The 'What I Did Today' Archive - 2007

[ysb33r]

(1) Layed out seed potatoes in shed for chitting.

(2) Dropped the last of the chinese artichokes into the frying pan.

[Snadger]

Today I christened my recently purchased Land Rover with cr*p!!

The Landy is my allotment toy and as such has to earn it's keep. Today I drove about 4 mile to collect some 5 year old horse muck. It was like cutting cheese or peat and was cut out in blocks and wheel barrowed up onto pickup bed up a scaffold batten. No smell but a bit squidgy where I'd been cr*p cuuting.
Duly loaded up, off I went along the Al with the back end of the truck aquiring a mind of it's own with the 1 Tonne plus pile wobbling on the back. Anyway, suffice to say, arrived safely at allotment and wasn't looking forward to wheeelbarrowing it to the far end where I had a place to put it.

Finished in good time but my body is feeling the after afffects and a bath and a bottle of wine seems to be the order of the day.
I have a trailer load of logs ready to pick up sometime soon, a trailerload of plastic pipes for growing carrots and parsnips in and a good few loads of 3 foot by 10 foot plywood boards (old advertising hoardings from around a rugby pitch) ready to be taken to lottie for various building projects I have in mind.
One of the blokes at the lottie told me of a factory close by which pile wood offcuts in dumpy bags for anyone with transport to take away so I intend having a trip there as well!
All these are for future forays though, so for the moment I'll sip my wine and look forward to the aches and pains when I get up in the morning!

[Hazel at the Hill]

A trip to the Hill today to dig a couple of leeks, a few carrot and to cut a cabbage.

[scarey55]

Made Lemon yoghart cake to Flum's recipe, Mmmmmmm, if a bit sticky.

[zazen999]

Harvested some strange looking swedes [weren't supposed to be swedes, but that's the excitement of heritage seeds], a couple of very small romanesco and beetroot; it's sooooo cold can't stay out too long...I know I am pathetic but hey ho.
Got a letter about my allotment, possibly might get one before March but there should be one for me when the subs for this year run out [who lets allotments april to march??? what a crazy idea]. Of course, by then I will have given back my Navara [idea for allotments] and taken possession of a much smaller greener and not really suitable for allotments Prius. Typical!

[shirlthegirl43]

Picked a nice, red, Big Jim chilli from the greenhouse. They are still flowering and fruiting.

[pigletwillie]

A quick trip to the lottie today saw a bunch of chantenay carots pulled, several pallets dropped off and my trailer dropped off at the farm for loading with more muck.

At home lots of old pallet wood was converted into kindling and stored behind the workshop.

[bubblewrap]

Made some JA soup Mmmmmmmm interesting?

[pigletwillie]

Aaaaghhh, spent the morning fixing an annoying leak on my boiler, the afternoon stripping woodchip from the hall stairs and landing and a bit in between potting on some hative de niort shallots that have started to sprout.

[bubblewrap]

Finished the Christmas shopping today got the most important
A case of Batemans XXXB 12 bottles @ 1.29 each a bargain!

[plotty]

Finished the Christmas shopping today got the most important
A case of Batemans XXXB 12 bottles @ 1.29 each a bargain!

You will no doubt be doing a lot of trumping then bubblewrap^^

[Hole Digger]

Finished the Christmas shopping today got the most important
A case of Batemans XXXB 12 bottles @ 1.29 each a bargain!

Even better bubblewrap 4 bottles for a fiver at Morrisons Trip 2 the lotty dug bolted celeirac up and composted,wondered when to dig one bed of green manure in(phacelia) its about 6 inches high?

[Snadger]

Today I took my landy for a jaunt to the allotment.........first time i've had a chance to get there over the crimbo hollies!
After replacing the 2 foot wide strips of carpet that I use for paths, which had blown all over the allotment in the recent high winds I retired to my main greenhouse to light the stove. Surprisingly it was 60 deg F in the greenhouse so it wasn't absolutely necessary to light the fire but it helped dry the inside out a bit if nothing else. I sorted through my stored onions and shallots, discarding the few that were soft or starting to rot.
Because it was bright outside I planted 3 potted blackcurrant bushes and one whitecurrant. Still got a couple of potted redcurrants and a couple of gooseberries to plant but I felt i'd done enough outdoors for one day. I dug large holes for each plant, mucked the bottom,planted,mucked the top and finished with a heavy mulch of straw around all. In so doing I managed to get a carrier bag full of potatoes I'd missed from the same area so picked three leeks to go with them! .........Leek and tattie soup........ye canna wack it!
By this time the greenhouse was lovely and snug so I sowed Kelsae Onions,Mammoth Leeks,Ham Onions and Red Ham Onions! These were taken home and are in a propagator on the windowsill.
I patched up one of my other greenhouses to try and stop any drafts and took all my spare winter brassicas into it. Cauli,PSB, Nine star perennial and two or three indeterminates!
Back to warm greenhouse, made myself a cuppa on the by now, hot stove, had a bit potter around making a bit of room for the seed sowing frenzy that will be coming soon.

All in all, not a bad days work, apart from the landy running out of petrol as I pulled back into the drive at home (must get that fuel guage sorted)

[Hazel at the Hill]

This morning I went to the Hill and:

• Dug in the green manure (winter rye) on half of last years potato plot. It's about 6" high
• cut a cabbage - these are primo II, summer cabbage. (note to self: work out differences between different sorts of cabbage)
• dug a couple of parsnip

Came home and:

• made Sarah Raven's spiced parsnip soup (p427)
• sowed 12 Ailsa Craig Onion, a pinch of Ishikura Spring Onion in each of 4 pots and 4 All the Year round cauliflower all in 3" seed pots.

A good day.

[pigletwillie]

Struggled to the plot and put up some nest boxes, took lots of blackcurrant cuttings, planted hative de niort shallots in pots and sorted out the chrysanthemums ready to take cutting. Then retreated back to bed.