The ups and downs and ins and outs of growing your own, 2018

unrecordings

Lovely day today. Cleaned the greenhouses and generally tidied up. Tomorrow I can move all my tomatoes into the good greenhouse, and repot my courgettes finally

Gem-gem

When I found out that it was going to be a nice day I opted to work from home. Started work 90 minutes early so that I could take the time back when it was warmer. Had a 150 minute lunch break.
Spent the time out in the garden sowed some spinach in the shady area with some leftover salad leaves from last year. Then sowed some carrots next to the spring onions. Also potted up some beetroot - two seeds per pot, 20 pots. Hopefully something will come from it all. First time that I have grown beetroot from seed. Carrots have only tried to grow them once before and the slugs ate all the tops.

Also, I have put up the runner bean poles (forever hopeful that they will germinate and grow).
Hubby was a darling and dug over the area where the courgettes are going to go.

f0xh0les

unrecordings wrote: »

(oh and the cat is obsessed by the leaves and tries to eat them like a panda).

I read that as your OH and the cat - funny picture in my head now:rotfl:

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Two pleasant days in a row! :eek:

Cleaned up the front [strike]litter bin[/strike] garden and found that, once I'd picked out the hundreds of sweet wrappers and crisp packets the local primary school attendees appear to save just for me, the dry leaves that had blown in and not been cleared up from the path are in the process of turning into a pretty nice compost. I think it'll get bagged and then chucked over the woodlandy bit I've got in the back garden, with a pyracantha, primroses, cowslips and ferns growing in the permanent shade of the shed.

Popped some catnip into the decrepit half barrel out the front where I corral mint (never putting it in the back garden or free soil of any kind - that stuff has the regenerative powers of Hydra Teeth!) and covered it with an old bit of wire fencing folded over to dissuade the local cat population from murdering it, and a tiny bay into the hottest, driest window box to grow on a bit.

Then off out the back to clean up, rake the weedy mudpatch masquerading as a lawn, pull more raspberry escapees, rescue my chard from alkane (it's all over the neighbourhood and I quite like it anywhere but the food beds), swear at the thornless raspberry suckers overcompensating for the main plant's lack of evil and then, whilst being investigated by lots of bees, found a minor miracle.

In a solid china pot, I'd chucked the last of the Dalefoot compost in so I could use the sack for something else. I'd then left the compost sack on top of it because I forgot all about whatever it was I was intending and never ordered any more compost to do anything with the pot. Didn't see anything in there all summer and it's been rained on, snowed on and defrosted, then snowed and rained on at great length again. I lifted the sack up to find something the colour and consistency of pig slurry but didn't smell at all.

Intending to drain it onto the tub the courgettes go into, I put my hand into it to get a good grip to drag it across the patio - and found something. Lots of things, actually.

45 perfectly smooth, glowing red little potatoes about two inches long. I must have left one under the bag by mistake, rather than the ones that were carefully planted and all died/rotted/were slugged without issue.


I am definitely buying Dalefoot again this year - to be able to grow potatoes when alternately dry, sodden, frozen and completely ignored is fantastic - it went in that pot still moist from the bag and was untouched from that point, so it must have held and released water just at the right rate for the lonely spud right up to the foulness of March. And the display in the windowboxes is pretty good with it still moist rather than bone dry and desiccated as previous composts have been.

Jazee

Enjoy the potatoes JoJo.

I am planning to spend most of my time in the garden today as the sun is shining for the third day in a row. I will cut the grass for the first time this year too.

Kantankrus_Mare

I am a bit late to the party.

Hello everyone. :j

Not get anything on the go seed wise. Had a bit of a disappointing start with my chilli peppers. They just didnt germinate along with some more sweet peas. Then work took up all my time with doing extra shifts and my first time at the allotment was Thursday afternoon.

I spotted some onion sets in Wilko so got them in.

Some of you may remember that I had plans last year of using just one of my beds for bulbs and flowers. The spring bulbs I planted are all coming to flower now and it looks so nice! Really pleased with it. Got a load of summer bulbs and planted them to fill the rest of the bed and my plan today is to sow some summer flowering seeds in between the rows of spring bulbs. Hopefully I will have flowers right through the summer.

My partner in crime (Dad) is waiting for a triple heart bypass so I think it could just be me this year.

The other thing thats putting me off sowing lots of seeds is the fact I am away for two weeks at the end of May. Would hate to have lots of stuff die whilst Im away.

Anyway........will at least get the plot tidy today and another plot holder has given me some seedlings, tomatoes, sweet peppers, broccoli and cabbage.

Jazee

Hello KM. I also put three of my veg planters over to flowers in the autumn. They are currently full of pansies and very colourful. Still waiting for the daffs and tulips to open fully in the borders and little pots.

It's now raining again so no grass cutting, probably not until early next week but I have been doing a lot of sorting out, and dug fresh compost from the heap onto the bed next to where the broad beans are.

Going to walk the dogs now and then see if I can get some more done this afternoon.

zafiro1984

Kantankrus_Mare wrote: »

My partner in crime (Dad) is waiting for a triple heart bypass so I think it could just be me this year.

Tell your did I was in the same boat as him last year, They discovered by accident I had a heart murmur last March and with all the tests I went through plus I didn't want it doing before Christmas as I had quite a lot of turkeys, it ended up being done February this year. I had aortic valve replacement plus bypasses - 12 days after my op I was walking around Sains....and 8 weeks post op I'm gardening -no heavy digging yet, looking after all the chickens, plus all the housework and cooking and yesterday I moved a load of logs, some were quite big, from a dead oak tree which my DH took down and chainsawed. Tell your dad that op will give him his life back.

I've just started on the plot again last week and progress so far is most of the two polytunnels now are straight and tidy, Quite a lot of vegetables that need to be started in modules and now sown but haven't germinated yet. I'm still harvesting carrots, kale and brussels from last year but they are coming to an end. Today I ordered the veg seeds I am missing, plus main crop potatoes.

Jobs for this weekend: weed the fruit cage, tidy the greenhouse and get someone to replace the broken panes. Maybe wash the outside and roof of the polytunnels - they are not bad but would benefit from a wash, and get my DH to use his beloved tractor to dump some well rotted manure close to the plot so I can finish the outside beds.

Kantankrus_Mare

Thanks for that Zafiro Its the waiting that is the worst thing. They said a 3 month wait after his pre op which was end of Feb but hes heard nothing since.

We have both been at the plot this morning and done a massive amount of weeding between us. He has also replaced some of the glass in the smaller greenhouse which damaged when we had high winds.

He has also cleared one of our open compost heaps of all twigs and other bits and pieces and we have some wonderful compost hiding underneath.

Can really tell the difference with my dad. He has to keep stopping as he gets out of breath. Just hoping everything goes well and he gets a new lease of life. If only to keep him out of my mams way.

smeeinnit

I did a few bits this afternoon in the garden, finally got round to building my cold frame. I bought it last autumn

I also put some pansies into a planter. Its got tulips in it already but the blimmin neighbours cats keep digging round the edges of it so I bunged in the pansies to fill it up. Hoping this puts them off from digging......

Then helped OH to install some replacement CCTV cameras at the front of the house.

Feel pooped now :rotfl: