Author Topic: What have you done on the plot today?  (Read 249564 times)

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1450 on: 16 May, 2022, 03:36:32 pm »
We always found the calorific value of turf to be fairly pitiful. (Cut from a bog in Kerry)
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1451 on: 17 May, 2022, 08:54:44 am »
I think it depends very much on the area and type of peat. We have 'black' peat here. I'm told by locals that it burns hotter than coal and I need to ensure that I burn it in a multifuel stove, not a woodstove.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Mrs Pingu

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Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1452 on: 17 May, 2022, 04:32:56 pm »
Something is eating the pyracanthas I planted last month. The leaves are all full of holes!  >:(
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1453 on: 17 May, 2022, 07:49:32 pm »
Something is eating the pyracanthas I planted last month. The leaves are all full of holes!  >:(

Caterpillars.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Mrs Pingu

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Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1454 on: 17 May, 2022, 07:55:53 pm »
I went out a bit earlier and looked under the leaves but I couldn't see anything.
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1455 on: 18 May, 2022, 11:00:58 am »
Had to take back the grass/green alkanet/scrub a bit

I know its no mow may but the path through the wildlife garden was disappearing and impassable in shorts without getting stung and the "lawn" near the hedge was so long finding our dogs little presents was impossible

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1456 on: 18 May, 2022, 09:15:17 pm »
Got up the plot tonight. Surprised at lack of weed growth as nearly a fortnight since been up. Was very dry, despite being only 3 miles from my house looked like got less of the very little rain we have had recently

Mowed round, hoed down the few pioneer weeds and the slightly more established ones between the artichokes then gave the plot a damn good drink

Have just realised forgot to bring home the rose for the watering can as want to drill the holes out a bit as is painfully slow flow rate

Wowbagger

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Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1457 on: 20 May, 2022, 12:03:21 pm »
Something is eating the pyracanthas I planted last month. The leaves are all full of holes!  >:(

When we had gooseberry bushes, by late summer they had usually been stripped of leaves. Small snails were the culprits.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1458 on: 21 May, 2022, 01:30:38 pm »
Something had been digging in one of my raised beds which are repurposed baths. I had a spare micro mesh tunnel I put over it and then kept finding our neighbours cat under it. Took this off today and made covers from some left over chicken wire

Had to pot on my tumbling tomatoes and had nothing to use and knew wouldn't be able to get to nursery today so had a hunt round garden. My old wellies with the sole coming off are now wall mounted with tomatoes in

Mother then popped round with loads of herbs and fuchsia for us. A fair chunk of the herb bed outside our back door was full of lemon balm. It even kept the mint down. I realised we never use lemon balm so that's gone in the compost and lots more herbs have gone in instead

Planted the fuchsias in the formal garden which is basically the only bit we grow stuff that isn't either veg or wildlife friendly

Possibly a bit late but sowed some leeks in an old bucket so have leeks in my leaking bucket

Sowed a few trombono squash. The ones that grow to look like something you'd gurn through

Need to reconstruct my bean poles and try and get up the allotment as some point as various things need to go out

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1459 on: 21 May, 2022, 04:49:57 pm »
The project continues. Today I have removed a dozen compost-bag-fulls of raspberries and weeds (mostly bindweed) from the bed which I mentioned last week. It looks a lot better now, but there are probably still three or four more bags worth to come out.
Then we can start the fun bit of deciding what to plant in all that space.  :thumbsup:
"No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everybody on the couch."

Wowbagger

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Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1460 on: 21 May, 2022, 10:53:22 pm »
I discovered that three of the many parsnip seeds I sowed a few weeks back have now germinated, and I knelt down and hand-weeded them. I also forked over the patch where I plan to plant out the runner beans, and harvested a bumper crop of bindweed roots.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1461 on: 23 May, 2022, 12:36:35 pm »
Sowed the next tranche of French beans - hopefully better than 2/3rds germination this time.  Wrapped all the new leaders on the (resolutely non-flowering) Wisteria around the arch in prparation to bringing them down to run out along the new fence.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1462 on: 14 June, 2022, 01:01:02 pm »
Watered the plot and hoed some weeds

The water trough I fill my cans from has been making an incredible racket when refilling. As I'd been out with kids had an adjustable spanner in saddle bag so took the top of the system and moved the little white outlet which the trough refills from and instantly noise stopped and flow rate probably doubled

While I was there was a lot of strimming and mowing going on. I think they were flattening the overgrown abandoned plots of which there are a lot after being a waiting list in lockdown

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1463 on: 16 June, 2022, 10:51:30 am »
Last night I Cleared out one of our raised beds in which our salad had failed I think largely due to our neighbours cat digging in it. It now has a wire cover and more salad sown. Also cut the lawn as our dogs poos were disappearing in the long grass

This morning had a delivery to make which involved driving past my allotment so stopped to water it. Noticed a very excited cat by a fruit net and then noticed a sparrow inside the net so managed to hoist one side up and let the sparrow out

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1464 on: 18 June, 2022, 04:22:03 pm »
Cleared the last of the “winter” lettuce trees, and planted out the last 10 French Bean seedlings.  That’s 30 in all at 2 week intervals. Side-shorted and tied in the Big Daddy toms. Fed the sweetcorn, as tassels are forming. Dead headed the roses, and cut out some of the worst of the black spot on the climber near the house. May have to resort to spraying it (Maid of Kent) as it’s quite bad this year. OTOH the Creme de la Creme is getting into its stride.

