Grow Your Own Magazine

Lovely day here so went to the Hill and sowed

• peas to replace a row sown in Jan where the germination is poor
• short row of radish mirabeau
• short row of carrot early nantes
• short row of beetroot woden F1
• short row of lettuce little gem

Now back home and have repotted 2 big (but flattened) cat mints in tubs, sown some brussel sprouts in jiffies (thank you, Mushroom!) and a trough of the rest of the peas which I will either eat as pea shoots or sow out at the Hill.

Did a little dance round the kitchen this morning when I saw Mrs D's leek seedling finally showing through!

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Hazel
www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com
update Sun 30/11/2008......Indoor Allotmenteering too!.....

Strange but lovely day, wonderful warm sunshine with a cold strong easterly wind. Two T-shirts and a fleece tied round the waist needed to keep my back happy.
Dog forced me to construct her a sheltered sunny spot then settled down to supervise my work.
Hoed out three 18' harvesting ridges from last years spuds, nicely weathered soil went straight to seedbed tilth and after raking in a light dusting of pelleted chicken manure I planted 120 Sturon onion sets and one 18' row of Early Nantes pelleted carrot seed, 300 seeds.
Then Iweeded 80% of my fruit terrace, 90% of the weeds being strawberry runners. Nearly filled a 300L composter.
Strimmed and mowed the site drive and my plot side paths.

Back stretching breaks an absolute pleasure in the sunshine, garden trolley plus coat equals highly adjustable windbreak.

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Always thank people who have helped you immediately, as they may not be around to thank later.
Visit my blog at http://podsplot.blogspot.com/
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after a full day at work, shot home and straight into the garden.

Planted dwarf rhodies in a bed prepared with ericaceous. then went and watered all camellias/magnolias/acers/blueberries etc with jugs of cold tea! have asked coffee shop to save all teabags and coffee grounds for compost heaps - plus office for shredded paper./ someone told me to put cold tea on as a feed. convinced they are looking better already.

deep watered asparagus bed - and fed with seaweed.

sowed green manure on a newly dug bed that is being used later in the summer.

prepared loads of seed trays and planters ready for the sowing frenzy tomorrow.

cleared lawn of debris ready for mowing. next plan, moss kill - then scarify - and reseed. have been aerating and filling with topdressing - and its looking so much better.

spring garlic planting starting to peep - the winter planting coming through strong.

preparing a mushroom bed that will be a permenant bed.

clipped hens wings closer... the cut i had done has just meant they fly like lancaster bombers! i am going to get an asbo if they keep wandering.

Gorgeous sunshine but strong winds here too yesterday, which meant it felt a tad cold!

We spent the day working on the garden at home yesterday, going to spend the day on the plot today!

Managed to completely sort out the back yard (organised all the pots and brackets that Mr D scrounged from work and just left out there), then (in the back garden) put up the plastic walk in tent type greenhouse that we bought last year, and moved the larger of our tomato plants out into it to harden off, the kitchen windowsill now looks very bare, so can now plant something else to fill it!

We also managed to give the Buddlehia (at the front of the house) a very harsh pruning, we've been in the house for 5 years now, and have never really given it a proper haircut, so after watching GW and seeing how they did it, we've had a go!

Off to get up to date with the postings on the vine, then off down the plot to put our spuds in and plant out some more beans, carrots and onions!

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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 26th November2008 - more new piccies!

Madderbat & my good? self pruned next doors Budlia tree.
Butchery would be more apt the tree is now a shrub!

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I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.
W. C. Fields

Today I planted all my charlotte, pentland javelin, pink fir apple and maris piper potatoes into polypots (the maris piper I put in compost bags). I also sowed some more broad beans and peas, repotted my tomatoes and sowed some more tomotoes.

Now I am going for a soak in the bath or I will never get out of bed for work in the morning my back is killing me.

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Kim



http://kimbos-veggies.blogspot.com

Wyevale had got some quite big herb plants for £1.50, I bought lavendar, sage and mint. The local garden centre had also got borage and marjoram. So I have now officially got a herb bed. The mint is in a pot in the middle. I've also sowed some herb seeds in small pots.

The peas I sowed a couple of weeks ago straight into the ground are starting to peep through. I also put a row of carrots and beetroot in along with various lettuces.

I also bought some plug calebrese 12 plugs for £2.00. Planted these, surrounded in slug pellets and put a net over them.

Erected a bean frame and planted sweetpeas along one side and beans will go the other. Busy day in all.

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Bex

Lovely day in the garden, a bit windy but generally good gardening weather.
Today i built a wigwam for my peas to climb up out of the prunings from a mallow that i had saved after it got crushed by the neighbours wall. Some of the pieces were not long enough but i just tied them together with string. Quite a cool rustic effect, will try to post piccie soon.
Found another water storage tank on the street this week so have added this to my container collection. Gave it a good scrub and drilled some holes in the bottom for drainage.
I planted my mangetout out in the garden today which have been growing in a cardboard tube cut in half lengthways. Quite effective alternative to plastic drain pipes. I have put lots of slug protection in the form of crushed egg shells and spikey bush cuttings so we will see if they are all still there in the morning!?
I also planted out my parsnip seedlings which have been growing in loo roll inners... neighbours must now think i am completely mad!
Everything starting to grow and take shape. Very exciting that it is finally April and i can start thinking aobut planting my courgettes and squash.

