remaining onions and a bed of broad beans.
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Its all in, so gave a bit of extra nitrogen to some of the plants, it looks like some of them have had a bit of a shock since leaving their pots! All still alive though.
Cheers
Aled
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Half an hour weeding and a water of polytunnel plants. That'll do for a Friday evening.
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toms, cukes,peppers in greenhouse, flower baskets planted up going to leave them in greenhouse overnight .
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Planted out cauliflower and sprouts.
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I've been busy over the last few days. I planted out my parsnip seedlings (after finding out I should have sowed the seeds straight into the bed). So far, so good.
I then planted out my lettuce seedlings (after finding out I should have sowed the seeds straight into the bed). So far, so good. Two days later and they still haven't keeled over.
I also planted out my fennel seedlings because they were 'big enough to handle'.
Next I started moving my cabbage seedlings into individual pots - a chore I haven't finished... and wishing I'd used individual pots from the start. But, hey, it's a learning curve and I've learnt that particular lesson!
This morning when I went up to check my recently moved seedlings I also discovered two of my early potatoes are showing - so feeling very thrilled about that, since I've never grown a potato in my life!
:D
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Got a couple of tunnels ready for the brassicas, and planted the first caulis, cabbage and broccoli. Put in a few mixed lettuce plants, then covered them with string and a few canes with bags attached to keep off the birds. Weeded, fed and netted the strawberries. Forked around all of the onion plants, and then watered the peas, carrots, parsnips, turnips, radish and spring onions, plus rhubarb and fruit bushes.
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Brocooli, cabbage, kale, swiss chard, spinach and brussels sprouts all out in their final place now.
Sweet peas and peas outside too in ground and pots.
Nice half empty greenhouse ready for more sowing over next few days.
Last earth up of second early potatoes.
Remove many dead bluebells and daffs.
Extra hose watering as no rain here since last Monday, with this hot dry weekend, soil is feeling dry.
Today, is soak runner beans today, ready to sow in greenhouse, just time for them to be up and planted outside for mid June, Wickham Fair day!
Good weed of broad beans plot.
Picked some rhubarb and greenhouse grown lettuce.
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just a quick trip today, spent just over an hour strimming down the nettles grass and weeds on the paths and round the edges before they get to the point of seeding.
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Couple of hours with OH and son. I weeded superficial weeds on main area so almost done now. Still chard and spinach growing so will dig up and resow. OH dug and rotivated more overgrown patch!
Just strawberry bed to sort now. Hasn't taken long to catch up. Son planted garlic and red onions, so many things planted late as been ill but hopefully all will catch up.
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Sorry to hear you have been unwell chillimummy :( We are all running late this year due to the cold start to spring, but plants have a great talent for catching up.
If your garlic hasn't experienced any cool weather, it may fail to make cloves and just grow as a single bulb, like a mini onion. Its happened to me before, but actually the end result was still tasty and actually a lot less faff to prepare. I just wrapped any unused bits in cling film and kept them in the salad drawer of the fridge until I needed them again :)
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Recently sowed runners and borlottis are up and now removed to a bright spot indoors. I'll aim to harden these off and put out towards the end of the month. I've been carting things in and out of the green house to get them hardened off before putting up the Lotty (tomatoes, courgettes, pumpkins cucumbers cucumelon, peppers). First earlies up the Lotty are all through and these will need earthing up for the weekend as we could have a late frost, but I doubt it, better safe than sorry though.
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Sorry to hear you have been unwell chillimummy :( We are all running late this year due to the cold start to spring, but plants have a great talent for catching up.
If your garlic hasn't experienced any cool weather, it may fail to make cloves and just grow as a single bulb, like a mini onion. Its happened to me before, but actually the end result was still tasty and actually a lot less faff to prepare. I just wrapped any unused bits in cling film and kept them in the salad drawer of the fridge until I needed them again :)
Thankyou New shoot.
Did wonder about garlic and onions but thought that as I have them anyway then may as well give them a try :nowink:
Garlic sounds like I might get something. It's lovely to get back to plot and get started. :nowink:
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turned a small bed over, and started building a timber retaining wall.
only there about an hour as back is dodgy but will have another go tomorrow
mat
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Cut tube for hoops and so that I could cover brassicas with fleece to keep the pesky rabbits off them.
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Weeded, weeded, weeded!! I wish I could grow veg as well as I can weeds!!!! :wub:
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Sowed another two rows of peas, then covered them with scaffold netting to keep the birds and mice off them. Weeded carrots - or at least what carrots have germinated. They seem very patchy again this year, and I might have to sow more in the gaps. Dug up what seemed like a thousand dandelions, plus weeded other beds. Watered beans and first lot of peas. Planted some endive seedlings. Don't know whether to risk putting out the first two courgette plants yet, but I may do that next week. If it wasn't for weeds and pests this gardening lark would be a doddle!
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weeded, sat down, weeded, sat down, built a raised bed, sat down, stayed sat down and had a cuppa, then went home, was to hot :wacko:
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Started preparing a new bed for my carrot and beetroot seedlings as they're close to being ready to plant out and hoed the raised beds. Watered all my seedlings that are in the cold frame this morning because it was so hot and sunny - and then it rained this afternoon. :wacko:
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Potted on some calabrese, cabbage and flower seedlings, planted out some lettuces and spring onions. Dealt with the massive slug invasion :ohmy: :mad:
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Dug, weeded, dug, weeded, strimmed paths. Oh, I also planted out the 1st batch of main spuds, Picasso (pentland next). Also planted out approx. 20 sweetcorn. I will have to admit at being a bit slow with the plot this year. Not been down as often as I would like, mainly due to different family members being ill and running them back and forth to the hospital. For instance, our youngest daughter has just spent the last week in hospital with virul Meningitus.
I will make up for lost time as I have lots of stuff to go in over the next few weeks.
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Planted my cauliflower and cabbage seedlings into a raised bed, plus one broccoli seedling that was big enough to move from the cold frame (according to my gardening book).
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Sowed some sugar snap peas in a large pot for salad leaves.
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Potted leeks on and between weeding shifts sowed autumn king carrots.
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Potted on cauliflower seedling and squashes, put my tomato plants in the beds in the polytunnel and weeded everything!! Picked some rhubarb, fresh herbs and spring onions.
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Planted out some dwarf beans, celeriac and chard. Planted out a crown prince pumpkin under a cloche. Cut down my sorrel, that was flowering, to get some fresh new leaves ready for my first new potatoes in the next few weeks. Harvested rhubarb.
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First of my potato's have poked their heads through the soil. As have my carrots, radishes, and beetroot. Tomatoes and cucumbers looking good. We'll be eating lettuce next week.
Cheers
Aled
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Dug, weeded, dug, weeded, strimmed paths. Oh, I also planted out the 1st batch of main spuds, Picasso (pentland next). Also planted out approx. 20 sweetcorn. I will have to admit at being a bit slow with the plot this year. Not been down as often as I would like, mainly due to different family members being ill and running them back and forth to the hospital. For instance, our youngest daughter has just spent the last week in hospital with virul Meningitus.
I will make up for lost time as I have lots of stuff to go in over the next few weeks.
Oh no! I hope she recovers quickly with no ongoing ill effects. The plot becomes very unimportant when something like that happens doesn't it.
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I am 3 weeks behind due to a back injury but the plants on the windowsills are ready to go now.
Put in a water timer and checked all the drippers and they are good to go so will have the lot in now by Sunday.
Might be a late crop this year but never mind couldn't be helped.
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Sorry to hear that, Miggs - must be such a worry for you!
I planted out half my carrot seedlings yesterday because they were too crowded in their seed tray. They looked okay this morning, so I'm hoping I haven't been too premature in moving them. I might leave the rest in the tray for a few days to see how the first batch get on.
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Potted on 15 home grown tomatoes. Continued preparing ground for more brassicas. Still having trouble getting legumes to germinate.
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All plants in the garden appear to have pushed through, and are growing daily, we are getting there, I hope!
Cheers
Aled
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Finally got around to replacing the broken glass in the greenhouse so have started off a sulphur candle.
I don't usually but I am behind and not got time to clean it out as much as I usually do - want to get some plants in there tomorrow night.
Should all be in place some Sunday with any luck.
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After realising that I had been wrong to germinate my carrots in a seed tray, I sowed some more carrot seeds directly into the bed this afternoon.
