What have you done in the garden today?

I had a poke around at the allotment last night and found lots of Cinnabar caterpillars all over the place. Unusually for an infestation, they appear to preferentially eat the weeds ! How good is that. And I seem to have some sort of black aphid preferentially eating the Fat Hen. Perhaps I can hang up my hoe for a while.

Whilst there I harvested new potatoes, beetroot, Nantes carrots (now I wonder where those seed came from ), calabrese and Purple Moldovan hardneck garlic. Tonight it will be a Indonesian vegetable curry

I planted my coriander plant that I bought the weekend before last. Last year I kept it in a small pot and it bolted.

I would like to dig a hole in my garden without the smell of cat poo

I watched the weeds... and admired the beautiful ornagey hue of the rust on my leeks, delicately shaded by the shadow of my runner bean leaves shredded by the slugs... oh happy days.... Oh yes, nearly forgot the veiny delight of my holey kohl leaves too...

I watered and that was it - it was close to 45 degrees

I watered and that was it - it was close to 45 degrees

Today its raining, all day..


go figure

We got to see our granddaughter's garden. Awwwww. It was so cute! And very productive too!

She's gone back to college but was renting an ancient farm house before that and since the rent is low she's staying there -- their yard is huge and the boyfriend obviously has a riding mower because everything is shorn except for the veggies and flowers.

I've done nothing with ours for a couple of days but with the rain last night maybe tomorrow early we can plant some tomatoes. We're late on everything but perhaps we'll have a warm autumn again and still have a chance of ripe tomatoes. The peas are almost gone by and we're really lucky to get them. Garden stuff is chaos this year.

Well, I am now the proud owner of 5 water butts, & all but the newest has water in. OH has made a good job of them & it will no help end & reduce the water bill.

Part 1 of the potato experiment over.

The 4 black pots were very good & I was pleased. I only have them for small potatos & I got neary 4lbs from them.

The dustbin had 3 1/2 lbs in, so that was very disapointing. The tops grew very well & I was very hopeful.

These were all from seed potatos.

At the moment I have 4 more pots planted from the greengrocers potatos that sprouted when we were away, they are growing well & I will do a comparison when I dig them.

Part 2 will be next year when I use all greengrocer pots & see what happens.

CWs crop makes mine look pathetic I know but I am pleased with whatever saves me a bit of money.

its not competitive spud growing though Pol. It is about growing some food and eating it!

I don't get a much better return from my spud sacks that you have had from yours

Tbh, it is a nice way to get some very early spuds, and it is a very good way to grow spuds if you have no other space to do so, but these bags, bins etc will never give a huge yield, no matter what the magazines say.

The only certain way to get a good crop is to grow the spuds in soil , which has been well enriched with lots of organic matter and compost etc. To earth them up, to keep them well watered ( very critical!) and to hope that you don't get blight ( early or late)

I have the space to grow mine in some pretty superior soil/compost mix ( she says, modestly )

and I get a good yield most years but this year so far has been stupendous. As I think I said, much better than previous years.

But I suspect you got as much, if not more pleasure out of your spuds than I did out of mine..!

Appreciate it is not a competition CW & nice to know that your sack yeilds are much the same. I do grow in my own compost though so it is good & rich. My bonus is that I have a dustbin full of nice soft compost which started off as a few layers of used compost & the rest just a spare place to put the peelings etc.

You are right though, I got a lot of pleasure from eating them!!

Using the term 'garden' slightly loosely, I installed a caravan and had the sheep shorn. That was an adventure and a half, I tell 'ee.

Go on, then - tell us!! (wasn't sure what the first person plural of 'ee' is..)

Me too - I sat in the garden and read my book; can't remember the last time I did that! (and then I weeded...)

I spent a while looking in dismay at my cabbages today - whitefly, aphids and what looks like a bit of virus (from the aphids.) I think its the downside of using mesh over plants because predators can't get in to deal with the aphids, and also it happens without me noticing until it's got a hold. Have used an organic spray but would prefer not to.
On the up side, my shed is looking very good after its mending and new roof. The plastic roof makes it warm (so I'll fix up greenhouse shading next year) but already it has become a good place for Mr D's puppets-in-progress to dry after painting! We bought some shed/fence paint in what sounded like a subtle shade of 'Autumn Red', and my shed is now ginger, but at least I can see it in the dark....

Does anyone else find their enthusiasm for gardening is beginning to wane in August? Maybe it's just me, but although I live and breathe gardening most of the year I can't be bothered at the moment. It happens every year.... I'll be fine in a couple of weeks!

Me too....just had a bit too much of it all at the moment...especially Dansons and Pears.....

Spent the morning at the lotty. Dug my potato Sante which were affected by early blight (not the more troublesome late blight thankfully). Oddly exactly what Monty Don was doing on GW last night - even the same variety ! As usual, a lot of slug damage, which I might have got dejected about, except that there were more than enough good ones left for us. Had a peek at the sweetcorn which looks to be ready !

Did some more battle with the weeds - hoed around the leeks. It has all rather got out of hand this year - I took the top layer off my paths (mostly grass) a couple of years ago, and put down corrugated cardboard and 3" of tree shreddings. It has worked well for a while, but now the shreddings are pretty much rotted down to a nice growing medium and the weeds are moving in again. I think I may be best raking it up, using it as a mulch and spreading fresh shreddings on the paths.

Overall productivity seems down this year* - I think it is either (a) the weather or (b) too much time spent woodworking and not enough at the lotty !

(* = except of course courgettes - I have to think of some inventive ways of using Tromboncinos !)

Moved finished compost into the raised beds

re built various composting bins and filled them up with new material.

Mowed the grass and Compostman scythed the long stuff.

Took down the electric fence netting , removed weeds and long grass - need to put it up again.



Just stopped for a cuppa, now off back out there to clean out the hens and rake up the wood chippings from the mega hen pen, which I will then compost. Will have to put down more - so that will free up another wooden bin for more composting.

Oh and must pick Victoria plums and more damsons.

Emptied out some pots & planters, put more onions to dry. Picked the last of the broad beans & some tomatoes. Planted some more carrots. A good session.

More clearing up & pruning. Planted some onions to over winter in the greenhouse.

Some of said onions is sprouting already.

Pulled some other onions & left them to dry.

Emptied another 2 of my planters today & put to dry ready to start next year.

Also a massive pruning session to tidy up a bit.

About to plant out some more lettuce in an old bath that I was given (for free!) Also some general clearing up here today. Oh and mr C's just been on a spending spree so I guess some more plants will be about to go in too!

Mrs C

Today in the garden I have got frustrated with my leeks! They are being shredded by Leek Moth, which I have never seen before, but which I've learned is rife in the West Midlands. Rather than digging the affected plants up I have experimented by cutting them down more or less at soil level, below the lowest areas of insect activity, hoping that the plants will re-shoot.