Had a great day down the plot, got on at about 1030am, and didnt leave until 530pm, weather was v.sunny, but a cold wind that meant it wasnt sunbathing weather!

We planted 3 beds of tatties today, 1 bed of Pentland Javelin, 1 bed of Maris Piper, 1/2 a bed of Charlottes, 1/2 a bed of Desiree, allearthed up so the bed looks just like a bed of graves!

Also planted out another 8 broad beans on plot 1, and 8 royal red beans (under cloches) and 8 mini dor beans (under cloches) on plot 2.

Took our hosepipe down to the plot, watered all the onions, carrots and parsnips, then filled up the pond a bit, as it needed a top up! There's still about a gadzillion tadpoles in there, its teeming with them!

We're going to do some more planting tonight, as the toms we moved into the plastic greenhouse in the back yard seem fine, so now we've a bit of room free for some more seedlings!

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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 26th November2008 - more new piccies!

Had a very successful day at the lottie. Planted onion sets and strawberries, sowed carrots, beetroot and parsnips, eldest daughter (aged 7) sowed turnips and mange tout. I also retrieved my plot from the jaws of the corrupt council who'd allocated it to someone else without telling me! Long story, but it just goes to show that if you're willing to stand up for yourself, things can work out ok in the end.

Dug over the rest of the potato patch too, so will get the Majestic ad the King Edwards in there. Saxon and Foremost going into home garden plot tomorrow, along with more peas and some 4" high broad bean plants kindly donated by a friend.

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Kris

I child-proofed my house, but they still manage to get in.

Muddy Musings - a blog

Today I ridged up those areas of the field that required it, prepared and planted about 1250 garlic cloves, then Iona and I planted 25kg Lady Christl and finished sowing my order for young plants. Also made kite for Iona
Tomorrow is Charlotte tattie planting and making a start to my 25kg Jagro onion sets.

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Rat

British by birth
Scottish by the Grace of God

Blog updated Wednesday November 13th

Yesterday, my husband and I went down to our allotment.

My husband spent the time digging the trench needed to put our final fence up, so he can dig the chicken wire into the ground.

I, meanwhile, planted up a bed of Charlotte potatoes, Pink Fur Apples, Jerusalem Artichokes and onions.

It felt good to be actually planting something there, fingers crossed the rabbits haven't eaten the onions by the time my husband goes tonight to finish the fence!

Yesterday, sowed some carrots and spinach and replanted the onions that the blackbirds had uprooted. Decided to cover them as this is the second time I've found more than a few dug up.

Garlic growing nicely as are the BBeans, sowed a few more.

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An onion can make people cry but there's never been a vegetable that can make people laugh.
Will Rogers

On Friday, I emailed the allotments officer, being a bit cheeky & pointing out that rent was due on April 1st and there seemed to be an unused plot next door but one to my half plot, which wasn't down on the 'frre plots' map & if it wasn't renewed, could I have it?

As of today, I am the proud renter of no. 99

I've got thurs & fri off to start renovating it, so all I have to do now is break the news to my best beloved that he'll see even less of his wife in the light evenings!

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http://inelegantgardener.blogspot.com
Updated 13th September

I sowed 2 seedtrays of mixed salad leaves and 2 large pots of carrots - all to bring on in the greenhouse for some early stuff.

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated November 30th - Mr Stinky's Excellent Adventure (and a Christmas Cake)

Today I sowed some radishes, beetroot, mixed salad leaves, little gems (in a seed tape-cheating I know) and rocket. Dug up yet more weeds. Checked my garlic but still nothing happening.

SM

It's been raining here in Spain for 2 days! (yipeeeeee) so all I've done the last few days is pot on 30 tomato plants! Got to plant out 60 tomato plants 16 auberine and 40 pepper plants over the next few days when the ground can be tilled!!!!

OH mowed the lawn in part of the lottie. Cannot do everything yet - will have to wait for the daffodils to stop flowering first.

I did not plan to do much, but peeped into the mini greenhouses and yeah!

• The sunflowers have shot up overnight (or so it feels).
• THe yellow and white beetroots have pushed their little leaves through the vermiculite
• The alpine strawberry seedlings are coming through
• The first of the asters have germinated as well. OH would be pleased about that.

Looking forward to this weekend to really get stuck into the lottie, now that the Open University stuff is done.

Sowed the parsnips and carrots and covered the frame over the carrots with netting to keep the carrot fly out. Sowed 2 rows of leeks and one of spring onions. Beautiful day so I gave the Tomato, Pepper and Chilli plants an airing in the very small plastic greenhouse thingy. Released the head of forced Rhubarb from under the dustbin and covered it with straw to aclimatise it to the light and the big wide world.

Finally continued with the weeding marathon and dead headed the daffodils.

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Gardening requires a lot of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. Lou Erickson, critic and poet

Today, after 2 years, I finally got round to linking my water butts together with hosepipe...now when I empty one, it gets topped up by the others.
also, sowed radish and beetroot under cloches. Hardening off peas and sweet peas

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

Oh yea, forgot...cut off the flower stalk from my rhubarb that has bolted (my neighbour's has too)

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

Re-edged one side of the herb-patch with existing bricks and deposited 300L of bark mulch on it.
300L only covered one sixth.

Will have to find a tame tree surgeon to secure a supply of shreddings.

__________________
Always thank people who have helped you immediately, as they may not be around to thank later.
Visit my blog at http://podsplot.blogspot.com/
I support http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/