I also planted out my beetroot seedlings today.
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All the potatoes are now showing good leaf so I gave them a feed this morning. While I was doing this I counted them, 85 Plants. One bag I bought was 3Kg not 1.5 as I thought. If each plant yields 1Kg we will not be running short.
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Had a couple of hours at the plot today and put in 12 tomato plants and 8 cabbage plants. Covered all with insect mesh, now to sit back and wait for them to grow :unsure:
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Started moving the compost around. We have been looking to buy a compost thermometer but we can't find one locally so it looks like Amazon.
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Planted dwarf French beans, borlotti beans, red Russian kale, stocks and sweetcorn. Then I spent more time erecting netting and barriers against one pest or another than it took to do all of the planting. I am fast approaching the stage where I go from thinking I've got loads of space on the plot, to wandering about trying to shoehorn just a few more plants in. I just can't bear to see them go to waste once I have grown them, and I'm sure that we all grow a few extra "just in case", don't we?
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My son and I planted out the courgette and giant pumpkin as they were getting far too big for their pots. They are all sat on big mounds of well rotted manure so fingers crossed they take to the big outdoors!!! Also weeded and weeded and weeded!!!!
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Checked my leek seedlings in the cold frame. They look fine, but they're taking a long time to reach 'pencil thickness' and I'm worried that they're no longer getting any nutrients from the potting compost.
Hoed the raised beds and earthed up the largest potato plants.
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Planted out 15 cabbage plants which are by far the best I have ever grown, sturdy, crisp and green. When I potted them on I put a little lime and Grow Sure Planting Mixture in the pot, it has certainly done the trick.
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Most of the plants poking trough and looking OK, beetroot not as prosperous as usual though. Eating our first lettuce.
Cheers
Aled
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Planted out 3 tomatoes and pulled a lettuce for tea and 2 lovely Durham Early cabbages. Thought that was the last of the tomatoes to go in, but found another 4 when I got home from the plot. Oh well! an excuse to go again later :D :)
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Transplanted my leeks today and sowed my herbs.
Need to weed a fair bit next two days before sowing parsnips, swede & sprouts.
Hopefully by Sunday all the major work will be done.
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Experimented with soaking pea seeds in water and chitting beans in tissues. Potted on green and purple broccoli.
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Checked my leek seedlings in the cold frame. They look fine, but they're taking a long time to reach 'pencil thickness' and I'm worried that they're no longer getting any nutrients from the potting compost.
So, I consulted with one of my experienced veggie gardener friends who thought I was probably right about the leeks no longer getting enough nutrients, so I did as she suggested and planted them out in a temporary bed to give them a chance to continue growing before I place them in their permanent spot... hope it works!
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My runner beans seem to be struggling any advice?
Cheers
Aled
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Hadn't managed to get to plot last week so fair bit of weeding to catch up today. Still catching up after being ill. Managed 3 hours of weeding and also trimmed edges which had really grown :(
Small patch left only to dig over and weed so one more visit then feeling in control again. :)
Strawberries bit weed ridden so tackled them too. Planted them too close together last year so after season finishes then will dig them up and move them where more space.
Plot looks tidy but bit bare at moment. Got peas and broad beans to put in but struggling with germination for squash, pumpkins and courgettes. Sweetcorn looking great.
Next visit will sow beetroot, turnip, swede, peas, spinach.
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My runner beans seem to be struggling any advice?
Cheers
Aled
How about netting around them to give some protection as the winds are still chiily in our neck of the woods
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Prepared a section in one of my raised beds and sowed some rocket seeds.
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Thanks offwego i'll try it.
Cheers
Aled
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Went to my other plot today. Haven't been able to get up there for couple weeks and oh my half plot covered in knee high weeds (mainly couch grass). Weeded potatoes and strawberries. Going back tomorrow
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Planted the last of the lettuce last night. Gave the plants some liquid feed, I hope it will make a difference.
Cheers
Aled
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Started moving overwintering plants out of the greenhouse and tried out the new toys that Christine has bought for me - two temperature probes, a short one for soil and a long one for compost.
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Went back to first plot and weeded and cut hedge. Still loads more to do.
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Planted out some flowers I got at a local plant sale, earthed up a row of potatoes which have shot ahead of the others, glared at the lacklustre carrots, watered lettuces and tomato seedlings, and played football with the dog.
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Just been to new plot and watered garlic, red onions and leeks as really dry.
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Growled at a mouse that has eaten the parsnip seedlings.
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Yesterday I got the hose sorted at last. It now reaches from the tap, conveniently at end of my plot, right up to the top of plot! And my big water drum is full for those times when others are using the tap. And I've bought another watering can, to replace the old holey one.
But still no joy yesterday with the strimmer - can't get the head off to put in new cord. And the plot has lots and lots of couch grass. Another threatening letter from the PC will be on its way soon.
But there is hope. This morning my neighbour suggested threading the new cord in and feeding it through the little holes from the inside. We tried, and , yes, success. So I now have a strimmer with cord. The motor is fine, it started very easily. The only doubt is will the cord just come out of its own when the head is revolving. Anyway it's a start - I'll take it to the plot either this evening when we get back from visit to old school friend, or tomorrow, weather permitting. And there's always the workshop bloke opposite the local garden centre - but he's probably got a waiting list of similar jobs.
I've got the bean poles in, and we're ready to start planting stuff out, now that May's nearly out. It'll be kale, runners, spinach , more lettuce, leeks and beetroot. And I'll probably have yet another go at French beans - they are so delicious. My efforts to grow these have been progressively less and less successful over the last half dozen years.
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Got loads to go into plot. Wish it would hurry up and rain so I can break soil up.
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spent a few hours this morning, planted 3 rows of french beans, and weeded between 6 rows of potatoes, tomorrow I need to get the strimmer up there and clear the paths again. (note Wneva, the thread on the head of most strimmers is a left hand thread - it turns the wrong way. I think I must take mine off 4 or 5 times a session to replace the cord, or unjam it
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Picked some weeds out of chard and carrots. Said hi to the radishes, rocket and lettuce which have all come up in the last two days. Repotted sage, rosemary and oregano, sunflowers. Noted with pleasure that the biggest tomato plant has its first flower!
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took the strimmer down this morning and cleared the paths.
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The leek seedlings which I transferred into a temporary bed to see if they'd improve seems to have worked and they're now beginning to thicken up.
Sowed more broccoli and cauliflower seeds into individual pots.
Decided to try again with French Beans. The last ones I sowed into small pots didn't germinate so I've sowed a few straight into a raised bed.
The rocket seeds I sowed a few days ago are already starting to germinate - despite the fact that a cat had walked across the seed bed the night after I sowed them and disturbed god knows what.
Feeling very happy with my new hobby today! :D
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Friday we planted the sweetcorn and squash outside, tomatoes, peppers, chilliest and cucumbers in the greenhouse.
Today we watered and then picked rhubarb for tea!
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Finished 3rd day of moving the greenhouse, all done now but very pooped
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Ok, so not today, but on Sunday, put up this year's bean support structure. Planted beans around it yesterday (1/3 Climbing French Bean 'Abundance', 1/3 Runner Bean 'Prizewinner', 1/3 Climbing French Bean 'Cosse Violette'). Then we had quite strong winds, so I hope the beans have survived that and the slugs/snails!
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That darling little mouse came back and 'enjoyed' 3 of the broad bean seeds that I had carefully chitted. These were a resowing of an earlier lot which I now realise may have been moused also.
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Dug some more, weeded a lot more. Strimmed all the paths and then planted out some San Mazarno Tom's.
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It finally rained 😄 managed to dig rest of plot so can get things in over the next few days now. Yippee
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Ok, so not today, but on Sunday, put up this year's bean support structure. Planted beans around it yesterday (1/3 Climbing French Bean 'Abundance', 1/3 Runner Bean 'Prizewinner', 1/3 Climbing French Bean 'Cosse Violette'). Then we had quite strong winds, so I hope the beans have survived that and the slugs/snails!
You've built a bean house! :ohmy:
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That's some set up for your beans, Godhelm!
Yesterday my husband hammered in some sturdy stakes around the perimeter of my broad bean plants so today I bought a big ball of twine and strung lines to keep the plants upright as they continue to grow. I would have posted a pic, but in view of Godhelm's amazing structure, I'll leave my novice efforts to your imagination! :blush:
Also did a bit of weeding and earthing up of some of the potato plants.
