Grow Your Own Magazine

Yesterday nearly killed me! I did the following:

Weeded 3 flower beds
Planted out fresh winter pansies x 24
Planted 21 Tulip bulbs and 21 snowdrops
Sowed some Sweetpea (unknown variety as I collected the seed from a stray plant)
Dug a ditch!
Moved the kale to the sunny spot formerly occupied by a spud plant
Harvested the last of the autumn spuds and recycled the compost in hanging baskets
Made up hanging baskets of hyacinths, ivy and pansies.
Watered my onion sets (and other baskets and overwintering seeds).

I am back at work today, for a rest, thank God!

ETA: I forgot that I pruned some roses and cleared some mystery (but very pretty) dead flowers from the damp course! I also cleared brambles from around the gas meter.

Yesterday I spent a few minutes on the plot. OH spent all day at work, only getting home about 4pm, so time was not on my side. And we won't be there next weekend at all, so as I had to get fleece and it was as easy to go and get the one roll off the plot where it's not being used, as go to the DIY store and buy some for home (poor spuds in sacks looking shook), that's what I did. (Staying in my good casual boots as I was NOT working there at that hour - I still had to do some paid work stuff as well which meant a trip to coffee shop out of toddler's eyeline).

While I was there, I also gathered a bag of beans (borlotti, broad and a couple of french), a handful of peas, a couple of handfuls of calabrese sprouts, 5 radishes and the first 2 tiny ears of corn. On the way back to the car, I also chopped 3 stalks of thistley things that are very popular for flower arranging (they've got beautiful heads on them) that I am going to dry in the shed and use over the Christmas period for my own flower arrangements.

Then I went off and did my work and had a nice coffee in peace. When I got home, I put the fleece around the poor spuds, and watered the spuds, tomatoes and courgette plant. And then finished up the housework, had dinner and flopped for half an hour knitting and perusing the October GYO before bed. (And also realised thye November one should be in shops already - how is time flying so FAST???!!!!)

yesterday I looked on in despair...

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Simon Of Kells

Don't despair. Have a cup of coffee, bar of chocolate, make a plan and deal with one area at a time. You will get there. I took on a 160' x 16' plot that was 90% coverered in 8' high brambles a year ago. It is now fairly cleared, have been given a shed and feel I'm winning.

I took some cuttings, like Toby Buckland told us on Gardener's World: 12 violas and 12 pelargoniums. Free plants for next year

* update: the violas all died from greenfly attack. Little b'stards

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

Sunday: visited Chatsworth - well worth a visit whilst the sculptures are up.
Trip to lottie to clear out the blighty toms [they all went bad] and bring home for the brown bin collection, brought back potatoes to last the next months or so, and harvested loads more calabrese/romanesco.

Yesterday: listed every seed packet for this/next year and whittled my box down - so loads more seeds to add to the travelling seed swap, whereever they are at the moment.

potted up my 2 comfrey root cuttings

__________________
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

http://linearlegume.blogspot.com/

We cut the grass for the first time since late August (ooops) and it was really LUSH. Gorgeous. Perhaps its because we ignored it, then all that rain followed by late summer sun. Then again I have done a lot of scarifying this year and I have scattered a lot of seed too. Either way, its certainly paid off. I now know what to do for the future and can't wait for next year's 'lawn' (maybe we will be able to call it a 'lawn' by then).

I am getting withdrawal symptoms due to being stuck in the house with the builders, but my strawberry runners arrived this morning from Coomber ( thankyou again!) so I had the perfect excuse to rush out and get them into their cold frame
as soon as they have shifted all the rubbish of my slabs and compost bags, I can get back to putting the paths down.

__________________
'Lets just stick it in, and see what happens?'
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ogs/bridexiii/

Picked the last of my runner beans this morning, there's some for dinner tonight then I'll freeze the rest.

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Bren

Lifted about 5 sq ms of paving slabs surrounding my greenhouse cos 'she who must be obeyed' says I'm stealing too much of the lawn to make raised beds ! Was greeted with an horrendous network of horsetail roots ! Took the advice posted on this site to pick away at it bit by bit rather than try to remove all of it as that would take for ever. The soil is very heavy compacted clay full of bricks, stones, glass and slates ! Took a while but now I have a brand new bed which should be ready for next year once the added manure rots down.

Weeded out another 5 bucketfuls
-----------
planted out 6 Offenham cabbages & 2 dozen Winter Lisbon spring onions

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

Sowed turnips (as per french seed packet) and lettuce (Arctic King) under a cloche. I wouldn't have sown turnips in the UK at this time of the year. It will be interesting to see if we get a crop.

Started rotovating a new area of "lawn" that had been killed by glyphosate a couple of months ago to extend the potager. Rather slow progress as we found lots of large false acacia roots of 2 trees that blew down a couple of years agp. Thank goodness my better half is good with a spade! However, we will have to carry on removing these roots tomorrow! The soil in this new part of the veg patch looks to be good unlike much of the existing veg garden.

