The 'What I Did Today' Archive - 2007

[heebiejeebie]

Cut the front lawn - first time since I laid the turf so mower set on highest setting. Cut back lawn too since I had the mower out anyway. Strimmed the edges and the weeds. Tidied up the path a bit, checked that the water butt does drain into the lottie butt when full (yes!) then hosed the woolly aphids off the apple tree again.

Set up the solar fountain in the pond. It kept getting knocked over last summer so I put a hole iin a bucket, followed by a couple of bricks and then the pump. It can't fall over as easily now!

[Geo]

Dug up some Maris Bard for Sunday lunch.. Here

They were delicious...I have four beds of pots..

Maris Bard, Maris Piper, King Edwards & Sharpe's Express....

Geo..

[g51065]

Went to garden centre to buy herbs and pots and impulse bought a seven foot peach tree.....! it's allready got twelve peaches on it and its sooooo cute.
picked some strawbs off the lottie, and turnips and more broad beans, late planted some firetongue climbing beans to make use of space (you never know), earthed up me "late's", checked on me earlies (still not worth upping yet...!),cut some sallad leaf, checked on the progress of Billi's sub plot (she's only elleven and still under the wing), transfered a few onions onto Billi's sub plot to make it appear something is actually growing..!, now relaxing,gazing at me peach tree.

[Mrs Dobby]

Got down to the plot for about 1030am, very hot and muggy, now have a lovely glow from the sun and hair thats a complete mess from the breeze and sweat!

Planted another 7 rows of resistafly carrots and 4 more rows of autumn king carrots, then planted another batch of parsnips where we'd not had germination, so they were between the 106 that had already germinated!

Mr D did a great job of weeding the brassica bed, and I weeded the onions and carrot beds.

Harvested another lb of strawbs, another 6 mange tout (eaten on the spot!) and took a few more piccies!

First batch of overwintering Sturion Onions have started to flop, so almost ready to harvest, the overwintering garlic is nicely turning yellow, so almost ready to harvest too, and the broad beans are swelling in their pods nicely! Harvested another 2 cucumbers, one went to a plot neighbour and the other came home with us! Also have a couple of rasps nearing ripeness!

[SarzWix]

Too hot, too hot, too hot....
Tried to get the new greenhouse set up with drip watering system, staging etc so I can start transferring plants... Nearly cooked myself, even with old net curtains thrown over roof. So, gave that up and tried to plant my sweetcorn, interspersed with courgette plants. Got 6 plants in and had to give that up too, when I nearly passed out. Staying indoors now, drinking copious amounts of water, will prob go back later when it's cooled down a bit!

[Two_Sheds]

Too hot, too hot, too hot....Staying indoors now, drinking copious amounts of water, will prob go back later when it's cooled down a bit!

ENOUGH !
It is still cold and foggy here on the North Sea, has been for more than a ruddy week.

[Kimbo]

Today, got two thirds of the greenhouse up, just need to put the roof pieces on the second half and then put the cladding on (its hard work on my own).

Finally got my compost delivery and managed to earth up a couple of the bags of maris piper - will get the rest done tomorrow after work.

Picked some spinach, a couple of broad bean pods and half a dozen pea pods to go with my steak for tea. Had a furtle around in one of the potatoe pots (arran pilot) but couldnt feel anything and didnt want to disturb it too much,so its shop bought spuds for tea.

Seem to be winning the battle with the blackfly although there was one plant this afternoon covered in them that didnt have any on this morning, they were soon dispatched with my rhubarb spray. Noticed a ladybird on the rest of the broad beans - yipee

[Seahorse]

Today I've potted on courgettes, pumpkins and butternut squash into B&Q buckets, planted out some cauliflower and beetroot seedlings, sowed more beetroot directly into the veg patch, sowed leeks, more courgettes and Lollo Rosso lettuce for the greenhouse and mowed the lawn.

Claire

[NattieG]

Sewed more lettuce, radish and spring onions, and picked *read eat* some strawberries

[Sebbster]

Weeded, weeded and weeded some more.

Shifted alot of bark chippings which had kindly been left by a local farmer at no charge. Mighty hot work on Saturday but well worth it.