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Mulched the runner beans where the soil was drying out in the wind; weeded here and there; gave epsom salts to the tomatoes; tried that thing with an electric toothbrush where you vibrate the flower stalk to encourage it to drop its pollen don't look at me like that it was on the internet so it must be true... ; abandoned all pretence that the sweet peppers were ever going to germinate and so planted up their two containers, one with herbs and one with annuals; tried to work out where I could reasonably plant peas.
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After work, weeded out the beetroot and carrot beds, sowed more carrots into the gaps where some haven't grown. Got another area ready for a succession sow of autumn king this month. Sowed peas and gave them all a light watering in.
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Managed to get my plum and salad tomato plants in and my cabbages. Put blood fish and bone in soil and then got told the foxes might dig them up. Arrgh.
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Been busy recently, but I will give the patch the love and attention it deserves this weekend.
Cheers
Aled
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Popped down to plot and had a quick hoe. Those weeds seem to like the rain for sure.
Collected some raspberry canes for daughter as they were sprouting up amongst my lettuces, not sure they will like being moved at this time of year but they will just have to put up with it.
Hope my grass doesn't grow too fast I normally take my petrol lawn mower to the plot but my car has decided to die at present and I wouldn't get the mower in Mrs Hogs car. :ohmy:
Cheers HH
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Uncovered the brassicas which have been protected by fleece and was very pleased with them.
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Busy evening in the garden yesterday : separated cucumber and tomato seedlings into their bigger pots; put supports in for the two big tomatoes; sowed a new lot of salad leaves and radishes; planted some peas; weeded. In the non-edibles section: planted out two fuchsias, a willow and a hebe, sweet peas, asters and marigolds.
And built - after a fashion - a cold frame.
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Very productive couple of hours. Dug up last years spinach and chard which has gone to seed and weeded that area. General weeding of rest of bare plot and OH rotovated whole area as lot of soil was like concrete.
Got potatoes, red onions and garlic and now can catch up with rest of plot as soil is lovely and crumbly. :)
Tomorrow planting out broad beans, peas and sweetcorn. Sowing beetroot, more peas, turnip, fennel and spinach.
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Friday evening made wigwams and planted runner beans plants on one and sowed seed on the other. Also planted out pea plants. Need to sow some more. And watered everything as soil is so dry. Also sowed poached egg plant seeds. It's all coming along slowly and feel like I'm getting there now.
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Early today (10am) it was just a general tidy up with our youngest daughter. Digging, weeding and strimming the paths. We also transplanted approx 20 chilli into the plot, which we watered in along with watering the Tom's and Sweetcorn.
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Finally planted out my 16 sweet corn that came up out of 48 and 2 of my pumpkin plants. Weeded some of the potatoes. Watered some of my neighbours plot as he has gone on holiday and asked me to look after it for him, which is the least I can do as he did rotovate my plot for me. Both plot neighbours have been so helpful since I started there in March.
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Weeding, earthing up, and watering. The plot is looking pretty good, my potatoes especially so. Beetroot not as good as I hoped! Also had a look at my Father in Laws allotment, its looks immaculate, something to aim for!
Cheers
Aled
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Planted out my broad beans and the few peas that germinated! Sowed more peas and french beans.
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Took out my most of my garlic. It was heavily infected with rust and was not going to put on much so I cut my loses. Composted the ground added BFB planted out some beans and dusted with growmore. Harvested more broad beans. Planted out more pumpkin and cucumbers. Sowed more dwarf beans, runners. Potted on swedes ready to go out at the end of the month. Weeded (don't we all).
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Prepared another section of bed and sowed more carrot seeds. Hopefully these won't get trampled on by children or the neighbour's cat!
The broccoli and cauliflower seeds that I sowed at the end of May are beginning to germinate, but my second attempt at dwarf beans aren't showing any signs of life yet.
Every thing else is looking reasonably hunky dory although some of the cauliflowers are looking a bit sad - but since this is my first season I have nothing to compare my plants to!
It's all an exciting experiment really. :)
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Transplanted 20 leeks to their final growing place. Earlier than usual as I'm normally towards the end of the month. But they were becoming a bit pot bound.
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Planted the next batch of calabrese, winter cabbage and swede. I am once more attempting to stagger the sowing and planting to get a succession of crops instead of them all being ready together. If they all catch each other up this year I shan't bother next time. Put up another tunnel for the last batch of caulis, cabbages and broccoli. Put up a net all round the sweetcorn to protect it from whatever ate it last year. Watered all the stuff that was desperate and left the rest in the hope that we get some rain later.
Picked my first few strawberries, and dug up the first root of potatoes. The spuds are Swift, and I really only wanted to see what stage they are at, but there will be enough for a meal for my hubby.
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Given lots of sprout plants so planted all 20 of them! Too many? Put net over them. Made shelter for sweetcorn from perspex sheets ready to plant them tomorrow.
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Prepared another section of bed and sowed more carrot seeds. Hopefully these won't get trampled on by children or the neighbour's cat!
Talk about tempting fate... the bl**dy cat had a dig in my new bed! I know, I know... what was I thinking? The bed is now covered for the night with a fleece.
*sigh*
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Still had to water even though it rained yesterday soil is so dry. Weeding potatoes again as didn't finish last time. Still didn't finish this time either lol too busy chatting. Another plot neighbour gave me some chilli plants. Never grown them before so fingers crossed. Pumpkins were drooping but so much happier after I gave them a good drink.
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Tried to have a bonfire but failed, weeded the broad beans & potatoes & sowed everywhere else
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We have new neighbours, well actually John grew up in the house next door but one us. The large lawn hasn't been cut this year so all the clippings have come to me and I reckon there is about 3 cubic yards - hard work but I can certainly use it all. The biggest job is keeping the pile moving so that it does not turn into an'orrible mass.
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Tried to have a bonfire but failed, weeded the broad beans & potatoes & sowed everywhere else
Edit Swoed everywhere else😏
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Sowed row of beetroot, spinach, pak choi, turnip and swede. Watered them in but then heavy rain since .
Weeded around heavily nibbled PSB but few heads showing so may have very tiny crop!
One small bed left to weed ready for fennel and carrots so hoping rain doesn't mean weeds end up tripling in size by Sunday ::)
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Bought a roll of netting and covered vulnerable areas to deter the neighbour's cat.
Sowed more lettuce seeds. Sprayed the aphids on the broad beans with diluted washing-up liquid.
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Sowed sugar snap peas in a trough for salads and continued to use neighbour's grass clippings as mulch.
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I was just about to go to the plot and then the heaven's opened. It's almost black outside and the weather is awful, very wet indeed. Maybe tomorrow.
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7 hours planting all the brassicas,leeks,2doz sweetcorn, & the squashes. Mr S did some weeding for me😊
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What a marathon, Snowy! Tell me, can you stand upright today??
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Just about, I did sleep well,which makes a change. I wanted to get them all in before the forecast rain today. I've had to sew some of my debris netting in to a longer, narrower piece which I've just done, ready to cover the 2nd cage of brassicas, but now the rain has come so I won't get to put it on as I'd hoped this morning. But I won't complain as we need the rain & I did throw some enviromesh on top of the plants so they'll be alright
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Just got back home after a couple of hours work. Strimmed all the paths, weeded and hoed around the spuds and onions. Started to dig another area over ready for more plants to go in. The weather was turning a bit wet, so I went home.
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Quick trip this morning, sowed carrots, sweetcorn and some squash, visit was cut short, as the rain last night left it a bit claggy, so much so I broke the handle of my rake. after that I gave up and came home.
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As I am on afternoons this week, going to make the effort and get down to the plot before I go to work. I will be looking to sow at least Raddish and Spring onions over the next few days.
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Grubbed out about 6 m2 of ground elder from one bed, then realised I've nothing to put in it. :lol:
Potted on all the remaining tomatoes into their final pots - I've got between 1 and 4 plants of 7 varieties, so one of them has got to give fruit, right? One tomato (var. Shirley) has been put out to be the experimental subject for outdoor growing.
Planted out cucumbers into fish boxes (the ubiquitous Orkney gardening accessory) with cloches. Transplanted the pea seedlings and set up some string for them to climb up, planted out strawberries, and tidied the blowaway.
