The 'What I Did Today' Archive - 2007

[johnty greentoes]

Almost danced for joy when I noticed a courgette seed had stuck out a root, a bit like it is testing the water.

Walked all over the Yorkshire Wolds (North Dalton & Huggate mostly). Found a dew pond full of toads in the most amazing knots. Attached.

[TonyF]

Had a stonking day:

Off to the brico shed this am and bought some supports/posts for the smaller fruit tress and got them sorted.

Also some decking boards and more boxes built for the fruit bushes.

Then two chums came round who owed me some time (sort of a time bank thing) and they strimmed the whole of the back of the garden, excellent job, really looks the mutts now and I can see what I need to do to put the nmew veggie beds in.

Sorted out some of the leaves from the oak trees and sorted out a few other bits and bobs in passing, like repairing the small water butt (300 litres) at the front of the house.

Weather glorious, over 20 degrees and set fair for the next 4/5 days.

Don't you just love days like this .........

[shirlthegirl43]

Managed to dig another half row of my 'garden to be' - very slow going at the moment. Not sure if I am finding bramble roots or if they are roots from the conifers which are now beheaded, removing them all to be on the safe side. Soil looks pretty good though, a nice rich brown and crumbly (is that how it should look?) most soil round here is quite red. Hope it will get the chance to show me if it will grow something other than brambles and nettles this year but if my energy doesn't allow a more rapid digging then it is likely that my growing will all be in pots again.

[denise]

What a fantasic day - wonderful weather. I tidied the greenhouse and set up a raised bed in there to grow cucmbers in. Pricked out 'lemon' marigolds, poached egg plants and moved all the things from kitchen to greenhouse - covered it with fleece over night. Tidied the patio area, moved frame from old plastic greenhouse, complete with 2 grow bags, each with 3 strawberry plants in. Went to lottie with a loaded car with big cage thingy OH got from work will use it as a compost bin. 5 bags of would be leaf mould,leaves from MIL's garden last year and my 36 Broad beans and tray of peas. Time was against me so only had time to fork over area where I planted the broad beans, watered them and covered them with fleece. Watered area where Broad beans were sown direct about 3 weeks ago, they are just begining to show. Watered the rasberry canes and gooseberry bush, gooseberry is showing signs of life but nothing on the rasberries as yet.

[Seabreeze]

The northeasterly wind has abated and I broached forth (is that the right word... sounds good anyway!) at about 7.30 (Thursday). I raked over one of the raised beds and sowed two rows of Boltardy (beetroot) - it's great. Three rows of carrots, of three different kinds; I realised I hadn't bought any seed this year, so it's all old! Two rows of parsnips; which importantly, is new seed, of course.

I put almost all of the plants in the greenhouse outside into plastic trays and watered the pots from below. Interestingly, the zonal pelargonium plant leaves are turning a brilliant red in colour. I don't know why, but they look really great.

Then I started to tidy the greenhouse... but got interrupted. We had to go shopping, and the weather was fine... so we went on to Radipole Lake (Weymouth), birding - before the Easter grocks arrive in their hordes tomorrow and the traffic gets horrendous over there.

At lunchtime we returned home and 'dug in for the holiday period'. We are going nowhere EXCEPT in the garden! I sprayed some Coolglass onto one end of the greenhouse. I will put some more on tomorrow.

This evening I soaked recently planted pear trees x 2, and apples x3 with water from the hose. The lawns are showing quite large cracks now as there has been very little rain over the past few weeks. We don't get hose bans here, but I don't usually water the lawns. It seems like a waste... and disconnecting the sprinkler from beside the veg beds is too much like hard work!

[heebiejeebie]

Yesterday: Didn't have as much time as I thought so forked over just enough ground for the permanent strawberry bed and planted 24 strawberry plants propagated from older plants last year. Thought a lot about bed layout in the process.

Today's plans: set up the plastic cold frame (one of those nasty 4-tier thingies but it's all I've got), buy some seed compost and sow the brassicas. Do more weeding in the far plot and plant onion sets.

[nick the grief]

Today I built the base for my friends Greenhouse and moved the frame over .... surprise it fits it will look good when we've finshed all the jobs on his garden, then I can start on mine

[Squash Muppet]

Spent all day at the lottie today

Hoed ground already dug over to keep weeds down. Planted peas directly into the ground and covered them over with a net cloche. Watered my seeds I planted earlier in the week. Laid a path so I can weed and water the beds already created. Laid a large patch of weed surpressing membrane to try and kill some of the damn things. Very proud - first ever garlic came through so I took a photo. Planted French breakfast radishes. Chased some vandals.

Busy day!

