What I did today - 2016

[Bacchus]

I have to make the most of dry Saturdays at this time of year.

Managed to get the electric rotovator out and do some work with it. On of the benefits of having my veg. garden close to the house is access to electric.





Inspected my chilies which are starting to show some activity.



And took a random photo from the polytunnel door.

[bario1]

Today I cleared and swept out the greenhouse in preparation for the new season. At the moment there's just some spuds chitting in there and some broad beans in root trainers, just up.
Then I headed to the plot, did some composting and sprayed the polytunnel with some stuff that's supposed to get rid of the algae that's built up on it. We'll see!

[SusieG]

Went to local GC and purchased 6 x 50 litre bags of veggie growing compost, used one already. Mustn't get too carried away, plenty of sowing time to come .....

[Bex2012]

Went to a garden centre/ nursery that someone in work told me about. Well worth the trip, although my garden would need to be triple the size to fit in everything i wanted to buy. It was so cheap! I was very restrained, and just came away with a patio apple, a patio pear, and a acer. Will probably go back as they had some really good deals on compost, 5 x 50lt for �10 - no idea what its like though!
Then we spent 3 1/2hrs over the allotment building the raised beds, clearing a path, and putting down a patio/work area. Now at home watching the rugby and warming up!

[Greenleaves]

Started to dig over the area I removed the trees from, the trees are having the last laugh as I am now having to remove the the deeper roots.

[veggiechicken]

Went to the local seed swap and acquired some more seeds Also some onion sets and shallots - just because they were staring at me.
Then off to BnQ to clean out all the remaining GH bases. Three 6x8 and 2 6x6. I've no idea where they're going to go yet - but it was fun getting them in the car!!
Very cold here - too cold to do anything outdoors so I'm in with a coffee and a heap of seeds to identify.

[anton002]

I planted out 20 Strawberry plants through a weed membrane (so much harder than just planting them normally

Then i decided to build a fortress to protect my lettuces/salad leaves from the slugs ,plan is to put sandpaper and copper around the legs and then build a timber frame with netting for the lid (stop the pigeons )

We will see !

[Gillykat]

Am I the only person who hasnt started sowing seeds yet? They are barely even organised in their box!

Only seeds I've sown have been two types of Sweet Pea and some Borage. I'm not starting tomatoes or any other veg until around mid-to-late March. Started too early last year so quite happy to wait this time around

[Gillykat]

Our local council are thinking about starting an allotment association to help with getting grants etc for the Ratten Row plots and held a meeting this morning which I attended. There's about 70 plots and only 15 people turned up Talk was mostly about sorting out water problems (my plot is fine, others have leaks etc), fixing the potholes in the track leading up to it, dog fouling (lazy owners who pick up then dump the bags by the side of the path rather than put it in the bin just yards away!) and fencing in the top section which will create another 5 or 6 plots. Good news is that the council have leased the site from Alnwick Estates (Duke of Northumberland's money-grabbing minions) for the next three years so we are safe until March 2019 before they have to sort out another lease.

On the What Did I Do Today front......oooh don't tell Neil Got paid yesterday so went shopping....picked up six lavender plants at Homebase which would normally be �3 each but were just 99p each. All they needed was put into a bigger pot! Also treated myself to a few dahlias, crocosmia, pelargonium & fuchsia plug plants, two types of poppy and a pack of 2 veronica....all for just a quid each at Wilko!

At the allotment this afternoon I potted up the six lavender...sowed 20 sweet peas...cut down dead stalks from flower bed and moved as many of the perennials from that bed (which will become my fruit bed) into the polytunnel and bedded them in until I get the herbaceous border ready for them in next week or two. I think my soil is TOO good because the roots on those lupins almost snapped my spade!!! Salvaged 3 x lupin, 2 x sedum, 2 x red hot pokers, 3 x verbena bonariensis, 15 catmint, a heliopsis and two other yellow flowers whose names I've forgotten!

[Greenleaves]

^^^^Someone's been a busy bee or is that G ?

[Bex2012]

Only seeds I've sown have been two types of Sweet Pea and some Borage. I'm not starting tomatoes or any other veg until around mid-to-late March. Started too early last year so quite happy to wait this time around

Phew! All these organised people made me think I was way behind!
Might prep the compost tomorrow, so its got a chance to warm up a bit before i start sowing.

[vixylix]

I bought and built my Aldi potting bench - I love it

I also bought an electric propogator which is now being put to use on my tomato seedlings.

Also ordered my growlight!!

What kind of time frame do people usually have growlights / electric propagators on for? 24/7?

[Gillykat]

^^^^Someone's been a busy bee or is that G ?

I'm just having SO much fun!

Been off work this week and it has miraculously coincided with dry weather So Monday I organised & laid out six raised beds, Tuesday to Thursday I dug the middle bed (to be a flower bed, seating & wildlife area) and sowed and potted up stuff needing bigger pots, Friday I went birdwatching. Tomorrow I want to finish off the middle bed and, depending how fit I feel, I may do the last-year's-flower-bed as it's clear of perennials now and just needs turned over ready for my fruit bushes to go in.

It's been one of my best holidays yet!

[Bigmallly]

What kind of time frame do people usually have growlights / electric propagators on for? 24/7?

Yes, 24/7 for the prop while there are seeds under them. The lights can be turned off at night as they wouldn't get light all day long.........The lights will need lifting as the plants grow & the seedlings will need to come out of the prop once germinated.

[Bigmallly]

What did I do today?...............Erm, Nada, Zilch, Nowt..........it was too bladdy cold so had a day off.