What have you done in the garden today?

Dandelion wrote:I've checked my 8ft bean poles and replaced a couple - I'm planning to get at least some of my runner beans planted out this weekend. They have been on the windowsill by day and on my desk at night - I noticed mid week that one bean was so long it had started to twine around the desk lamp overnight! They're hardening off in the garden at the moment - I'll just have to cover them with fleece if we get a cold night, clothes-pegging it to the cane.

If you need any more poles come and get some coppice hazel - we always use our own and can spare a few for you.

It was National Bean Pole Week, last week!

Thank you! It was quite a lot of fun carrying the poles through town trying not to get into mischief!
Oh, and I have identified the eggs/maggots in the roots of my runners as sciarid flies - I've never seen them before.

Oooooooooooo they're annoying lil varmints, they are, I hoover them up...

I've also bunged out me runners, and squash. I've put the toms and cucs in their final positions and started putting some squash out, but then DR Who came on, and I got distracted... now I'm here so it's your fault my squash aren' all in. I hope you're all proud of yerselves, I really do, honestly.. cuh...

A busy couple of days. I finally finished clearing up the allotment yesterday, and happily discovered that the 3rd and last compost heap was ready to use, so spread in out where the squashes will be going. Looked like good stuff, but mind you by the time I was doing this it was nearly dark .

Today I've had a marathon potting up session of Chillies, tomatillos etc, then a plant pot washing session with C-H Jnr helping. Greenhouse now looks bursting !

But the most exciting thing - I looked upwards into the branches of my apricot tree and I saw :-


... And that is just one branch on quite a tree. I am already thinking of warm tarte aux abricots a l'Alsacienne !

That sounds fantastic, CH.

Finally got the privacy fence up. Amazing what you may find while digging post holes in a property that has been occupied for over 200 years. Suffice to say, it didn't go where my first plan had it laid out. Welded wire fence on T-posts for temporary on another run of fence line (and gap fill, see above), until I save up my nickels and dimes for more privacy panels.

More raking, and picking, and weeding, and stump digging, and.. and.. and..

Got heaps and heaps of organic matter of various descriptions that still need sorting. Got a good deal of stuff burned too. Keeping the treated seperated from the no-chemical stuff, that's good. I may use (sparingly) ash from the non treated stuff, but the treated remains, once "thermally reduced" goes straight to the dust bin. Once cool, of course.

Oh, and we moved a swing set for youngest, are free cycling some yard toys he's outgrown, moved DW and I lounging swing, and I don't know what else. Next up is to FINALLY get veggies in this week. Hardening off now.

Planted more spring onions & radish.

Also more carrots

It was yesterday. but I've finally sown my calendula and allysum seeds. Some in seed trays and some straight in the ground, although I'm not convinced the soil is fine enough for the latter to germinate, but nothing ventured nothing gained and I've got the seeds....

Hoe'd some weeds and picked some flowers to put in vases....

Even more tins of onions & radish.

A lot clearing up & making space.

Yesterday pulled some leeks & made it into soup with potatoes

Pulled some more of the overwintered onions as I need the pots.

Planted some more parsnips, at the moment I have 4 growing very nicely, but the pot still needs more in to make it worthwhile.

last lot of carrots begining to sprout & another lot in the pot to soak.

Also pulled some more of the onions mainly as I need the pot.

More peas soaking, & managed to pick 2 pods for a salad, from the early pot.

Broad beans are nearly redy to pick for salad as well.

Just watering, really - we had a shower yesterday which was the first in ages: I got back from work expecting a bit of water in the main water butt which fills from the roof downpipe, and discovered that the pipe in the diverter was blocked with moss so no water.

Lots more weeding & clearing up. OH has started to plumb in the new water butt, so well pleased.

Something is eating the leaves of me onions, presume it is slugs, which is very annoying.

Planted another pot of peas & put some more broad beans to soak & some cabbage.

Planted up a couple of tomato Garden Pearl (from the seed swap seeds) into a hanging basket. At the moment I'm using sieved compost from the heap at the lotty; it is made from a mix of lotty green waste, wood chip free from the tree surgeon down the road, comfrey which I have in abundance and corrugated cardboard packaging. I have to say it looks great.

Also potted up a couple of tomato Buissonante for my FIL and SIL.

Planted out 24 pepper plants into their final polytunnel positions
planted out 6 outside tomato plants
planted out 24 strawberry plants
potted up 24 pepper plants for selling
watered the polytunnel plants
watered 80 potato haulms in the garden
watered the onion bed
weeded the carrot bed - only weeding it will get and it is now safe back under the fleece!
cleaned out a hen house, the rabbit house and moved the rabbt run

cuddled the hens, the rabbits, the guinea pigs - I have not done so for 2 sdays and missed it

watered the polytunnel

And before I get told off , i did no other work at all today - I rested all the other time- but I NEED to be out in my garden or I wither and die....

