Grow Your Own Magazine

wellie · #**3466** (**permalink**) 27-04-2008, 09:22 PM

No - honestly, I'm stunned.....

Wanting to sell your cottage (as ya do) I have just made coffee and showed a lovely couple round, chatted, and as time went on, offered them a glass of wine, and such for the last THREE HOURS, because they drove by and had no appointment to view, and liked the cottage SO much, and wanted to 'get a feel' for the place (but to be honest, we did that when WE were looking, travelling down from Buckinghamshire each and every time to view? (and they had travelled that far too? so fair's fair.....) only to find that they had previously 'discounted' Holly Cottage when they looked at it on T'Internet earlier because of, wait for it: The Potager Garden and the fact that it looked like 'An Allotment'. Well, HOW VERY DARE YOU......!

But having sat back down and thought about their comments after they've gone...
I can see their point. I am SO passionate about what I do, I am SO passionate about where our salad and fruit and vegetables comes from, and I'm just thinking that A Very Nice Moderator on GYO will hopefully come along now and move my complete and utter RANT from 'What I Did Today' to some other site more appropriate ( I was going to go on Sunday Night Chat, then thought better of it, so you should all be very thankful!) and whilst they just completely adore the cottage, AND may buy it....I'm left feeling : 'Is It Me?'

I'm SO sorry. I went 'off' on one there.... Trousers and I recovered 'quite well' this morning after our BBQ last night with our new Lottie Friends, Bless you all, we had THE most gigglesome time, and yes, I'll let you have the recipe for my Burger/Banger Relish, no problem, and I'm looking forward to you both 'registering' on here.

Today. I sowed just SO many more seeds, because, hey, if you can't help someone new, just who can you help in life?.....
X

Winged one · #**3467** (**permalink**) 28-04-2008, 08:48 AM

Yesterday I
Planted the last of the original beetroot modules into the garden (they don't really look like they stand a chance).
Sowed 2 seeds per station at 3 points along the fence of sweetcorn minipop
Potted on my tomatoes Rio Grande (5 seedlings)
Moved lots of toms and leeks out of minigreenhouse to feel some real sun and a slight breeze.
Sowed some herbs - 2 modules each parsley, chervil and coriander, and 1 of chives.
Sowed my large tub (usually used for peas, but OH wanted sunflowers this year!) with sunflowers from seed saved last summer - to give some height to a spot in the garden.
ETA - I forgot that I also sowed some more mixed cos lettuce in 3 modules too.

Sorted my seeds (again) to take out what I need to sow on the plot this week. Parships, carrots, lettuces, spring onions, peas, mange tout.
And what I need to sow into pots at home - pumpkins (2 types), butternut squash, dwarf french beans, climbing french and borlotti beans, possibly a couple of parsnips, and some lupins.

Ate the first of our spring cabbages from the plot on Sat night with some yummy bacon - we ate the whole thing between the 2 of us which is unheard of!!

Flummery · #**3468** (**permalink**) 28-04-2008, 09:37 AM

Had a wonderful weekend of sowing and pricking out. Lots more flowers for the cutting border pricked into individual modules, some Lollo Rosso lettuce pricked out. Kew Blue, Bird's Egg, Ruth Bible, Cherokee Trail of Tears, Goldfield and Borlotti climbing beans all sown in big pots or root trainers. Some bigger plants put out into the cutting border - it's starting to look like a garden not a battlefield! Started to harden off the Red Epicure broadies (the ones with the red seeds, oh how little things excite me!).

Yesterday morning being Rogation Sunday and our village being a farming community, we 'beat the bounds' (well, a mile or so of them) before a service on the these of Trees. Altogether got me in the mood for more sowing.

In the afternoon, Himself started on some anti-pigeon cages for the brassicas - red cabbage nearly ready to go out.

PS - I would LEAP, nay BOUND at a cottage with an allotment, let alone a potager, Wellie! (Specially with a glass of wine thrown in!)

allotmentlady · #**3469** (**permalink**) 28-04-2008, 09:53 AM

Its raining and I dont care , going up to allotment to potter around, play in greenhouse and have a brew in peace and quiet!

sonic · #**3470** (**permalink**) 28-04-2008, 10:18 AM

A friend and i have just taken over a full allotment and because of its very poor state we had mechanical help.(we would never have planted this year otherwise) We now have a completely blank canvass to play with and are really excited and enthused. We plan to try a bit of everything this year and see what comes up! Look forward to meeting you all on the Web.
Sonic

guinness · #**3471** (**permalink**) 28-04-2008, 10:22 AM

what we planted over the weekend were.......................

