Grow Your Own Magazine

sowed seeds..... runner beans, tomatoes, squash & flowers.
went to garden centre and bought lettuce plants & gro-bag.
planted 20 baby lollo rosso lettuces in the gro-bag.
re-potted strawberry plant.

Mr D started to dig over last years brassica bed (lovely compacted soil with lots of grass on it atm) yesterday, whilst I erected 2 rows of pea / bean supports to join the other 2 that were already up, then planted out 2 rows each of two types of runner bean, 2 double rows of pea (early onwards), 2 types of dwarf french bean and 2 outdoor cucumbers (under cloches). Watered and fed the greenhouse, watered the courgettes under fleece on plot 2 (seem to be coming along well) and then put down some chicken manure pellets.

We're off to visit his folks today, so no allotmenteering (boo!), but Sunday I'm hoping to get some carrots into the part of the bed that Mr D dug over yesterday, and perhaps finish diggin the pea / bean bed and get another 2 support frames up and planted.

Broad beans and strawbs are now flowering, the rasps and blackcurrants seem to have flowering buds ready to burst open, and the toms seem to be coming on at a good rate of knots! Cant wait to be eating fresh fruit and veg straight from the plot!!

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Blessings
Suzanne (aka Mrs Dobby)

'Garden naked - get some colour in your cheeks'!

The Dobby's Pumpkin Patch - a blogspot work in progress!
Last updated 12th September 2008 - updated balance sheet!

watered weeded today also picked a nice spring cabbage for tomorows diner. shame I have to go to work tonight though

planted out five courgette plants covered with cloches,in well manured soiled borders oh put some paving slabs in middle of the raised beds making another two mini beds dug in manure in soil and covered with net. potted on cucumbers in own tub.potted a couple of marmande plants in own tub,sown kale dwarf direct in flower border,put out hanging basket with balconi red.put out tumbling toms in pot on patio area next to five tubs of potatoes,repotted some more tomato seedlings!repotted two chilli plants.fed all my container veg with tomato feed

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joanne culyer

Planted 3 varieties of tomato in tunnel beds - Tiger Tom, Piccolo and Giant Belgian. Topped up straw mulch on the tunnel potatoes, harvested mizuna, coriander and beetroot leaves for lunch. Did some weeding, and put weeds into a large bin and filled with water to make 'weed tea' for the garden. Cut up lots of plastic bottles to make funnels for watering beside the toms. Planted out some more mizuna, mulched and netted that bed and the salad bed (the birds are enjoying digging in it a little too much). Cooed over the cucumbers which have come up overnight. Ran out of energy after watering everything so in for a cuppa.

planted out the last of maris piper. courgette went out to. potted up 20 odd tomatoes. made some comfrey tea

I had the most perfect afternoon on the lottie: 6 hrs playing in the mud. I sorted out a path - diagonal across the plot, from tap to imaginary shed. I sowed flowers and spring onions. I dug out loads more nettle and couch roots.
Mr Sheds is away so I didn't have to come back to make dinner.
The blackbirds came down to be hand-fed worms at 5pm - have I trained them, or have they trained me?

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

weeded weeded weeded oh and did some weeding.

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Yo an' Bob
Walk lightly on the earth
take only what you need
give all you can
and your produce will be bountifull

This morning I emptied a ton of vintage manure onto plot 3 ready to dig into beds as it is very heavy clay.

This afternoon Kazzi and I have been working in the home garden. Lots of pruning and pulling out has now been replaced with planting out lots of perenials that we have grown from seed and a few we have bought in. Michaelmas daisy, rudbeckia, marguerites, hydrangea, echinacea, lupins and others are all now in the ground.

I also moved all of the dahlia cuttings out of the greenhouse to harden off which gives me more space to sow some more bean and sweetcorn seeds, succesional sowings of salad stuff and some more flowers.

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Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated lots - Sunday 28th at 1640hrs

Today I :-

• Stripped a bed of curly kale that had bolted
• Put so much kale on my compost heap and donated quite a bit to four allotment holders that have chooks
• Put some boards around the bed in question to level it out a bit
• Weeded and raked the bed
• Planted up the bed with garlic I had set a way in modules
• Planted a few purple flowered broad beans I had been donated and started off in a pot
• Planted some epicure purple seeded broad beans in a clump
• Got a good wheelbarrow load of chicken manure from my neighbour to activate my compost bin
• Watered everthing that needed it with rainwater
• Noticed that my sweetcorn has germinated even though it was only in a cold greenhouse
• Collected some more names and addresses from plot holders
• Welcomed my new allotment neighbour to his plot
• Was sorry to hear that one of the plotholders lost seven chickens last night to a fox...he only has three remaining
• Tried, successfully I think, to get Chairman to organise a committee meeting for next weekend to clarify a few points
• Departed with a bag of 7 star perennial caulis donated from the guy I sourced the seeds for!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Planted out some tomatoes and courgettes into the courtyard beds.