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Apart from getting wet I potted up the remaining 6 tomato plants because I felt sorry for them. That makes 16, should keep us going.
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Most of the crops planted are doing well, garden needs a good weeding tonight!
Cheers
Aled
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Pulled up loads of weeds and grass from the new side of the plot. My strimmer is broken at the moment so I am fighting a loosing battle!!
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Planted out my sweetcorn. Weeded and dug over a bed ready for yellow courgettes. 3 germinated but should be enough. :lol:
Weeded onions. Broad beans looking nibbled and small. :(
Planted 9 dahlias which were given to me.
Late planted desiree are finally peeping out of the soil. Rest of potatoes looking really healthy.
Butternut squash and courgettes hardening off now outside.
Calabrese, kale and red cabbage all germinating at home.
Burgess buttercup squash are finally developing leaves but so far only have 3 plants germinated out of 12 sown. Hopefully more will germinate. :unsure:
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Mr S had a bonfire & burnt the weeds for me, then he did bits & bobs of weeding & instructed me on how to do my tasks!! Meanwhile I sewed up the holes in the debris netting- not all of them 😄 Just the button hole type ones down the middle'seam' on the brassica cage. Then I cut down the canes on the 2nd brassica cage to lower the yellow hoops so the left over debris netting woukd cover it,put that on & pegged it down,removing the enviromesh I had chucked over on Sunday. Next I put down some brown cardboard around the fruiting strawberries & chucked over the enviromesh I'd removed from brassica cage no.2. Oh & got wet when it chucked it down & got very hot when the sun was blazing down🙄
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Went down to plot to show grandson the frogs and check on crops. There are flowers on the peas already which I wasn't expecting so soon. Everything is growing nicely. Was about to go when noticed some black dots in one of the potato leaves main crop, which I haven't grown before. Am really hoping it's not blight.
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Planted some dwarf French beans this evening. Then 30 mins weeding.
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Planted out 2 crown prince and 2 butternut squashes, sowed a row of beetroot and 2 rows of carrots too. Placed my new water butt by my shed and dug up some new potatoes and carrots for tea.
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Planted my 3 yellow courgettes and 5 butternut squash. Still waiting for my burgess buttercup to grow bigger/germinate!
Broad beans look terrible so put net tunnel over them and also peas which the few that have grown, nibbled lots.
Nothing else that I sowed over a week ago is germinating. :(
Plot looks bit bare, only thing looking healthy are potatoes, blackcurrants, strawberries and raspberries.
Something at least!
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Spent 4 hours yesterday weeding and earthing up potatoes. Can't wait for International Kidney to be ready.
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Weeded, weeded and weeded!! Noticed some of my broad beans are infested with blackfly... This is the first year I have grown them - will it affect the cropping?
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Strimmed all the paths. Weeded and hoed all over the plot. Sown 2 types of Lettuce, 2 types of spring onion and also a row of Italian Radish. A couple of hours work but worth it as the plot is starting to look quite good.
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A quick visit this morning, two half rows swede and cauli planted, a row of spring onions and a row of peas.
noted the need for the strimmer next weekend as the weeds are growing again.
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A good weeding session, also planted a load of pea plants. Productive evening.
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Late visit this evening to finish weeding last small bed. Feel on top of digging and weeding now though poor germination with crops sown and everything is being eaten!
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Quick trip early this morning to check germination. Turnips definitely showing but not much else germinating :(
Warm and sunny here so hoping that helps.
Weeded around red onions.
At home red cabbage, kale and calabrese are getting next leaves so hopefully covered in debris netting, they will survive. Sprouts are bit nibbled but growing well under their debris netting.
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Tidy up, a bonfire, weeding and sowed more carrot and beetroot seeds, carrot germination hit and miss might have to invest in some nematodes.
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Put the new anti bird netting on the gazebo fruit cage,what a fiddly job. Thankfully there was some leftover for the next netted area-strawberries. Soon the whole allotment will be netted
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Suckered tomatoes and peppers, side dressed everything with old, composted horse manure, picked strawberries, rhubarb and chives. Put out some slug bait around the berries and spuds. Staked up a yellow squash...hope to trellis most of my squash and pumpkins this year.
Hoed a few things trying to spring up in the wood chips...easy job, that. My most persistent weed of the season is volunteer tomatoes from the compost out of the chicken coop. They are simply everywhere!
Put up another Japanese beetle trap and emptied the other one for the chickens...they love those crunchy snacks.
Taters are starting to bloom.
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Some more hedge trimming, mowed the lawn and removed some of it which had somehow crept over the edging slabs of my pond, presumably to get a drink. :nowink:
Pulled out a few armfuls of hornwort (pond weed) and noticed an all-black goldfish I didn't know I'd got (strange as I started off with 5 all-orange goldfish about 15 years ago and now have orange and pale yellow ones as well as this hard to spot one - must have been there at least a couple of years as it's quite a decent size. :unsure:)
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I have four 12' rows of Kestrel, and four 12' rows of Desiree spuds which are all coming into flower so I fed them all with comfrey tea. Tied up and side shooted 15 of my thirty tomato plants, (I'll do the rest tomorrow). Was too hot to spend much more time in the greenhouse. All windows are open and I've even removed a couple of panes of glass at the end to get some air flowing. Sowed more salad.
Weeding onions tomorrow.
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Planted out 2 of the 3 trays of leeks that I bought from Wyevale on Monday for 10p a tray. They're a bit straggly but better than nothing.
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Planted out a few more cauliflower and broccoli seedlings which I'd sown to replace some failed seedlings.
Fed my young carrot and beetroot seedlings.
Did a bit of weeding and watering.
Removed damaged leaves on my parsnips.
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strimmed the plot, paths, between rows, took me 2 hours as the weeds have grown like - well weeds, due to all the rain.
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My tomatoes: Loads of leaves, very few flowers!
The rest of the garden has a lot of growth, but I don't know if I have the veg I hoped for!
Cucumbers now they are looking very good!
Cheers
Aled
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Earthed up my beautiful looking fennel plants after reading in my Gardening & Herb Expert book that I should have been earthing them up. I just hope I haven't messed up too badly. :blush:
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Yesterday evening planted out 2 cucumbers, 3 squash, 3 sunflowers and some marigolds and calendula. Weeded the onions, leeks and garlic. Cut the comfrey and put between rows of main crop potatoes. A very productive 3 hours and that includes chatting to another plot holder for an hour.
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I planted out the last of my leeks. These had done really well. I sowed them into a tray and then planted them out into a bed about 6 weeks ago before transplanting to their final position, hoping that they wouldn't be too tangled and get damaged in the process and so grow away quickly to make fine large leeks. Fingers crossed but they look good at the moment.
The purple sprouting has grown really well and I changed its cage so that it does not bend over. Harvested first half of the shallots. Harvested potatoes and first cut of chard.
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Weeded around my onions. Picked my first crop of strawberries and some were huge and yummy.
Planted another butternut squash so have 5 in now. They germinated well. Planted my burgess buttercup squash, one out of 15 sown though didn't actually want 15, had to make two sowings! Really disappointed. Big gap in plot where they were to go.
No germination from spinach, peas, beans, beetroot and pak choi so another gap there :(
Will sow most at home hoping for something to plant!
Red cabbage outside hardening off for planting at next visit.
Weeded between sweetcorn which are looking bit straggly. Need more sun :D
Trimmed grass around compost bin and around strawberries. At end of season will be moving strawberries as too close together so full of weeds and hard to manage. Compost bins dropping to bits too so needs sorting out.
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Big blinkin puddle on the patch now!.
Cheers
Aled
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weeded about 1/3 of the plot and filled a compost dalek, another third next week I think.
picked 2 punnets of raspberries in the garden.
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Harvested some new spuds, beetroot, peas and garlic. Replaced garlic with a couple of rows of balotti beans.
Hopefully they will germinate better than my last sowing!!