Crème de la Crème by Richard Fletcher, on Flickr
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1465 on: 24 June, 2022, 11:15:12 am »
Had plenty of pottering with the light late evenings

Last night discovered lily beetle on my er lily's. Well the wife's actually but she only admires them I do the work

Picked off and squished the few I found and kids are on a competition to see who can squish the most

Mrs Pingu

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Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1466 on: 24 June, 2022, 08:22:03 pm »
Something is eating the pyracanthas I planted last month. The leaves are all full of holes!  >:(

Well they might not have many leaves left but there's a lovely crop of flowers on them now. (Hopefully they won't die after the effort!)
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Mrs Pingu

  • Who ate all the pies? Me
    • Twitter
Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1467 on: 24 June, 2022, 08:28:41 pm »
Finally tackled this bed (clay soil ) yesterday.
2022-06-24_08-15-15 by The Pingus, on Flickr
Can't particularly recommend driving home with 500L of soil improver in the car on a hot day, it stank of chicken shit. Only bought half the garden centre because they didn't have half the plants I wanted.
Anyway I built my electric tiller and chewed up the bed. It was a bit like being dragged along by a crazy donkey initially. Glad I bought it though, that was done in a couple of hours. It would have taken me days by hand.

Here's the tilled bed with the improver mixed in.
IMG_20220623_150157 by The Pingus, on Flickr

And with my plants for pollinators
IMG_20220623_171606 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Quite sore today.
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1468 on: 25 June, 2022, 12:18:48 pm »
Due to the bloody dog not realising it's the weekend was up at work o'clock and having walked aforementioned bloody dog though sod it I'll go up the allotment. Drove which I hate doing but didn't think taking bike with repurposed kiddie trailer through my neighbours garden at just after 6 am would be fair and couldn't fit all the seedlings on the bike

Planted out some more squashes, kale and some celeriac and weeded a bit. Fed the squashes that looked yellow as think I over watered and washed away the nutrients

Garlic looks like its nearly ready, some cabbages looking nearly ready. A few parsnips are up and beetroot and chard disappointing so far so will plant some more

Mrs Pingu

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Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1469 on: 28 June, 2022, 06:33:15 pm »
Yet more plants arrived today. Aruncus dioicus, persicaria bistorta, perovskia, sedum spectabile, inula hookeri. Managed to get them all in before the rain properly started. Noticed while I was at it that some of the plants I put in on Thursday are looking a bit sad. Hope it's not a reaction to the soil improver  :-\

I have now scored off most of the plants on my page long list. Just honeysuckle a definite miss (I tried taking cuttings from the wild a couple of weeks ago but they failed), not sure if I will also get phacelia, borage etc and a mahonia as well, still undecided. I would also really like some lupins but I'm trying to avoid the inevitable disappointment of snails eating them to deth.

There are also a couple of old tree stumps near the boundary fence, was wondering about drilling/chopping the middle out of them and planting something in there...
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1470 on: 28 June, 2022, 08:42:01 pm »
Yet more plants arrived today. Aruncus dioicus, persicaria bistorta, perovskia, sedum spectabile, inula hookeri. Managed to get them all in before the rain properly started. Noticed while I was at it that some of the plants I put in on Thursday are looking a bit sad. Hope it's not a reaction to the soil improver  :-\

I have now scored off most of the plants on my page long list. Just honeysuckle a definite miss (I tried taking cuttings from the wild a couple of weeks ago but they failed), not sure if I will also get phacelia, borage etc and a mahonia as well, still undecided. I would also really like some lupins but I'm trying to avoid the inevitable disappointment of snails eating them to deth.

There are also a couple of old tree stumps near the boundary fence, was wondering about drilling/chopping the middle out of them and planting something in there...

Why on earth would you want a Mahonia! As to the sad looking plants, they’ll pick up, just make sure they don’t get too dry.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1471 on: 28 June, 2022, 09:05:30 pm »
my g'house tomatoes are affected by blossom drop. They are planted in the border soil which is actually more like dust. Should have incorporated more compost. Didn't have a problem last year.

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1472 on: 28 June, 2022, 09:18:43 pm »
. Managed to get them all in before the rain properly started.

What's rain?

Cycled to the plot and watered. Gave it a good soak Saturday and looked like had never seen water

Dug the garlic up. Bent a freebie hand trowel in process. Need to water and dig the space from the garlic as got plenty of seedlings to go in

Mrs Pingu

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Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1473 on: 28 June, 2022, 09:58:17 pm »
Why wouldn't I want a mahonia? I was thinking they would provide food for any bees that might be around in the autumn & winter. Any reason why not?
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Re: What have you done on the plot today?
« Reply #1474 on: 30 June, 2022, 07:35:29 am »
When we had gooseberry bushes, by late summer they had usually been stripped of leaves. Small snails were the culprits.

Possibly gooseberry sawfly.  The caterpillars from this pesky critter will strip a bush of all its leaves in days.  Too late for your gooseberry bushes now, but the pupae overwinter in the soil so carefully dig over the soil around the base of the bush during the winter period and the birds will get most of them.  Pyrethrum based chemicals are the nuclear option.