Took the cover off my brassicas as they were getting too large for it and there was no give on the wondermesh. They are large enough now not to worry about birds etc.

Broads are almost ready for picking, maybe another 2 weeks to let the beans grow properly.

Picked a beetroot and a new carrot to see how they were doing. Well the carrot I could have used as a toothpick but the beetroot was ok, small but will taste sweet and nice. At least I now know the carrots will be ready soon.

Spinach continues to bolt but once flowers removed it grows very fast indeed.

Thinned out the swede's which have pretty much all germinated. Runner beans now established and growing nicely. All main crop carrots are a couple of inches and all main pots up and growing. Some are getting flowers already, not sure why that is or whether its normal.

At home 1 strawberry is ready for picking although its grown a strange shape. Tomato's are growing well but I'm not sure whether the flowers are being pollinated or not. Used a brush on them so hope they'll be ok. Courgette's are now growing and about to flower, looks like courgette on toast for Sunday brunch for a while.

Curly Kale almost ready for putting out but it's in roottrainers so there is no rush. Leeks also ready for putting out and both of these will go in place of new pots once they are eaten. And I've been eating alot of them, they are lovely.

[Flummery]

Dismantled spud pot with granddaughter - pic on blog. Not a bad haul from 3 small seed pots.
Did humungous amount of weeding in ornamental beds.

[sewer rat]

Sowed carrots and radish. Planted out lettuces. Filled IBC tanks from quarry. Put winbreak up round my runner bean wigwams.
Tonight got a Gardening Clum meeting til about 9:30 them I'm off out again on pigeon and rabbit extermination duties til probably about 1 or 2 in the morning - can taste the wabbits alweady.
KILL THE WABBIT, KILL THE WABBIT, as Elmer Fudd would say !!

[momol]

I have been weeding, harvest courgette and plus fertilizing it's plant with some basic NPK, harvest some 4 strawberries , and checking the corn ... yeah flowers are coming but it is now 2 meters and perhaps a bit more ( how am I going to harvest them later ?! ), sowing some amaranth ( green and red ) and removing some side shoot of my Pink Brandy Tom.

Momol

[Mrs Dobby]

Just back from the plot, with another 1 1/2 lb strawbs, makes the total about 5lb in the past week now! Watered everything, harvested strawbs, another 4 mange tout (eaten on the spot, mmm!) and another 2 cucumbers (thats 5 already!) Overwintering Sturion onions are deffo wilting, some nice big ones too, so should be harvesting them very shortly now! Garlic is also nearing harvesting too! Peas on plot1 arent growing quite as quickly as those on plot2, which seem to be growing at an amazing rate, as do all the types of bean we've planted down there, broad beanson plot1 look like the first may be at edible size wthin the next week or so too! Iceberg and little gem lettuces are growing well, and we've baby carrots in the mixed carrot / onion bed, and loads of parsnips, with foliage at up to 18" tall!

Corn and squashes / pumpkins are romping away, they seem to be growing whilst you look at them, and the fartichokes are nearing 6' in height! First of the rasps look like they are almost ready to eat, I recon we should be able to harvest a few on Wednesday, when we get back from an overnight stay in York tomorrow, late valentines prezzie, tickets to see Blackmore's Night and a night in a posh hotel!

In the back yard we've another load of strawbs in the hanging baskets and planters, looks like they may also be ripe soon, so methinks we'll be jamming the glut soon! Another 4 toms in the cheapo plastic greenhouse are also ripe, and 2 of the beefsteak variety from saved seed are beginning to ripen too!

All in all its looking good for some seriously tasty fruit n veg!

Oh, and the weeds are also growing like mad!

[pigletwillie]

3 out of 4 beds of garlic were harvested this afternoon. Two beds were raised and two were traditional beds, the idea being to see which ones produced the best garlic. It proved to be totally inconclusive as it all came up with fat bulbs of garlic on the end of the dead foiliage. The Lautrec garlic is cracking with the white even better.

The traditional beds that are now free are being planted with leeks and the wolf cultivating tool proved to be the best 30 euro I have spent in a long time. It knocked the soil down to a fine tilth in minutes.

Foremost new potatoes were also dug up for tea and tasted absolutely fantastic, hot and smothered in butter.