The 'What I Did Today' Archive - 2007

[shine388]

today...

i went to aldi and bought many things, including 2 packets of seeds - carrots and spinach beet (no doubt i'll be needing help with those very soon!) and one of their cold frame thingys that are on offer at the mo. i also debated on buying a set of their soft fruits but i only wanted raspberries and already have black currants (ribena!) so decided not to.

i got home and assembled the cold frame and it's a lot stronger than i thought, it looks so cute there are only two things im worried about - the bottom shelf is going to be pretty cold in the winter because the cover doesn't quite reach it so there's a tiny gap but i can do something about that if need be, and secondly i am sure slugs will get in and make the legs all slimy and eat my plants so i guess i'll be using slug pellets in there. still, not bad for the price.

since then i've been watching the 2nd bridget jones on dvd, coughing far too much and trying to keep whatever this illness is under control, have a good night!

x

[Two_Sheds]

What I did today: it was cold, but I had to get outside. I transplanted foxgloves and Penny Blacks. I lugged lumps of concrete from the 'dump' to edge the borders of our Allotment lane; I barrowed 4 loads of bark chippings for my paths (love that piney smell underfoot). Got free carrots for dinner - someone has dug all theirs up and just dumped them 'free for all'. The question is: why grow so many in the first place?

[BayViewPlot]

Got me nuts covered i dirt at the lottie (walnut n almond)

Also dug some.

[wellie]

Trousers kindly barrowed six bags of 5 yr old FYM from the compost bin area to the 'Grown-Up Girls Greenhouse' for me to fill the bottom of the newly formed borders, which I've lined with weed-supressing fabric, to keep it apart from the sand, cement, aggregate layer underneath. Then he disappeared off into the kitchen to do Sunday Lunch. I ask you. Lightweight !

Anyway, since there was a clear path to the actual compost bins themselves now, Trousers told me the compost was looking great, and indeed it was ! so I barrowed half the bin into the greenhouse as well, and then some topsoil from one of the raised beds which has had 5 yr old FYM in it on top of all that. Then I had a bath.

Earlier today, Linda came round from next door to have coffee and cadge a load of seeds that I promised her. She's just starting to grow in their back garden, and no point buying 50 million packets of seeds when in fact I've got that many already.....! So we had great fun. And Trousers made a Cake, which is actually really quite scrumptious in a very rustic kind of way. He's unnaturally proud of it (ex-chef? cake? problem?!) I love him cooking cakes and stuff!
So, all in all, a lovely day, and my Musselburgh Leeks started to germinate !

Thank you for listening...

[Mrs Dobby]

Oooh, Wellie! Mr D bakes too, its something of a family tradition, his Dad is a brickie, and yet loves to bake at home, so I think Mr D picked it up off him! He did some scrumptious choccy eclairs on Saturday, with thick real chocolate on top, that broke when you bit into it! (Like a magnum does!)

Off to another garden center today for some supplies, then down the plot, to finish marking out the second plot, move all the wood (that we were going to burn but is too wet) from our first plot so we can stack it near the compost for a while (theres a skip coming soon to the site) and then get it double dug!

[shine388]

yay

been diagnosed with the flu thats been going around so at least i know it's not all in my head now.

it means i probably won't be in college or placement all this week (can't look after babies with it) so i plan to get lots of work done and gardening too - planting the seeds i got yesterday, putting things in my new 'baby greenhouse', digging/weeding the border along the length of the garden etc (although may not be able to do the last one until my head stops hurting when i move it too quickly)

oh well, we must find the positives

[Two_Sheds]

Made up an obelisk for my sweet peas: with my own-grown willow sticks. I didn't know what I was doing, I just wound it round and round. Looks v.rustic. Now I have found instructions:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/desig...wobelisk.shtml

[magicbean]

muck in my beds

Today I completed the 6 new raised beds by barrowing the last of the soil into them ! Also finished off the 3 year rotation plan and had time to colour in.
This is all new to me and I am eager to learn and am looking at grapevines info - next stage seems to be that I should be adding organic matter into the beds - not quite sure what would be best. I live up North (Pendle Lancashire) do I have time to add to the soil before sowing?