Potatoes - amandine, Mona Lisa and Desiree
Strawberries - because someone gave us a load of them!
Onion and shallot seeds
Aubergine seeds
Carrot
Spinach
Lettuce - 3 types
Brussels
sunflowers

We also made some raised beds, rotovated the lot before we started (It's about 15 metres x 15 metres)

Hard work but looking forward to reaping the rewards

It looks like it may snow tonight so everything fragile has been covered for a few days!

Flummery · #**3472** (**permalink**) 28-04-2008, 12:54 PM

Today (previous post was about the weekend!) I sowed butter beans and negritos dwarf beans - all in pots and modules. I pricked out 24 larkspur, 24 ammi majus, 12 scabious 'ebony and ivory' and 12 rudbeckia 'green eyes' for the cutting bed.
Put my crimson flowered broad beans out in the sun - beginning of the hardening off process. They are destined for the flower border to brevent them crossing with the Red Epicure and Violetta - so I can save the Crimson's seeds.
Came in and watched GW on the I-Player (missed it at weekend as we were out at some friends'.)

jackie j · #**3473** (**permalink**) 28-04-2008, 04:14 PM

I made plans to go to the Lottie come rain or shine but son no 2 had other ideas he rang me up and asked me to take him to various places looking for plants for his vivariums we ended going to 3 places including the orchid house and he bought a lovely orchid for £20
to put in with his frogs that he will be getting. He has loads of snakes reptiles and other stuff. It poured with rain everytime we got out of the car.
Unfortunatley he cant drive as he has been diagnosed with epilepsy.

Anne-Marie · #**3474** (**permalink**) 28-04-2008, 05:19 PM

I spent the morning at the allotment (I had a day off due to working overtime) and dug a bed, made bamboo frames and planted peas. Very pleased with myself!

allotmentlady · #**3475** (**permalink**) 28-04-2008, 08:13 PM

Well I had a lovely 4 and a half hours on the plot, ALONE today

Hubby dropped me off at 10.20! I put another row of second earlies in, repotted cabbage and courgettes and blue gourds. Sowed some Pak Choi, pumpkins, lettuce, swede (brora and marion). Weeded, tidied up, had a small fire burning the dead wood. Had a nice brew and chocolate cookies.......watched George and Eric our ribins for a bit and got collected at 3pm!

Tmorrow I am going to finish my second earlies, hopefully with Gordons assistance......knees are killing a little........

Snadger · #**3476** (**permalink**) 28-04-2008, 09:09 PM

It was chucking it down with rain this afternoon so I got a half day pass from OH and went to the allotment with the intention of doing a bit pottering in the GH and then home for tea!
Potted on some more red ham onions, had a bit of a natter and collected some more names and addresses for my list of plotholders spreadsheet (An allotment Secretaries work is never done!!!)

Guess what, the sun came out. hooray!!!! Hand weeded the herb wheel, a very pleasurable experience as the nose is inundated with different aromas!

Sun stayed out so I kept on weeding the bed that has/had beetroot in it. The beet that was left still looked usable so took some home to lightly pickle in a dish with white wine vinegar. Found some little wild viola's whist weeding so I dug them in all together to see if they will form a clump!
Cabbages that I planted out recently are now standing up like little soldiers after sulking for a couple of days!

zazen999 · #**3477** (**permalink**) 28-04-2008, 09:12 PM

Took toms out for some sun then the hail started, so got hailed on whilst putting them under cover.

Let the cover off and within minutes, got hailed on again as I covered them up again. It stung more than expected.

Decided to have a day off from the actual lottie; so back up there tomorrow for some digging.

Demeter · #**3478** (**permalink**) 28-04-2008, 10:52 PM

Flower-sowing today.
Sunflowers, nasturtiums, marigolds and some delphiniums for luck.
Also, what I thought was a mangetout seedlings turned out to be another pumpkin so it looks like I will have two pumpkin plants after all: and that will be enough I hope, even for all 7 of the children that we are hoping to supply with lanterns in time for Halloween!

wellie · #**3479** (**permalink**) 29-04-2008, 07:26 PM

I are.......finally got fed up with putting module trays of seedlings 'in out, in out' of my Little Girls' Greenhouse, Hokey Kokey style, on account of all the heavy showers. They were FAR too wet, and in danger of rotting off. But without the space from my Grown-Up Girls' Greenhouse, and needing every inch of my LGG for the up and coming crops, what should a girl do?