Cheers HH
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2 hours of weeding and 5 wheelbarrows full. Compost bin full to top now. Fed the tomato plants and cucumbers which look sorry for themselves (the cucumbers not the tomato plants). Put up another wigwam with runner beans. That's 3 wigwams now. Picked some lovely raspberries. Another plot holder gave me some potatoes as mine are only just about to flower. Said hello to the frogs in the pond. A good day all in all 😄
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Did some weeding, lightly pruned goosegobs and red currants. Chopped down a load of nettles at back of plot that were shielding hawthorn whips from the sun. Legs still buzzing from stings! Continued cutting and sewing some not needed enviromesh into 'sleeves' to slide over cherry tree branches to keep off the pigeons. Looks like I might get a decent crop this year. Yum.
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Weeded area for brassicas and planted and netted 2 rows of kalibos red cabbage and 2 rows of calabrese.
Have just 2 greyhound cabbage as that's all that germinated but another plot holder offered me some cabbage plants so will be planting them tomorrow.
Sowed at home in pots 2 different types of dwarf yellow beans as nothing from direct sown ones at plot. Hopefully not too late. Given up with peas this year.
Also sowed some white beetroot in pots at home as nothing from those either at plot!
Planted my one pumpkin in the space where slugs had eaten a butternut squash but left the others ???
Will sow some chard and carrots and more turnips and swede tomorrow.
Lots more strawberries to pick.
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Planted half my leek seedlings into their permanent positions a couple of days ago and then ran out of time. It's been a bit wet, so I haven't planted out the remainder yet.
Pinched out the tops of my broad beans. They look great and some of the pods are ready to harvest, so I'll be eating my very first home-grown broad beans this weekend. :D
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Planted out the 20 cabbage plants given to me and netted under tunnel. Sowed more turnip seeds in gaps
where no germination. Plenty of slug pellets :D
Started to weed empty area where nothing germinated ready hopefully for beetroot and french bean seeds sown at home.
Next visit will sow chard and carrots at plot. Sowing pak choi and swede at home to try and avoid slug attacks.
Plot still bit empty but brassica bed full now so improving.
Gap where slug eaten courgettes and burgess squash would have gone will have fennel and kale which have germinated at home and pak choi. Have salvaged plastic raised bed for carrots.
Picked more strawberries.
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Short visit today but sowed beetroot, turnip and swede. Noticed big flower on pumpkin plant woohoo. Need to weed again next visit and put kale plants in
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After two weeks away, two shifts of weeding!! Last leek bed in preparation for the plants in pots.
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Ate a few strawberries, stared at empty patch of ground thinking 'I'm sure there were lettuce seedlings there yesterday...'...... Blooming slugs! Not a sign today!
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After six days digging and weeding a nice section of my new plot, I prepared the ground as best as I know for an amature and planted some spring cabbage, savoy cabbage, a pumpkin, brussel sprouts and a squash.
What will be will be, but it was so rewarding to see a decent patch of my plot up and running. I feel good!
:)
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Quick visit to pick strawberries. Another squash reduced to a stalk. >:( Slug pellets did not really work there!
Everything else alright :)
Sprouts are pushing at the net so needs raising up.
At home french beans all germinated and are growing well. Next visit will weed area ready for them and the beetroot which all germinated at home. Think next year will avoid sowing anything directly but still need to stop them being eaten :D.
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Watering polytunnel, some weeding and a little bonfire to clear some scrap wood away to make space for last batch of potted leeks to go in.
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Did some weeding and removed some to ripe radishes. Seems like I have some turnip seeds mixed with my radishes!
Also dug up and ate my first potatoes.
Cheers
Aled
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Gave my beetroots, carrots, cauliflowers and broccoli a feed last evening. Put down fresh slug pellets around all the brassicas and salad leaves as the lower leaves were showing signs of slug damage. Picked off a few more infested leaves on my parsnips. Still haven't found time to plant out the rest of my leeks, so hope they'll be okay until next week.
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Weeded, weeded, weeded... And fed the blueberries.
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Today I sowed some more beetroot and chard, spring onions, carrots (a last ditch attempt to get some carrots this year - the slugs have eaten all my earlier seedlings >:() and dwarf French beans (the climbing ones are not doing as well as usual >: :(). Fed the courgettes and pumpkins/squash.
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saw the forceast for hot, so 7am I was down the plot weeding for a couple of hours in the relative cool.
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Harvested the last potato plants in one row then dug over said row, raked in some bfb and planted out my kale, then put netting over. Took up the fleece covering my summer cabbages as it had ripped (like tissue paper) and the White butterflies were dancing around them. Weeded cabbages and put new fleece over. Hope this one lasts. Watered beetroot, turnip and swede seeds. Weeded sweet corn and put some bfb on soil as leaves are going red (never had this before). Then walked home in the scorching heat.
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Dug over area for french beans and planted out my yellow french beans. Only six but have another six of tepee yellow beans almost ready to go out. Sown direct a month ago and had all been eaten but these were only sown a week ago and are good size already. :)
Watered sweetcorn. Bit of weeding.
Cabbage planted a week ago, some have been eaten but still about half left, planted 20 so not too bad. Calabrese, sprouts and red cabbage are surviving :)
Squash are starting to grow more with bit of sunshine but still small. Doubting if will get a crop.
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My squash are really small - so gave them a bit of comfrey feed and I'm hoping they'll start romping away soon.
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Hard work weeding among the raspberry canes, today. Bath needed now, after this cuppa, to ease my back ::)
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Some swoeing, sowing, weeding,harvesting, some chatting & lunching😄. Sowed spring onions x4 rows,2x Florence fennel,7x carrots with a few radish added to mark the rows. Just clearing up & had a text from DD to say she was on her way with lunch. Lovely doorstep bacon butty with salad & avocado & a coffee. Got some new plot neighbours, well next door & back one. Not sure whether it is councils fault or new tenants, but the plot was left immaculate but is now shoulder height in weeds,they did say they had both been unwell & had had a letter from the council about getting it cleared. So they were strimming it today. Looks better already
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Dug, dug, dug and dug some more. Weeded around spuds, sweetcorn, beetroot and tom's. Strimmed all the paths, took rubbish to the tip, unlike some other plot holders who just seem to dump the rubbish in the small wooded area outside all the plots. Going to Llandudno on Saturday so next trip will be Sunday now.
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Friday, 29th July
Quick visit to water tomatoes in greenhouse. Picked dwarf French beans, peas and new potatoes for the week-end. Found the First CUCUMBER!! Now know that I do not have any squash on either plot except perhaps the one which is in a large pot on plot 2 which I put in there as my final insurance. Strange to know that the slugs do not enjoy the cucumber plants as much as the squash and courgette!
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After a little rain the ground was just about soft enough to get a fork in to lift some potatoes for the weekend. Picked some beans green, purple French and runners, yellow Mandan squash, 2 pattypans and a bowl of mixed tomatoes from the greenhouse at home.
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I've been busy doing as much damage limitation as possible on my poor brassicas which have suffered attacks variously from caterpillars to mealy aphids. Diluted washing-up liquid seems to be a great resource.
And, on the upside I harvested my first fennel bulb today... see the Harvest thread. :)
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Rain blinking rain! So not done much I'm afraid.
Cheers
Aled
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Rain blinking rain! So not done much I'm afraid.
The rain was good. I managed to weed loads today as the ground had softened up and I finally planted out my modules of beetroot, khol rabi, fennel, spring onions and mini leeks. I have no idea if I will get a harvest now, but the plants were there ready, so nothing to lose really :)
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Weeding and more weeding...
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5 hours of weeding, plus an hour or two from hubby. All looking much better now ready for my visitors tomorrow 😄 And tidy to boot,amazing how having visitors inspires you to clear up those neglected corners
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dug 3 rows of potatoes, that yielded a good half a sack, 6 more rows to go...
picked a few of the onions that were threatening to go to seed, filled a bucket with broad beans, and half filled another with french beans.
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Dug up the potatoes which looked like they might be succumbing to blight yesterday and left the rest in the bed as I don't think I'll be able to successfully store them. The ones I dug up looked great so I gave a bagful to friends last night. :)
Dug down and found a clump of grubs that have been eating my cauliflower roots. >:( I've dumped the grubs up in the woods behind my house and hope this means I've rescued my broccoli from the onslaught.
This morning I picked the rest of my broad beans - all now podded, bagged up and in the freezer. I cut the broad bean stems up for compost, but have left the rest of the plants in the bed because heard mention that the roots are putting nitrogen back in the soil. I'm willing to be corrected on this!!
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Examined all the leaves on my last three broccoli plants and removed quite a few butterfly eggs and mealy aphids. I'm determined to get at least one plant good enough to harvest!
