What I Did Today Archive - 2010

[Sanjo]

Made another 8 jars of compost heap jelly. Becoming addictive! This time it's a light ruby red as against the dark elderberry colour earlier in the week. Still tasty with an overtone of marmalade (presumably caused by the citrus peel in it.) My son arrived to collect his children and my grandaughter delighted in showing him the jar of jelly she was taking home and when she told him what it was called he nearly had a fit. I think he was under the impression we had been rooting around in the bin for the ingredients. Didn't stop him sticking his finger in the leftover jam in the dish though!

[rustylady]

Went to the local supermarket to watch Granddaughter performing with the rest of her dance group. Weather deteriorated as soon as we got home!! Picked another big bowlful of tomatoes from the greenhouse. Weather got even worse, so now making chilli jelly.

[susieq100]

Tried to avoid the cloudbursts of torrential rain. Made plum chutney, cut up beans for the freezer.

[rustylady]

Chilli jelly from yesterday was put on hold due to a couple of (very) large glasses of wine. Finished off today. Looks and tastes good.

[vicky]

8kg of tomatoes were turned into 6 jars of sauce with some onions, garlic, basil, oregano and lardons

[wellie]

Trousers went on another Metal Detecting Rally today. Didn't find much, but really enjoyed himself. And I love the fact that he's loving it..X
Meanwhile, I turned the entire kitchen and conservatory completely upside down, booted anything out that wasn't earning its' keep.

We're now left with much more of a working farmhouse kitchen, and what I'd call a 'Summer' Kitchen, which is kind of 'Doing A Delia', without 'The Delia' where I take my harvested produce from the garden, prep it/store it in a room that looks out onto the garden, and do all the messy stuff there so that Trousers doesn't get quite so cross with me for messing up the entire house in the process.

[Two_Sheds]

- surveyed the gale damage (sunflowers ripped out, courgette plants snapped at base)
- tied remaining sunflowers to chain link fence
- cut all "leaves" off all cabbages (complete with caterpillars) and composted them all
- planted out 6 savoys that I had luckily left over in the gh
- did some half-hearted weeding (too wet & windy to be a pleasant job)
- picked & froze a dozen sweetcorn (Northern Xtra Early has been useless, Conqueror brilliant)
- dug lots Pink Fir Apple
- pulled spring onions: wow they've done well in all the rain
- nipped growing tips off all pumpkins & squash
- took in ripe French beans to dry (they're just rotting on the ground & attracting slugs)
- cut half the lawn with shears again. Gave in and bought a lawnmower
- cut down hollyhocks to compost
- cut mildewy leaves off geraniums
- salted over 100 slugs in the garden
- made blackberry whisky, strawberry vodka & raspberry vodka
- dug out spuds and planted leeks
- composted sweetcorn stalks & planted kale
- planted out a dozen lettuce
- collected and sprinkled wallflower seed

[Qzy]

Dug 1 row of Cara and 5 rows of Lady Balfour potatoes. Both are huge, but there are a lot of Slug Damaged Lady Balfour potatoes . I had to bin quite a lot of them.

Cut down Peas to the ground (leaving the roots there). Harvested a couple of Swedes and went Slug hunting around the Oak Leaf lettuce - there were tons of them.

[vicky]

Another 8kg of tomatoes currently bubbling into sauce
Picked 3 marrows and 6 courgettes for sister and bil - made them up a huge box of goodies (buried the marrows at the bottom where they wouldn't spot them till they got back home!) 3kg tomatoes, bag of Kestrel new pots, garlic, 5 cucumbers, carrots, beans and loads of herbs.
picked dried peas pods off plants for seeds
Fed school chickens and their nasty cockerel and weeded the veggie garden there.
Bought a chest freezer (have wanted one for ages!)

[Flummery]

I almost had to re-erect my big bean frame which had blown over in yesterday's high winds. It's going to help dome of the beans to dry a bit quicker!

Dug some Charlottes, picked some Moonlight beans and a cabbage for tea. Made mushy peas with some of the left over peas from my purple mangetout project and stuffed an overgrown courgette for the main course. Had ice-cream with rasps and blackcurrant sauce. Lovely - all home grown except the mince and the ice cream.

At home, moved on my young fig to a bigger pot and JI3 compost. Stuck a few of the early harvested spuds into pots for Christmas.

[Suky]

Harvested some runner beans and last of the telephone peas for dinner.
Picked 3/4 of the cooking apples from our ancient tree. Some good enough to keep, most will be pied, crumbled, juiced and jellied.
Started to process some of the 8kg of damsons picked this weekend. Chutney, jam and jelly coming up
Made strawberry preserve ala Delia, only 2 jars and a bit too sweet for my taste.
Made 2nd lot of crabapple jelly from the apples collected via Freecycle.

And to top it all, won 2 2nd's for my photos in the local Horticultural club show.

[Mrs T]

- looked at the lotty weeds, turned round and went home again. The rain has germinated 1000s of them
- fed the chillies and gave them a good talking to

Hi there... what are you feeding your chillies??? Mine have done brilliantly this year (new green house helps!) and I'm keen to maximise the yield now...

As for rain and weeds.... I feel your pain...

[Bigmallly]

Lifted half a dozen beetroot (cylindra 1st time grown- lovely).
Pulled a couple of sweetcorn, 3 courgettes. 1 cabbage & loads of spring onions.
Sowed 150 sweet peas in rootrainers.

[vicky]

Made tomato ketchup
de-caterpillared brassicas.
counted savoy winter cabbages in ground (130ish!!!)
lots of weeding
sowed artic lettuce, corn salad and cauli seeds
potted on spring cabbages
potted up plants for plant sale in 2 weeks

[spiderpig]

had to salvage what was left from my borlotti bean wigwam that collapsed in recent rain/wind.bamboo canes had snapped under strain,so lost two sides when plants ripped out of ground.was able to prop up remaining plants and tie in to new canes.

weeded borders and dead headed calendula/dahlias/sweetpeas.

harvested small courgettes to try and keep allotment show specimen happy(and growing)!

repositioned rampant squash that was climbing across brassica plot.

cut back deadwood on raspberries and started to tie in new growth to new stakes.