This morning I did some catch up on my paperwork, then went and weeded another 100m of my leeks, then this afternoon I went to one of my part time jobs and finished weeding and tidying up the second bed in the walled garden and started on the bed along wall number 3.
Got talking to the managers wife and I can help myself to their chillies and their pears - more chutney and sauces coming on methinks.
This evening I gave a talk to the WI in a local village about my business and growing veg. Went well and I sold some veg and quite a few jars of chutneys, jellies and pickles

__________________
Rat

British by birth
Scottish by the Grace of God

Blog updated Wednesday November 13th

Converted the tomatoes, onion, peppers and some garlic into pasta sauce and then bottled it using the pressure canner.

Shelled some Mrs Lewis, borlotti and coco bicolour beans.

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Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

Finished digging up the two roots of the Acacia trees in my new area of my veg plot yesterday. Thank goodness "she who has to be obeyed" has a strong back to do the heavy digging because my back wouldn't have survived more than 5 minutes. I can do light digging but not digging out trees Now I can finish rotovating and preparing the ground for next spring.

Made up 2 gallons of mead, and 2 gallons of fruit juice wine, bubbling away nicely now.

__________________
'Lets just stick it in, and see what happens?'
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ogs/bridexiii/

Yesterday planted 100 red onions and some shallots. Dug up some beetroot, sowed some meteor peas made some space in the shed. Still got broad beans to sow and some more shallots.

Yesterday; met new 'helper' on the neighbour's lottie - he's doing the hard work so they don't have to. Shame - he's 6th on the list and done more in the last few weeks than they did all year. We wondered who had been sowing seeds, and clearing the plot - I didn't think it was the actual plot holders.

Cleared a brassic bed up [disposed of dead leaves and other gubbins]
Took pea and bean netting down as I'd taken all the seeds for next year's sowing off. they're all nicely drying out/bagged up.
Did a germination test on the pinto beans, and it sprouted in 2 days.
Packaged up loads more seeds.

Made first 4 sides of first lottie raised bed; sieved loads of soil for it and added a bin bag of coffee grounds [thanks Starbucks]. Added a bag of our compost, sieved as well. Mixed it all up, made ridges like Joe Swift and put the rest of the onion sets out.
Dug up the leeks that had been held back in a corner, and planted in above bed.
Took a seed head from an unknown allium, and sowed the seeds in corner of above bed.

Went to local large DIY outlet to get a hammer and some nails for the raised bed-making, and asked if they have any old pallets; and yes they do - I can take any that are out the back. So, as I was on my own; I took 2 largeish ones and 2 smaller ones. Told the OH he needs to help me get some of the largest ones as they will need to go into the back of the car at an angle. Result! We'll pick one or two up each time we are in the area and it won't take long to get full palleted up. Wish I still had my truck that I had this time last year...

__________________
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

http://linearlegume.blogspot.com/

moved the greenhouse so its now south east facing. moved the eglu into a permanant place on wood chippings. topped up the raised beds. pulled a mammouth parsnip.

Pulled up the runner & french beans, sweetcorn & butternut squash plants & stuck them on the recently emptied compost heap. Planted up another 4 big planters for winter / year round colour, pottered in the greenhouse.

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Newbie,
keen but clueless

Yesterday am I went to a crochet and knitting workshop then came back and was in my greenhouse all afternoon moving plants in and out and for 1-to 2nd greenhouse winter protection plants fuchsias etc then was dead heading pruning back.

This afternoon want to wash all pots that have been used.

And decide what new seeds I want.

Scotkat, you've got the right idea there... And I won't be far behind you with cleaning of my own pots and bamboo canes for a clean start next year. Good on you! Excellent practice to start with clean pots and stuff.....

Today, I abandoned my own Potager Garden and took a drive to our Allotment, which sadly, we're about to 'Give Up' and let some other lovely couple take it over.

Thankfully, the remainder of my Borlotti Beans were ready to harvest, and so I was able to pick them, bag them, and then disassemble their wigwams for the last time to bring the canes home for disinfecting.

Once home, I was able to implement the dream I had a few nights ago....
Being 'privvy' to the sheer amount of Borlotti Bean pods that I was about to harvest, my rather over-active brain has been working even-more-overtime I'm afraid (!) and therefore, I had another Wellie 'Ping' thought/moment whilst trying to sleep the other night? which might be useful to you in the future, if you ever find yourself so Wellie-Deep in Bean Pods to mature or dry....

Get yourself a darning needle and a piece of string/knitting wool/twine or similar.
Take one bean pod and thread the needle through, then the next one, then the next one, then the next one, then the next one.....
At the risk of repeating myself........ then the next one!

Once you've got a suitably long string of bean pods on there, then, hang it all up somewhere and shell them from their pods either 'mature' or 'dried' as they become available to you..... It'll save on space.

Anyway. After that, I made a gorgeous Sarah Raven Borlotti Bean, Cumin & Garlic Soup, which Trousers adored. So Wellie earned valuable Smartie Points for a change!
Thank you for listening.

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With Love,
Wellie

Give it some....

http://hollycottagegarden.blogspot.com
BLOG UPDATED Sunday 2nd November at 19.30hrs

I shelled 2 more