SM

[Two_Sheds]

Lots to do, but feeling lazy in the sun. Managed to sow Early Sprouting Broc, Black Kale, carrots. Walked round plot relocating ladybirds onto plants that actually HAVE greenfly! (how did they evolve, that lot? stoopid)
Squashed some bean weevils hiding in my broad beans.
The peas are up, YAY! Planted out my greenhouse peas to keep them company.
Not too much traffic on roads, so a nice clear ride thru town on me bike, no near-misses at all - I think everyone's driven down to Devon or somewhere.

[Mrs Dobby]

Had to work today, and ran out of a Sat Nav we have on offer, so rang another store to see if they had some, and then persuaded my Area Manager to act as a delivery driver and bring them over to me!

Rushed home after picking some more stock up from another branch, got changed and grabbed the hose nozzle and went down to the plot to water, spent a lovely 1/2 hour watering in the late sunshine (got there at about 630pm), and checked up on all our crops, the radishes in the greenhouse are almost big enough to be edible, methinks we'll be munching them tomorrow when we take Yo down to the plot for a looksee!

Came home and started watering in the plastic greenhouse in the back yard and noticed that we have our first ever tomato on one of the toms in there! Its only about 6mm in diameter (and green) but its our first one of the season!

Now wildly enthused and looking thru the seeds to see what else we can plant up!

[Hazel at the Hill]

Went to the Hill with Mum to pick rhubarb and for her to admire progress. She was less enthusiastic than she should have been and I nearly didn't let her have the rhubarb - can she not see that the broad beans are 1/2" taller than they were last weekend?!

Worry about notches in broad bean and pea leaves.

Went home via GC to buy recommended New Horizon compo (vastly superior to Westland equivilant - well worth the extra quid) and potted the jiffy-sown brussel sprouts (falstaff) and broc (can't remember) into 3" pots.

[pigletwillie]

What a fabulous day today was. I spent most of it building a second home made polytunnel that is 13' x 20' and just under 9' high.

The hoops, crop bars, centre rail, door frames and one door are complete leaving 3 more doors, (double door on this one for added ventilation) and the side frame to finish before fitting it with its cover tommorow afternoon all being well. An added bonus is that my nephew, who works for a huge building company as a groundsman is coming tomor0row with a very large and expensive rotovator to do inside the tunnel and whats left of the new plot.

As a break from polytunnel building, Piglette planted out fifty odd tomatoes went into the first tunnel we built, giving me breathing space in the greenhouse at home at last. Somehow she also managed to weedo out an onion bed as these critters like no competition at all to do well.

[Kimbo]

Today I dug out 4 1m x 0.5 raised beds and filled them with compost. Sowed some more lancer parsnips, more peas, repotted by savoy cabbage and kale from their seed trays. Sowed some snowball turnips in pots.

Hopefully tomorrow (if I can get out of bed after all the digging I have done today) I will get my broad beans from the greenhouse into one of the raised beds put aside for them. I will get some fleece to cover the canopy over the bed just in case we get a frost. Hope to get my peas from the greenhouse in too - will have to cover them with plastic bottles as mini cloches in case of frost.

[TonyF]

Went off to see my chums about their garden this morning and delivered their first lot of herbs in pots and troughs, also managed to spend an hour going through the final planting plan with them.

Lunch with another chum, then off to try to find some gravel in one of the brico sheds - the very fine stuff for dressing alpines, not the big stuff.

Spent a happy hour by the river Vesere, sitting in a cafe on the bank there having a drink.

Then back home for a well earned rest. And the weather has just been glorious, warm to hot all day.

Apart from planning and a bit of tidying up, a non-gardening day, had to catch up with some work on my new website on-line shop - but tomorrow is all sorted for gardening!

[Snadger]

Sowed three packets of broad beans to go with the overwintered ones which are in flower! I now have a 4 foot X 12 foot bed full of broad beans, love em!
Made a framework and draped mesh over them until they germinate to keep off mice, birds and a marauding cat!
Sowed thee small rows of parsnips after re-digging the soil and removing any stones. Also rigged up five X four foot lengths of 8" dia plastic drainpipe filled with sifted soil and sowed three parsnip seeds in the top of each as an experiment.
Sowed some ornamental gourds in greenhouse for a friend and walking stick cabbage for myself! Fancy having a go at making the walking sticks as it may not be long before I need one!
Watered everything that required watering and filled watering cans that I left in greenhouses to normalise temp for next watering.

Leant a hand building a chicken run next door and watched his newly aquired Silkie chickens for a while! Facinating,.......... made me think I must get some chickens eventually as I already have a hut and covered run which I inherited but would like to get the veg growing side sorted first! Ahhh well, maybe some day!