Of my last two cauliflowers - I think one will have to go as the head is no longer tight. The other one has a small head which still looks okay - but it's only golf ball sized, so there's a way to go yet.
On an encouraging note, some of my cabbages are looking good. :D
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Nothing today, had a day out is Shrewsbury with wife and kids. Very nice place, not been for a while and now need to go back as we didn't get around to see as we should have.
Tomorrow, I will be at the plot, digging and weeding. Will have a look at the spuds as they are starting to fall over. I might just dig up a row to see what's happening. I have approx 8 rows so one row won't be missed. I will also have to stake up the sweetcorn and tom's as they are getting big now.
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Bindweed - enough said :mad:
Started hacking back the old raspberry canes and tied up the new growth on the apple trees. There doesn't appear to be a lot to do this year :wub: :unsure:
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Weeds - aargh, spent 2 hours just picking a bucket of broad beans and another of French, dug a row and a half of potatoes (another 1/2 bag), no time to weed, except as I dug up potatoes, broad beans were pulled up, and not going to get to the plot next weekend, so strimmer will be needed the week after.
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Just got back after a couple of hours down at the plot. Staked the Sweetcorn that was leaning over a bit. Dug area's over, weeded as I dug up a row of spuds. Only dug them to see what they are like. I think they will be a lot better in another month or so. Strimmed all the paths.
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Gave it a good weeding, it also needed water for the first time in a while.
Cheers
Aled
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Watered - again! We've had no rain for 18 days now and it is super hot :( picked some more courgettes, runners, sweetcorn and blackberries while trying to ignore the weeds
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My last cauliflower has bolted, so dug it up in disgust. >:(
I shan't bother with cauliflower next year - too much effort for zero reward.
On a happier note, I've pulled up some of my onions and now leaving them to dry. I cut off the tops - but now thinking that I was probably supposed to leave them on to dry out. Have I messed up?
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Weeded, watered and harvested :) in the sun 8)
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Picked and ate first outdoor cucumber (Marketmore). Picked ripe toms and harvested more Charlotte spuds. Purple Milan turnips are bolting fast. All shallots and onions are harvested, dried and stored. Picked French, runner and pea beans - they have been incredibly productive this year. Giving loads away to neighbours.
Covered rubbish heap with tarp as a storm is forecast down the South Coast this weekend. I want dry stuff for the first September bonfire.
Overall, it's been a tough year. Tomato blight was the biggest disappointment.
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More weeding and watering plus resorted to Roundup gel in an attempt to control the bindweed a bit.
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After a day pouring rain, it's now brightened up so put a load of slug pellets down!
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Strimmed all the paths. Weeded the beds. Staked up some more Sweetcorn and Toms. Planted out lots Red Cabbage, Sprouts and Turnips.
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Went with grandson to plot for couple of hours. Harvested some potatoes, cabbage, runner beans, found an onion I had missed. Also weeded.
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Not been to plot for 3 weeks after hols and work so was bit worried about state of it. :ohmy:
Pleasantly surprised and relieved at how much everything has grown as plot was looking bit empty before hols and weeds wlll only take a few trips to get under control.
Pulled up half of my red onions and dug over area. Next visit will get the rest.
Picked some broad beans but poor crop.
Butternut squash have gone mad :D
All brassicas looking great and after initial slug damage are growing well and fennel planted 3 weeks ago is looking very healthy.
French beans have flowers but don't think will have great crop.
Turnips sown before hols are all growing really well and whole row are up.
Dahlias are full of flowers too.
Sweetcorn looking bit scrawny before hols but lots of big cobs now so think ready to start picking :)
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Dug up spent lettuces and had to clear away more caterpillars on my broccoli - goodness knows if I'll actually end up with any edible broccoli! At least I now know what happens if you don't net brassicas. ::)
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Weeded several beds. Harvested some beetroot and yet more runner beans.
Checked the French beans fingers crossed they are close to harvest too slugs etc willing!!
Cheers HH
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Butternut squash have gone mad (as others have said) and I have cut the plant around my beetroot and carrots. Harvested the last of my potatoes, plenty of runner beans.
Cheers
Aled
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3 hours on Sunday, strimmed all the paths, harvested the last french beans and pulled up the plants, finished digging the potatoes (a whole sackfull more now), and then came home exhausted.
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Some weeding between beds and a tidy up bonfire.
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Dug up rest of red onion crop and weeded area.
Next visit am going to dig up and move strawberries so started weeding where they are to go.
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Finished weeding area to move strawberries to. Have 4 very overgrown blackcurrant bushes full of blackberries, raspberries and weeds!
Started cutting them back ready to dig up at the weekend. Moving 2 but will give away the other 2.
Going to move strawberries and weed that area at weekend and use for keeping manure then use to plant my pumpkins and squash.
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Started digging up marshmello strawberries and moved to another bed. Area so overgrown so weeded as went along!
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Dressed a batch of ripened onions off ready for storing in the shed. Warm and muggy so lots of midges about.
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Weeded a bit, harvested and watered. As feared, the warm humidity this week has turned out to be blight-tastic. 2 of my tomato plants at home now have black spots on their leaves... :(
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Finished moving marshmello strawberries so new bed now full. Carried on weeding old strawberry bed and will probably compost rest as they were given to me last year and didn't taste great.
Dug up some more charlotte potatoes and my first desiree. Chopped back bit more of my blackcurrant bushes.
Picked some raspberries.
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Dug up my first row of main crop Cara potatoes. Really pleased with the size of them. 3 more rows to dig up so we should be ok for jacket potatoes for a while 😀
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Delivered myself 32 flagstones sourced from freecycle to use as steps and paths.
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Spent a couple of hours down at the plot this morning. Dug up the first batch of spuds, bit on the small side but we should be ok for spuds for months to come. Still got another patch to dig up, leave them for a few more weeks yet. Plenty of digging, getting ready for next year then strimmed path's etc while the weather is good.
The list of seeds from the Suttons catalogue is getting bigger by the hour.
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After a weeks holiday I went & surveyed the weeds that have gone ballistic. Dug up the last of the Ambo spuds,quite a good crop, harvested some giant beetroot & radishes, a mooli, lots of green & yellow & purple French, runner beans. A few blackberries,raspberries & strawberries & of course a glut of rather large courgettes. I also removed the spent English marigolds, I worried about removing them before they'd all scattered their seeds, but I needn't have as when I pulled them out hundreds of seeds scattered everywhere, so plenty of bee food for next year. I removed the old bean & pea haulms that I'd left in for a few weeks, then swoed that bed & the old onion bed. Then on to hand weed the leek bed, filling the wheelbarrow high with them to be taken down for Dave's chickens to feast on. Time for home & a well earned shower & a beer
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Weather here has been awful for over a week... lots of rain and strong winds. My broccoli keeps keeling over and I keep straightening up the plants and firming down the soil around them... over and over again. It will be a minor miracle if I ever get to harvest any.
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Just about to go down the plot before work. Won't be doing anything other than dropping off 3 Rhubarb plants that I got from the mother in law. They used to have them in big pots but didn't want them anymore, so now they are mine. At the moment I only have the Rhubarb and 1 off Blackcurrent plant. Think I will have to get some Raspberry plants in now. Anyone with some recommendations would be very helpful.
Thanks.
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Think I will have to get some Raspberry plants in now. Anyone with some recommendations would be very helpful.
Thanks.
I've got Autumn Bliss and they are lovely, but they do take a bit of room. I'm in the process of replacing them with Polka, which are the new improved version according to DT Brown. They are new canes so I've only had a few fruits, but they are very good :)
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Carried on weeding my overgrown strawberry bed but should have gone this morning :ohmy:
So hot this afternoon. Having cool down at home then back soon to carry on.
Picked and ate lots of raspberries :)
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Think I will have to get some Raspberry plants in now. Anyone with some recommendations would be very helpful.
Thanks.
I've got Autumn Bliss and they are lovely, but they do take a bit of room. I'm in the process of replacing them with Polka, which are the new improved version according to DT Brown. They are new canes so I've only had a few fruits, but they are very good :)
How much room are we talking about, going to the plot now to prepare an area.
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Just got back home after preparing the area for the Rhubarb to go into in the morning. Dug over another area of heavy soil, added a lot of compost, will dig it in sometime on Sunday. Strimmed some of the paths upto when the battery went flat. Will strim the rest on Sunday.
