What have you done on the plot today?

[Si]

Today I've been a mostly poisoning 

Being organic would be nice but, heck, it's damned hard work when your plot is choked with weed.  So I'm contenting myself with poisoning once only just to initially clear the weed on each section and then trying to be organic from then on.

Apart from that I've been a mostly earthing up my spud empire, by heck those buggers don't half grow fast, and cursing the slugs that keep eating my peas.

BTW, how tall do you reckon peas'n'beanz should be before you remove the anti-bird netting?

[Wowbagger]

I pulled a few weeds up.

I've still got some space, but with runner beans to put out, and brassicas to plant out when they actually germinate, our small garden won't take much more.

The parsnips and early carrots have germinated, the broad beans look pretty good, one lot of runners is ready to be planted and given sticks, we ought to pull some rhubarb.

I'll go out and water the beans, I think.

[hairyhippy]

Today I 'ave mostly been disinfecting my shiney nearly new recycled 12 foot greenhouse.

[Si]

Yesterday I was happily informed that my potato blight was actually frost damage and that I wouldn't need to nuke my spuds afterall 

I dug a new bed and shovelled some more shit to celebrate.

[juliet]

Argh, have not been down at all this week!  Bah

[ponders nicking off from work early & stopping past to see how the peas are doing]

[Wowbagger]

I've just made a tepee out of bamboo canes for the runner beans and put six plants round it. There are six more on the way - but the germination rate's quite poor: I sowed 19 seeds for that dozen plants.

[rogerzilla]

Cut up all the cherry tree prunings from last week (this is a BIG fully grown wild black cherry which needs the lowest branches trimming to head height every spring) and saved them for kindling.  All the green bits went to compost, and the bin is steaming.

Applied weed and feed to the lawn just before the rains came in.  I don't like weed and feed - it smells, stains and it's potentially unhealthy stuff to use - but the clover is taking over.

[mike]

busy day yesterday (one of the benefits of waking up at 5.30 on a saturday), building new compost heaps, furious weeding, trimming a bit of hedge, mowing, strimming, building cages to go over the veggies and sorting out the garage.   I was absolutely knackered by about 3.

[hellymedic]

NOTHING!
It's been p***ing with rain, in case you've not noticed.

Days like these are best spent indoors, with copious hot drinks.

[steveB]

Picked these (well I did yesterday) and delicious they were too.

[Si]

Earthing up dem spuds.  Goin'a need a JCB to get the lower ones out the way I'm going!

[hairyhippy]

The toms, aubergines, cucumbers and sweet peppers love being in the greenhouse. Today I also got given three large brussell sprout plants to go with the four I already had, so they all got planted and so did 5 courgette plants. I also planted some beans and peas. A happy day digging.

[Si]

Put up the bean wigwam.
Put up the pea netting.

And.....

....actually managed to get SWOBO to go to the plot!!!!!

Was going to dig a new beetroot bed today but looks like rain stopped play.

[juliet]

Have not been down to the allotment for *over a week* due to illness & rain.  Bah. 

[Si]

Have not been down to the allotment for *over a week* due to illness & rain.  Bah. 

Bad luck.....hope yours is nothing like mine: the couch grass put on another foot of growth since the current spell of rain started.

[juliet]

Argh, don't say things like that!  I have the Fear on the subject of the weeds...

[Wowbagger]

I've done some weeding. I'm very unimpressed with the germination rate of my main crop carrots. Everything else seems OK.

[Melbourne12]

.... I'm very unimpressed with the germination rate of my main crop carrots. Everything else seems OK.

Seems to be a general problem this year.  Our first sowings of carrots and parsnips both failed.  And I hear the same story from fellow allotmenteers.  Maybe the early spells of wet weather?

[rogerzilla]

As it's warm and wet, I put loads of slug pellets down.  That'll learn 'em.

Slugs - the chavs of the animal kingdom.

[Si]

.... I'm very unimpressed with the germination rate of my main crop carrots. Everything else seems OK.

Seems to be a general problem this year.  Our first sowings of carrots and parsnips both failed.  And I hear the same story from fellow allotmenteers.  Maybe the early spells of wet weather?

None of my carrots came up either 
But I must have near to 90% parsnip germination - started them off in bog roll tubes on the nati-slug table and then moved to the plot a few weeks back...looking good so far, touch wood.
It's sprouts that I'm having real trouble with.  Started in modules, they all came up, then went limp, I transplanted anyway and half came back to life, now they keep getting ate.

[juliet]

We've had carrot problems, as well - and fewer parsnips than normal.  I've started some more carrots in pots on the balcony, see if I can get a few at least.

[nuttycyclist]

I've done some weeding. I'm very unimpressed with the germination rate of my main crop carrots. Everything else seems OK.

I'm still hopeful for my carrots.  I put the seeds in back in 2006 and am watching carefully for the first one to poke it's little green leaves above the soil.

Home growing is exciting isn't it.  The daily anticipation of seeing if something's sprouting.

[juliet]

Went down today & there is JUNGLE everywhere.  Some of it stuff we want; some of it weeds.  The raspberries have started up. 

[Pancho]

Mowed. Mowed. Mowed. Mowed. Mowed. Mowed. Mowed ad nauseum.

When my massive order of sodium chlorate and my spraying machine arrives, I'm considering applying it to the lawn.

[Domestique]

Chucked out my snail eaten cucumber and courgette plants and replaced them with more tomato plants.
Bloody snails