[JennieAtkinson]

Been an overcast day, but not too cold and very little wind. Managed to dig the final bed in the polytunnel - H-O-O-R-A-Y !! The end of my three year plan. It pays to do it in chunks. Spent most of the time looking for the dog - she thinks the fields around the house are also the garden! Can hardly walk now - too much digging!

[Mrs Dobby]

Well, it's been a damp and drizzly afternoon, but we did manage to get down to the plot, uncovered and raked over one of the beds (that was double dug and covered over with weed control fabric in November) ready for planting some Jerusalem Articholes that we've got from one of the grapes, soil was lovely, nice n friable, raked easily and looks great!

Then got onto the second plot and marked out all 10 of the beds with string! Also took a few piccies of the second plot, so you can all see what its like! Fortunately it's in fairly good nick, and at least is no where near as bad as our first plot was when we took that over!

First piccie is a general view of the second plot, which is a half plot, running EW across the middle of the allotment, with a road at either end.

Second piccie is the view from the other end, looking Westwards, with the 2 blackcurrant bushes and flowers at the front.

Third piccie is of Mr D tying the marking string onto the pegs I'd already put in to mark the beds!

Fourth piccy is of the plot with all 10 beds marked out!

Last piccie is of the cold frame that we've inherrited!

[Mrs Dobby]

Been an overcast day, but not too cold and very little wind. Managed to dig the final bed in the polytunnel - H-O-O-R-A-Y !! The end of my three year plan. It pays to do it in chunks. Spent most of the time looking for the dog - she thinks the fields around the house are also the garden! Can hardly walk now - too much digging!

Lol! Well done Jennie for finishing the digging! Methinks a hot bath, nice massage and a glass or three of wine are in order!

[nick the grief]

Today I've been mostly moving Sheds!!

We bought 12 for our allotment site with some of the funding we got & the kind man on the lorry wouldn't come onto site so dropped the blody lot in the road!! so we had to carry them onto site & then a kind man turned up with a tractor & trailer to deliversomething so he was press ganged into action Here's four of them



Whilst I was waiting I did do a bit of digging & covered it with some plaggy to war it up a tad & made a cloche ready for some early carrots



Now I'm lying down in a dark room recovering

[Protea]

This is more a 'what i did yesterday' but anyway..!

I planted most of my shallot sets into modules of compost in the geenhouse, my plot won't be workable for ages as its so wet and i want the shallots to get a good long growing season as i want to attempt to show some this year!

I'm growing 3 varieties: golden gourmet, red sun and Longor (this is the showing variety).

I also pricked out one of my chilli seedlings that had germinated, transplanted some geranium plugs i bought from the garden centre on Saturday into bigger modules, and gazed longingly at all the seedlings and trays full of seed i have in the propagator and on nearly ALL the windowsills in the house Mr Protea reckons we're going to run out of room very soon...

[sewer rat]

Today I ordered all my pots, trays, strip packs etc, then all my compost and vermiculite etc, then all my plant labels for the young veggie plants I am supplying my local GC with.
Then this evening I went to a committee meeting for our local gardening club and have just got home with a 100% increase in my young veggie plant sales - now supplying two garden centres - need to order more pots seeds and compost etc - and ask bank for overdraft !!
So happy I could.........

[Mrs Dobby]

Today I have been mostly sitting at my desk wishing I was not.


You've worked SO HARD on this D & Mrs D!! The plot look FAB and you both deserve a bit pat on the back!

Hope you can replace the perspex on the coldframe - if you know a conservatory company locally, I bet they have lots of spare triple dipple thickness polycarb that they use as roofing.... your little seedlings will be warm as toast! LOL!

Thanks for the kind words Hazel, luckily Mr D scrounged some thick clear perspex from his work (it was for recovering the trolley shelters at the supermarket he's based at, but it was spare and only going in the bin!), so we've already got some ready to cut! We have got to move it about 2', to move it to the edge of the bed, but I've a feeling that we are going to try some sweet potatoes in it, as its fairly big and deep, plus it has no bottom on it, so they can go into the ground below! Fortunately we've already another cold frame on our first plot, and a 10' by 8' greenhouse on the first plot too, plus one of the plastic walk in greenhouses thats going to go onto the second plot and another 6' by 4' greenhouse coming soon for the back garden! Methinks we will soon have enough room for the seedlings that are currently on every south facing windowsil and under the loft windows in the loft conversion!