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Weeded the parsnips,mooli. Cut the comfrey & loaded it into the barrel for fertiliser. Lots more weeding of various ethnic weeds that were sticking up with flower heads on.
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Another couple of hours at the plot today. Dug in a lot of compost and then planted 3 crowns of Rhubarb. Thinned out a lot of Cabbage, hoed and dug over lots of ground. Strimmed all the paths before I left.
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More weeding
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Finally finished weeding and clearing my strawberry bed. Now have moved all my plants and have clear area to keep manure.
OH dug up my blackcurrant bushes which were full of weeds and brambles. Gave 2 of them to another plot holder and have 3 left. Will probably just keep 2 and get rid of another. Moving them next to rhubarb.
Now have large square area clear to divide into 4 beds for crop rotation. Stawberries are now in long narrow bed.
Have had plot for 4 years and finally have everything planned as I want it though been hard going :)
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Butternut squash is now taking over! However it is not producing fruit.
Beetroot and onions left to harvest.
Cheers
Aled
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Cleared and dug over the bed where I grew broad beans and planted some kale and cabbage seedlings in it. Still more tidying and digging to do in other beds. The weather here is wet and windy, so I've been neglecting things a bit lately.
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Morning All
I was up last night,in the gloom. The runner beans{firestorm} were late to get going due
to a really driecht june and july, but are cropping massively now. All I have left in this
garden are leeks, swede, carrots and parsnip. I'll be moving into a field next door over
the winter, so big job coming up.
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Managed a whole afternoon up at the allotment yesterday, got all of the Cara maincrop dug up and it's a great crop this year, should last us well into the new year. Got my incinerator going and burned all of the scrap wood and blighted tomatoes. Also mowed the grass and dug over a 4m x 4m patch and put in my spring cabbages and cauliflower. Weeded a couple of beds and had a tidy up. Feel like I got somewhere yesterday but still loads to do.
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I was going to take down my tomato plants and plastic growing house, but after a careful look, it turns out I may get a few more tomatoes and cucumbers before September is out.
Cheers
Aled
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Binned the outdoor crimson crush which were definitely going over with blight :mad: . 4 Plants, 1 ripe tomato this year :( some reasonable sized green ones so their in the GH hopefully to ripen. Note to self - don't bother next year.
Removed the old fruited raspberry canes, what's left will be thinned and moved when I have their new bed dug. :blush:
Swapped the wooden trellis for post and wires to support the apple trees, it's not pretty :( but there should be less places for the nasties to hide, weeded under them for the same reason.
Stacked the rubbish in a pile to be burnt.
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Dug up my potatoes and dug over and weeded and now just a row left now of desiree to dig up next visit. Lots of them mushy and badly eaten by slugs. Nowhere near as many as last year.
Started digging over where blackcurrants were. Ended up giving all my blackcurrant away on freecycle apart from one.
Have large bonfire now ready to burn after have pruned raspberries which are nearly done. Plot starting to look under control now, pulled up broad beans so need to dig over there next and pick lots of french beans which have gone mad.
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Cleaned out the garden, removing all the old vines and weeds that grew after most things were harvested, collected other things still growing in the weeds and took all the garden debris to the chicken coops for composting. Took mother and I 6 hrs of working steady to clear out this garden today.
Before the clean out...
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/20173050/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/20173040/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/20173031/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
And after....
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/20173228/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
The chickens helped!
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/20173162/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/20173159/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/20173101/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
Took 15 of these out of that space....
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/20173173/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
And placed them in here, where they will compost all winter long....
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/20173193/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/20173205/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
Got a couple of buckets of really ugly spuds out of there, some peppers, squash of various kinds, pumpkins and a few small watermelon. Any tomatoes left on the vines were left on them and placed in the coop.
A few pics of some, but not all, of the things found in the end of season garden today....some were fed to the chickens and dogs today and didn't make it to the pics and some are still in buckets and baskets in the garden.
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/20173060/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/20173061/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
(http://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/20173075/width/700/height/700/flags/LL)
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My garden and plastic houses look in a very bad way. I'm going to tidy it all up this weekend. A fortnight earlier than usual this year. The time to batten down the hatches until spring!
Cheers
Aled
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Cleared all the remaining tomato plants and piled up ready to burn as they have blight.
Harvested the saved seed pods from the runner beans and composted the plants
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Planted the garlic I bought last week at Harlow Carr & some winter onion sets that my friend H had left over, B is supposed to be giving me some red sets too. Weeded the carrots, the radish I had sowed to mark the rows were pulled out. Took some effort they were monstrous, never seen them like that before, not edible but had not gone to seed, most odd.
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Planted some winter lettuce in the polytunnel and sowed some winter hardy spring onions next to them.
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Having managed to clear enough space I moved some strawberries from home to the plot.
First things planted😃
MBM
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Move perennials, transplanted some strawberries, built a cold frame and moved composted horse and cow manure to fill it, then a layer of old straw, then a top layer of potting soil. Need to put some hoops over it and plant it next.
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Chopped back most of my tomatoes, just a few plants left now with tomatoes just needing to ripen fully and some small cucumbers on two plants which am hoping will grow.
Done really well with tomatoes eventually with the sunshine.
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Took down all the plastic growing houses. They are now in the garage ready for winter. I've got some beetroot and butternut squash left to harvest before i'll dig the patch over and manure. Cleaned up outside.
Winter is on the way, lets hope for some proper cold dry winter weather rather than warm and wet!
Cheers
Aled
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Sprayed my Brussels sprouts with diluted washing up liquid to deter the whitefly.
Grabbed some beetroot and collected garlic and onions from shed.
Realised I have a lot of work to do to tidy up for winter😱😱
Cheers HH
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Repairing structures as well as clearing and tidying away things before the winter.
Weeding
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Finally made a couple of hours to spend in the garden on tier 3 :)
Weeded around the apple trees.
Cut back the last of the asparagus, weeded and dug over the bed they were covering.
Weeded the asparagus bed itself.
Weeded around the blueberry bushes.
Weeded and dug over the tomato bed; so many bindweed roots :(
I've not done much weeding this year and it really shows, I expect I'll be suffering for it next year too when all the seeds germinate. :mad:
My 'to-do' list looks far more manageable now and most if it needs to be done when the plants have gone dormant. Needless to say things look at better now too :nowink:
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Managed couple of hours at plot in the sunshine. Dug up and weeded area of my last row of desiree potatoes Some were slug damaged but eventually got reasonable amount.
Dug over last bit where my blackcurrant bushes had been and now large area dug over and looking better.
Have large bonfire to burn of weeds, rasperries and potatoe and foliage.
Haven't managed to get to plot much last few months but each time I go, manage to get a lot done so happy at plot looking ok.
Pulled up green beans so that is next bit to dig over and weed ready for my autumn red onions and garlic.
Picked some turnip with no slug holes :) and fennel and my first cabbage finally.
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Harvested the beetroot, and the last of the onions.
Cheers
Aled
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Rearranging cattle panel trellises today to make a hoop house/field house for growing winter greens. Beets and turnips are up, will be using those tops for salads this winter if they grow well.
Carrots are up, but the romaine is dragging behind.
Still have strawberries coming on, as well as a few green and jalapeno peppers. Haven't had a hard frost yet this year, so I guess things will hang on until then.
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Not been able to get to the for a month since I hurt my back at work. Spent a few hours at the plot yesterday and got quite a surprise. It looked ok, maybe because of all the work I have done this year keeping it weed free. All year, if I am not weeding I am digging it over. So when I got there yesterday I pleased to see not many weeds at all.
I cleared all the Toms and the last of the Sweetcorn. Dug up a bag of spuds as well. Still got quite a few spuds left in, will get them in a few weeks. Strimmed all the paths before I left, until the strimmer line ran out. Had good few hours. As the weather looks good for the week, I will go after work this week while I am on earlies.
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Hope your back is better, Miggs. I haven't been to my plot either for a while - backache removing old pond and surrounding rockery prior to replacing with larger pond. Didn't realise Derbyshire Gritstone came in such big lumps ::)
Anyway, today I managed to obtain some bags of manure and have taken it to the lottie so now will have to make the effort to go and spread it :D Have to say I am feeling a wee bit guilty when I read of how everyone else is working so hard. ;)
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As the back is a lot better now, just got home after visiting the plot after work. Dug up the last of the spuds and did some general tidying up. Started to dig the edges of some of the other beds. Like I said earlier the beds have stayed soft, because all year if I am not weeding I am digging the beds. Now to prepare the bed for my winter Onion sets.