Uprooted a load of mustard that grew from seed from the spice cabinet when I was spring cleaning; popped it into a bed on the lottie to add some green goodness to clayey soil.

Went to lottie:

planted out sweetcorn, peas and courgettes: through weed fabric.

OH's little girl sowed 5 red sunflowers, and a load more for HW's brd seed sunflower contest. unfortunately all 5 red ones went in the same hole! But it's her section of the plot. could make an interesting if not quite busy display as each has multi heads anyway.

Then they went home and I carried on weeding, and planting out some coriander and kitchen roll chitted parsnips.

After tea, OH and myself went to the canal side garden and I put out 2 toms, 1 more courgette; and we weeded for an hour.

Note: all the toms that have gone out have been outside for 6 weeks anyway, and are Aurora or Purple Ukraine; both early Russian types.

What a lovely day.

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Andrea :wavehello

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...logs/zazen999/

moon trials completed:
tomatoes
[46% increase in crop per seed sown and 10% increase in crop per plant]

currently underway:
calabrese
garlic

Yesterday:
Cut grass and weeded for someone who can't.
Mowed grass in garden and allotment.
Repaired damage to squash beds done by someone else's children. (swore loudly and threw their toy shovel around a bit first)
Potted on some more garden plants.
Made up a couple of planters with hardy fuchsias and petunias.
Planted out night-scented stock.
Started weeding around the spuds then decided to leave it - I'll weed carefully around the plants and take the blowtorch thingy to the inbetween bits.
Spotted a volunteer potato plant where the beans should be.
Bought a mattock and I'm looking forward to using it

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You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
Max Ehrmann, Desiderata

blog: http://allyheebiejeebie.blogspot.com/ and my (basic!) page: http://www.allythegardener.co.uk/

Yesterday I...

Potted on 13 tomato plants in the greenhouse - black cherry, totem, marmande, ailsa craig, outdoor curr, and a plum tom that i can't remember the name of.

Potted on 2 aubergine plants in the greenhouse.

Put two more strawberry plants in their final 'spot' - a plastic green trough.

Planted a rosemary plant, a fennel plant and a sage plant in the kitchen herb bed.

Went to the graden centre and bought more seeds an compost.

Re-arranged the greenhouse as it was far too crowded in there. Took out the end wall of staging, to make room for the rather large tomato plants which are almost 18 inches tall now. Cleared out a load of junk in there, and re-organised the shelves of plant feed, seed tin etc..

Planted out 4 of the 36 sweetcorn as an experiment, to see how they cope (they're about 18 inches tall almost). The other 32 are outside in their pots anyway, but i wanted to see how they'd cope being in the groubd. If they don't take too well, i'll probably leave it at least another couple of weeks before transplanting the rest.

Well, that's it i think!

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3 chooks (getting some more soon), 2 goats, 1 pony, 1 dog, 2 geese, 18 wild ducks, 3 veg plots, 2 kids and the OH

Am i mad?

Spent 3 hours digging out ground elder and brambles. Filled the brown bin. Lost my hand fork - I've either dumped it in the brown bin by accidentally leaving it in the tub-trug when clearing, or I have inadvertently buried it so I have a nice new one now.

Weeded around the tatties - dug up a few bindweed shoots then hoed off the annuals. Raked it all up and took the blowtorch to anything non-potato that was left. Earthed up the Arran Pilots and Anyas.

Removed the fleece from the first lot of peas and put in some pea sticks. Replaced fleece. Removed fleece from the second lot of peas (direct sowing, nothing to see yet) and dug up a volunteer potato plant. Replaced fleece.

Potted on more climbing petunias, poached egg plants and marigolds. Transferred 6 sweet peas to a planter. Planted jasmine next to the pergola.

Sat in the garden with a drink and watched the chickens free-rangeing. Gerrof my rhubarb!
I have promised my OH that I won't "b****r off down the allotment all day" tomorrow

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You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
Max Ehrmann, Desiderata

blog: http://allyheebiejeebie.blogspot.com/ and my (basic!) page: http://www.allythegardener.co.uk/

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!!

Yesterday - cut grass & turned the compost!

Today - Cleaned out the greenhouse, put the toms in growbags on upturned boxes, so they are off the floor, planted sweetcorn in two really large heavy planters, planted out runners (fleeced & netted), re-potted brussels, spinach, more toms & cuces (for the parents!), potted into troughs cuces, sowed more carrots in large planters and covered with fleece, planted spring onions, cut and grow lettace, radish, beetroot, into planters and sowed more seeds in with some. (as well as washing & ironing before all of this!!)

Went to homebase, bought more fleece, netting & organic slug pellets - emptied old beer traps and replemished!

Cleaned out the guinea pigs and added newspaper & hay etc to the composter and turned again.

Made dinner, bathed kids, bathed myself and waiting for Raiders of the Lost Ark, the old ones are the best!!

SS

(all this while looking after kids and not one person making me coffee!!!)

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Gardening - A labour of love that begins with daybreak and ends with backache!
http://clarkiesveggieblog.blogspot.com/

Today I...

planted some potatoes in a black compost bag (rolled down)

sowed a trough planter with mini carrots (turn out like golf balls apparently!) and radishes, and have donated planter to the kids to look after.. i'm living in hope that this will encourage them to eat more f+v

sowed 80 marigolds

sowed 7 tri-colour, golf-ball type courgettes

sowed 6 sunflower seeds

watered everything obviously, and gave all the fruiting plants a good feed too

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3 chooks (getting some more soon), 2 goats, 1 pony, 1 dog, 2 geese, 18 wild ducks, 3 veg plots, 2 kids and the OH

Am i mad?

Down the allotment. Made bbq fair-lots of marinated meats, salads plus side bits, fed all (ourselves and hungry passers by) entertained 2 demanding children who thankfully entertained themselves once I'd built and filled a raised bed for them, weeded, planted, watered, cooked and served......hubby, sat in deckchair for SIX hours 'directing'. His major contribution was 'activating' the compost heap - recycling his beer!

After a fantastic morning walking through a bluebell wood and watching a red kite soaring over the wolds we came home via a plant nursery where I bought more canes for my increasing selection of climbing beans. I planted out me crimson flowered broadies in the flower garden, well, why not?

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated September 29th - Bean drying.

Be waiting since xmas for my greenhouse from my friends house and got it today and put it up this afternoon. It's a 6' by 6' polycarb.

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---) CARL (----
ILFRACOMBE
NORTH DEVON

a seed planted today makes a meal tomorrow!

www.freewebs.com/carlseawolf

now in blog form ! UPDATED 01 / 04 / 08

Was at the allotment before 9.00am this morning. Sunny and warm so worked all morning shirtless!
Managed to get my Desiree maincrops planted and weeded and dug a bed for my Majestic and got those planted as well!
My Disiree's are in three rows and the centre row is comprised of huge seed tatties I kept from last year to see if my theory of big seed tatty = big crop works? We shall see!
Managed to scrounge some timber that will do perfectly for the arbour I intend building!
Done loads of weeding and mucking as well as building raised beds (of a fashion!)
Decided against building a summerhouse now as I am running short of space, even with two allotments!
Ditched the last of my red russian kale and donated a few plants to a couple of chook people.
Next job I suppose, is to dig the hole for my bath/pond to go into. I hope to use the topsoil to mix with sand and compost to make my own version of John Innes compost to grow my tomatoes in. It's too expensive to use pure compost for the amount I need so I have to economise!
Tomatoes are romping away and should really be potted up into there final pots soon, but at the mo I aint got time to do it!
I still have PFA and a PFA X Desiree cross(Anya?) to plant and loads of Gladioli which may have to go in the same bed, or not?

Came home with a wee bit of sunburn on the shoulders but a hot shower, interupted by my German Shepherd pup trying to get in on the act, soon put paid to that!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

I promised my OH that I wouldn't disappear down the lottie yesterday but since he fell asleep on a sunlounger...

Potted up last year's cuttings of cistus purpurea. Six have rooted nicely and they are now 2 to a 5" pot. Took some euonymus cuttings for no particular reason.

This meant the cuttings planter was empty - cleaned it out and refilled with fresh compost. Sowed a mixture of carrot (touchon) and salad onion (ramrod). Covered it because it looked like a deep cat litter tray.

Weeded the squash beds - must remember not to put tattie peelings in the compost bins this year!

Planted out a climbing petunia.

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