Totally understand (plus the cuddling of pets is supposed to lower blood pressure and do all kinds of beneficial things to you, and patients in hospital recover better when they can see trees. Just as long as they don't try to fell the trees.....)

Had an attack of the Saturday grumps today after a very busy week - spent most of the day in the garden on my own which was beneficial to me and everybody else!! Either planted out or potted on all of my tomatoes - I'm waiting for some kohl rabi to grow big enough to pick before I can plant the rest of the toms. Heard that the weather was going to be windy so put up a makeshift windbreak around the tomatoes. Also planted out swedes from modules (one of the things I got from the seed swap), fed everything with seaweed liquid, did some weeding and started to repel the ivy from next door. By 4.30 I was civilised enough to be allowed back into the outside world, so took some tomato plants round to my mother.

Planted out a lot of Spinach plants, Celeriac and Celery plants, also Blue Coco bean plants.

Weeded the parsnip/onion raised bed.

Weeded the carrot/onion raised bed.

Watered the various new plantings and the root beds.

Covered everything back over with fleece or mesh.

Last night (so busy I'm working nights at the lotty !) I planted out pumpkins, corgettes, butternut squash, melons and tomatillos. I'm told that the latter are alright outside, though I've always grown them under glass before. We shall see !

Also repaired netting and fences - the wildlife seem desperate to get at my strawberries this year - mind you I can understand them. They are delicious !

One of today's jobs has been to start tidying up after the painter has finished. We have had all the woodwork (bargeboards, soffits etc) sanded down and painted which has sorely needed doing since we moved in eight years ago. (We have shared next door's scaffolding which has made it all a lot simpler.) The painter did a brilliant job - it would have been impossible to do it without making a bit of mess. So I've been trying to pick the bigger bits of flaky paint up from the pebbles in the front, composting all the plants which were trodden on, planting things out which have patiently been waiting in pots, and clearing up piles of cat mess (nothing to do with the painter - it was just there!!)

Dandelion wrote:clearing up piles of cat mess (nothing to do with the painter - it was just there!!)

That would have to be one talented cat !

Worth the bother clearing up if you have pre-60's paint - I seem to recall some studies have found elevated lead levels in the soil close to houses due to debris from years of lead based paints.

Thanks CH - that's good advice. Fortunately everything near to the house is ornamental or I'd be worrying as the flakes of paint are all over the soil. The house is Edwardian so there may well be lead in the old paint.

The flowers and shrubs have all got drips of paint on them too - I'm not going to get fussy about it; I'll just say it's a dalmatian themed design! It was tricky to get the ladders up and get it all painted as it's a tall house, so we're just glad it's done.

today I planted up our chicken and puppy proof salad bar

Its old eavestroughing nailed to the barn wall - the pup can't reach it to steal the lettuce..

Also I finally found time to get seeds started for 5 types of hot pepper

I am astonished by how many toms, pepper, courgette, bean, squash etc plants I have sold " at the gate" this year...

Have paid ALL the 2011 seed bill , anyway (including seed spuds, onion, shallots etc) and some left over for next year! AND a donation to Garden Organic ( from the HSL seed plants I grew and sold) which was after I took out the costs of growing medium and my replacement pots etc.

Need to increase my planting for next year; I could have sold at least as many plants again as I have...and I have sold around 100 of various sorts...

We've had a horribly wet and cold spring here so everything is sooooo behind. I have at last today planted most of the tomatoes and the peppers in their final spots. I weeded some of the leeks that had practically disappeared they were so overgrown. I remember my Mum hated weeding onions and leeks, but it didn't seem so bad to me. The melons are in the hottest bed in the garden and I have mulched them to try and keep some moisture in the ground for them. I think they will be ok in the open as summers are usually very very warm here. The forecast for the weekend overnight looks a bit lower, so I may be seen dashing around the garden ( probably in the dark) covering them up again.

Planted some basil and thyme in the herb bed and noticed that 2 of the sunflowers are up. The next time it dries out I really must get some cucumbers in as we eat loads of them and buying them all summer will make me cross. Final thing was to pull out the handful of weeds that had evaded the rasberry mulching by hand, that's a much quicker job than before the mulch! Am hoping to find a handful of lettuce leaves and a bit of spinach and some spring onion thinnings to go with tea.

Nothing. Spent the last two days in a leek field in the fens. Will spend tomorrow in a cabbage field up north, most likely. Work, pah. Being a gardener and working with the agricultural industry is a nightmare juggling act every spring !

Yesterday, planted out more pea ( well, Mange tout..) spinach, rainbow chard,, Blue lake bean and the courgettes plants . Hoed off weeds, Cm planted lots of leeks, I planted out more outside tomatos.

Today - watered stuff but that is all.

30 tomatoes in the ground today all staked and sorted - 20 more potted up and in the greenhouse - more onions in and hopefully tomorrow more ground turned for spuds and onions and beets