[tontom]

dug 2 manured beds over , weeded around 60 onions , scattered chicken pellets and forked in where the peas , french beans and runners are going.Scattered chicken pellets around spring cabs, onions, leeks and strawberries oh and around the raspberries

[grendel]

I'm itching to dig... i'm dreaming of rolling back the black plastic and whacking with my azada to get more brambles out.... but the soil is still too STICKY! argh!

Please tell me what an "azada" is cos if it gets brambles out easily I really really need one.

jools

its a shovel on a long handle, where the shovel bit is at right angles to the handle, and yes it gets brambles out a treat, its also great for skimming weeds off just below the surface.
http://www.get-digging.co.uk/tools.htm
I bought 2 the medium and medium heavy.
the edge is kept sharp and just cuts through the brambles.
Grendel

[Lardman]

Cleaned up the cat mess.... again.

Sowed coriander and cress.
Put some sweetpeas in to soak.
Weeded and built support for the raspberries.
Removed the chickweed and creeping buttercup from round the currants.
Emptied a drop sack of home made compost over the 2 empty beds and the rhubarb.
Pruned 12ft off the old apple tree.

Piled all the non compostables up and set fire to them.

Back killing - any tips!?

Scotch... Cures everything.

[grendel]

heres my bramble patch when I got the plot.
Grendel

[grendel]

an just 30 minutes or so later with the adaza (visible on the ground) its a lot clearer.
Grendel

[TheSpartacat]

I'm itching to dig... i'm dreaming of rolling back the black plastic and whacking with my azada to get more brambles out.... but the soil is still too STICKY! argh!

Please tell me what an "azada" is cos if it gets brambles out easily I really really need one.

jools

Hey Jools, They are fantastic. And not just for brambles but all round digging.
I got a medium heavy one from the get digging website (
here : http://www.get-digging.co.uk/ )
and once you get the technique (not swinging it too high!) it just slices through brambles making them so much easier to dig up. Once i got an azada, i couldn't believe the difference in the workload i'd been trying to do with a fork. And i have some serious brambles to contend with!!!

Have a look at this thread, particularly rossco's progress with his bramble patch (which looks not dissimilar to mine before it was hacked to ground level) and an azada:
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=56593.15

[VirginVegGrower]

Cleaned up the cat mess.... again.

Sowed coriander and cress.
Put some sweetpeas in to soak.
Weeded and built support for the raspberries.
Removed the chickweed and creeping buttercup from round the currants.
Emptied a drop sack of home made compost over the 2 empty beds and the rhubarb.
Pruned 12ft off the old apple tree.

Piled all the non compostables up and set fire to them.

Back killing - any tips!?

Scotch... Cures everything.

Can't drink it; I'm a right wuss. Mr VVG drinks scotch and he swears by it for everything too. He tried to shove a peaty Irish malt under my nose when I had flu and it smelt disgusting to me!
We cracked open a red, then I went to bed and knew nothing else until I got up this morning...bad lower back and tightened hamstrings (although am pleased about the latter) 

[mumofstig]

Just carried a dalek from the garden to the plot, and moved 6 x 30lt pots of raspberries on my shopping trolley from garden to plot (1 @a time!)

Neigbours are now sure that I'm crazy

Cuppa and lunch and then back for some more

[plum crumble]

marvellous stuff mum! The shopping trolley image is wonderful. Er....dalek???

[juliec]

Just carried a dalek from the garden to the plot, and moved 6 x 30lt pots of raspberries on my shopping trolley from garden to plot (1 @a time!)

Neigbours are now sure that I'm crazy

Cuppa and lunch and then back for some more

where did you get your darlek from mum, if you dont mind me asking.

thanks

jools

[DD.]

Have a look at this, jools:

http://www.wbc.getcomposting.com/

[DD.]

marvellous stuff mum! The shopping trolley image is wonderful. Er....dalek???

A name given to a certain type of compost bin due to it's shape. See the link I've given to jools.

[plum crumble]

thanks DD!  d'oh! OBVIOUS REALLY! 

[juliec]

Have a look at this, jools:

http://www.wbc.getcomposting.com/

Didnt think they would be so cheap, just boutgh on eand a kitchen caddy.

Thanks DD

XX

Jools

[DD.]

Most councils do them cheap.  Worth a Google.