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Miggs, have you considered adapting your gardening to a 'no-dig' method?
It would surely save you pain and discomfort.
My experience is that back injury, once incurred, will return whenever you're not looking. Remember that digging over your garden just brings weed seeds to the surface, rather than them remaining a non-issue when underground as they haven't germinated.
Food for thought, perhaps......
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Over the last 2 days I have cleared away the climbing bean wigwams and the finished pumpkin and courgette plants and dug over/weeded the 2 large beds they were in. Much tidier :)
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Just dug over weedy raised bed with remnants of courgette plants. Rather too much couch grass lurking in the bed for my liking going to drown them before composting. Covered bed with black plastic to prevent further weed germination. Then collected some more autumn raspberries still amazingly producing.
Cheers HH
Lots more to do!!!
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Bit of diggin,bit of weeeeeeedin,lot of tea drinkin,lot of laughing,oh yes and a few Guinness :) :) :)
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Emptied the compost bin on to the veg patch!
Cheers
Aled
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Cut grass paths at plot plus a bit more weeding.
Cheers HH
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Planted lots of garlic and senshyu yellow overwintering onions.
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Pulled up broccoli and dug over and weeded area.
Started weeding where beans and peas.
Brought home my one solitary pumpkin :(
Butternut squash really small so picking them and digging over area is next visits task.
Still got cabbages, turnips and fennel growing.
Raspberries done so they need cutting back.
Plot not looking too bad :)
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Made the most of the sunny day.
Managed few hours of weeding and digging. Bed ready now for my autumn onions and garlic. Dug and weeded squash bed after picking six small butternut squash.
Covered cabbages with debris netting as they were bursting out of their net tunnel.
Sweetcorn bed to dig over and raspberries to prune and weed then think am ready for winter. :)
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Put the first of the winter wood ash on the veg patch this morning, using my lovely sieve!
Cheers
Aled
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Planted my garlic and shallots.
Dug over and weeded bed from courgettes and planted there the last of my strawberries which had been wilting in a bucket. ;)
Now have long narrow bed full of my marshmello strawberries, planted this time with lots of space and weed free at the moment.
Started pruning my raspberries.
Weeded around cabbages and broccoli.
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Dug over and weeded sweetcorn bed and dug up last of fennel and dug and weeded that bed too.
Now have left, cabbages, red and white and sprouts under debris netting. Sprouts look great but cabbages bit small.
Lots of turnips left.
Dahlias need digging up.
Have pile of weeds and foliage which was going to burn but will cover over next visit and burn what hasnt rotted down when it's dry next year.
Raspberries need finishing pruning and weeding if get chance.
Plot on good state for winter, better than last year :)
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Yesterday I prepared another big bed for winter by digging it over, weeding, adding manure then covering with weed matting.
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Have put some new raseberry canes in,by the time i have finished,i will have early mid and late season.
Also pulled up last off the cabbage no good for us but the chickens love them,and potted aound 100 young strawberry plants for next season,i will be planting them in hanging baskets,the slugs all but distroyed the whole crop last season >:(.
Lillileaf
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Well I put another pile of wood ash on the plot, and ensured I could continue to take horse manure from a neighbours field (new owners last year).
Cheers
Aled
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Re-felted the shed - It's only taken me 5 years to get around to it. ::) Needless to say 5 years of weathering means I now need to repair the shed too :blush:
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Harvested some leeks, dug over the bed and covered with black plastic. Staked Brussels sprouts and removed yellow
Leaves to compost. Also harvested a few broccoli spears.
Cheers HH
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For the first time in 4 years my plot has had a good covering of frost which will be a big help to break down those clods of earth!
Cheers
Aled
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This afternoon I went along to check the aftermath of the mighty roaring fire I had yesterday. When I took these plots on in 1986 there were some already-old-and-rickety sheds along the back. During the past year one of these actually fell down - I'd just been using them for things like onion-drying spaces, and random storage of stuff like the massive collection of 5-litre plastic bottles I use for springtime cloches. So I knocked down another, piled up all the debris, topped it with scores of tall sunflower stalks and other trimmings, stuffed it with 2 months worth of newspapers, and with one match it was blazing.
The rule on our site is that you can have fires after 6pm, or 'at dusk', whatever that means. I put the match to it at about 3pm, and was still there nearly an hour after sunset, at 4.45. Though the thermometer was below zero, I got jolly hot! There being no wind at all forecast, and a cold frosty night with its elements of dampness, I judged it would be OK to leave it with the embers flaming slightly. Fortunately I was right (this time), and this afternoon there was a large, neat, satisying pile of ash. The remaining old sheds and various bits of debris will be piled there over the next few weeks.
Then on to planning and building the splendid new 'dacha' to occupy the space of the old sheds. As I'm up-to-date with all the cultivation aspects of the plots I'll have the luxury of plundering my son's collection of old timbers, windows, etc, and attempt to come up with some fascinating Heath-Robinson structure...
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This afternoon I went along to check the aftermath of the mighty roaring fire I had yesterday. When I took these plots on in 1986 there were some already-old-and-rickety sheds along the back. During the past year one of these actually fell down - I'd just been using them for things like onion-drying spaces, and random storage of stuff like the massive collection of 5-litre plastic bottles I use for springtime cloches. So I knocked down another, piled up all the debris, topped it with scores of tall sunflower stalks and other trimmings, stuffed it with 2 months worth of newspapers, and with one match it was blazing.
The rule on our site is that you can have fires after 6pm, or 'at dusk', whatever that means. I put the match to it at about 3pm, and was still there nearly an hour after sunset, at 4.45. Though the thermometer was below zero, I got jolly hot! There being no wind at all forecast, and a cold frosty night with its elements of dampness, I judged it would be OK to leave it with the embers flaming slightly. Fortunately I was right (this time), and this afternoon there was a large, neat, satisying pile of ash. The remaining old sheds and various bits of debris will be piled there over the next few weeks.
Then on to planning and building the splendid new 'dacha' to occupy the space of the old sheds. As I'm up-to-date with all the cultivation aspects of the plots I'll have the luxury of plundering my son's collection of old timbers, windows, etc, and attempt to come up with some fascinating Heath-Robinson structure...
That must have been satisfying, love the sound of the dascha, will it come complete with vodka? 😊
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Spent an hour digging over my new half plot and digging up maris peer potatoes left by previous owner. Pretty good crop with minimal slug damage
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I've been putting the finishing touches to my shed and replace the felt. Putting manure over the garden and having a great bonfire getting rid of the final pile of weeds and old wood I had littering the plot.
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Back again to my new half plot. :)
Finished digging where potatoes had been. Good look around the fruit bushes to check what there is, pretty overgrown.
On my half, pulled up some more turnips and re netted my cabbages.
Cut back the last few raspberries I had missed.
Had a good look around to try and plan next year.
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Put some wood ash in the compost bin!
Cheers
Aled
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I've been busy adding manure for the past couple of days. That should keep the weeds down for a while.
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A lovely Friday.... warm and not too blowy so a few hours spent in the garden veg plot:
Cleared dead leaves and cabbage stumps from around the purple sprouting broccoli and recovered with a higher debris net frame.
Edged a very long concrete path with the half-moon then used the moss/grass strips to cover a patch of dahlias in the hope of protecting them from the worst of the winter. Topped with compost.
Trimmed and tidied the chrysanthemums covering them with a barrow load of compost.
Did a little digging....lifted and chopped some huge beetroot as by now they develop an earthy-taste that Mrs Plots is not too fond of.
Collected and stored canes and their toppers.
Played with the cat, (distracted it while a speedy frog escaped), listened to the radio and fed the budgies in the aviary. A lovely unhurried, undemanding day.
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Well spent a lovely five hours on the plot, I've been able to move my rhubarb and three gooseberry bushes to the new half plot I took over.
Picked the fina chillis off my plants in the greenhouse and started cleaning the bench ready for next years plants.
But my fight with the creeping buttercup weeds continues, I will get rid of this pest.