Well, for £24.99 from The Co-Op, I'm now able to keep them cold but dry in my noo 'put me up in an afternoon, and knock me over with a feather' plastic greenhouse, which has definitely done what it said on the tin for me in the short space that I've had it. What a fantastic product ! And Trousers didn't TUTT too much when he saw it on his way into the cottage when he got back from work, which was an unexpected bonus....!

Other than that, I've planted loads of Lettuce seedlings round the edges of my raised beds. Red, Green, Red, Green. And Beetroot. Red, Green, Red, Green. Little Gem Lettuces planted inbetween the young Strawberry plants as a quick 'catch crop'. Beetroot, likewise planted inbetween the young Red Cabbages and Sprout seedlings. Any excuse for 'Productive AND Pretty'. Bit like Fert'n'Liza Flobalob really!

Thank you for listening.....
X

allotmentlady · #**3480** (**permalink**) 29-04-2008, 08:33 PM

Well ALL my supds are in now, Gordon and I have stuck em all in, weeded the raised beds and febrally tidied up.

Tmorrow beetroot, courgettes and beans are going in along with red and white onions.

A lovely day, sunny all day long, wish I had room for a bed in me shed!

Lavenderblue · #**3481** (**permalink**) 29-04-2008, 08:42 PM

not much to report.

Updated my blog. Found my heritage tomato seeds and sowed them (finally)

Revision. Lots and lots of revision.

zazen999 · #**3482** (**permalink**) 29-04-2008, 08:48 PM

Just a bit of weeding; it started raining about half an hour in and I can't work in the rain with glasses on!!!

Demeter · #**3483** (**permalink**) 29-04-2008, 08:53 PM

Sorted out my herb planter (which I emptied a while ago because it was being choked by a killer enormous sage plant), cleaned it up and filled it with compost and then planted out my thyme seedlings into it, sowed coriander, parsley and garlic chives. Also put some garlic chives in peat pellets with the idea of planting them out with my toms in due course.

Noticed my normal chives have perked up *a lot* since I potted them into their own pot away from the killer sage. Sage also doing well despite being cut back ruthlessly (been eating a lot of sage lately lol, and most of the roots have gone to compost) and confined to an 8" pot.

In other news, I watered everything that was under cover - didn't need to water anything outside

Potted on my surprise pumpkin seedling. Noticed salad leaves starting to come up in the centre of my mangetout wigwam (hooray! outdoor seedlings!). Noticed carrots starting to come up in GH seed tray. Started drilling holes in buckets for toms.

Hoping the weather will allow me up to the farm tomorrow - at the mo it looks like the early morning will be clear if not exactly warm, but the forecasts always seem to be wrong so who knows?!?!

allotmentlady · #**3484** (**permalink**) 29-04-2008, 09:27 PM

I just look out the window and decide what the weathers like.......they seem to get it wrong on the weather reports, we were supposed to get HEAVY showers today but nothing! except sunshine :-)

Snadger · #**3485** (**permalink**) 29-04-2008, 10:23 PM

Watered all the plants in the greenhouse with rainwater taken from a butt! Shifted stuff from warm greenhouse to cold greenhouse, and from cold greenhouse to cold frame and from cold frame to the plot that needed it!
Decided that the bed of leeks are taking up too much space so need moving and healing in. Emptied the final load of potatoes from the clamp and spread the part decomposed straw over my onion bed. I will utilise the clam for healing in my leeks, so freeing up space to plant my swedes!
Managed to get another allotment holders details for my records and had a look at his newly aquired chooks. Methinks at £4.00 each for POL, I'll have to get my finger out and get some ordered!

Tam · #**3486** (**permalink**) 29-04-2008, 11:47 PM

Tonight at 10pm I went out on my nightly slug-watch and sliced at least 25 of the little beggars in half - I have been doing this for the past ten nights since I planted my brassicas and a few lettuce out. Before tonight I have slaughtered a grand total of 2, so they really must now be on the march !!

heebiejeebie · #**3487** (**permalink**) 30-04-2008, 06:54 AM

Did a little bit of weeding over the last couple of evenings and dug out a few volunteer potato plants. Apart from that, on weekdays all I do is open and close the plastic planthouse.

Need more small pots - many things need potting on now!