What have you done on the plot today?

[Mrs Pingu]

I haven't done anything but I ordered 2x bare root blackthorn and a few potted fuchsia magellanica once I managed to find somewhere without a ridiculously high minimum order policy.

These arrived today, of course when it was nearly dark and blowing a hoolie. Maybe I'll get the the blackthorns planted tomorrow...

[Mrs Pingu]

Planted the 3 blackthorns (I thought there were 2).
After I'd picked up the 50 million cat poos that our cats have been leaving in that area over the winter. Yeuch.

[Bledlow]

Digging. And heaping weeds in the compost bin.

Potato bed all dug. Brassica bed dug. Allium bed partly dug & has garlic in part of it. We've had a spell of good digging weather.

[Wowbagger]

I started the digging today. Just half an hour. The soil is beautifully workable. We've had less rain so far this month than we had last July. The rain gauge has measured the same amount (1.2mm), but half of that was on nights of freezing fog and when the sun melted the rime the following morning there was enough falling into the rain gauge to register.

[SteveC]

Pruned things: roses, apple tree and a wild pear. I think (hope) that's all the winter pruning done.
It was cold!

[Regulator]

So over the weekend:

- 5 fruit trees planted (2 apples - Katy and Cox, Victoria plum, Sunburst cherry, Concorde pear)
- 2 raised beds moved (another two to do next weekend)
- about 1/2 ton of soil sifted

Next weekend:

- a cubic metre of fen soil will need to be wheelbarrowed from the house to the allotment.
- three more raised beds to go in, inside a mini greenhouse.
- onions to go in

[Bledlow]

Planted the 3 blackthorns (I thought there were 2).
After I'd picked up the 50 million cat poos that our cats have been leaving in that area over the winter. Yeuch.

I hope you didn't waste all that manure. 

[CAMRAMan]

First cut of the grass today. A tad early, but I missed the last cut of the year last autumn because of wet weather, so it was a bit unruly.

[rafletcher]

Planted the 3 blackthorns (I thought there were 2).
After I'd picked up the 50 million cat poos that our cats have been leaving in that area over the winter. Yeuch.

I hope you didn't waste all that manure. 

Cat poo is no good, as they’re obligate carnivores. Ok to add to a compost heap though.

In other news, finally got round to pruning (not very scientifically) the quince. And cut back and tied in a couple of roses, a climber “Claire Austin” which we only put in last year, and a rambler “Maid of Kent”that we’ve had for 10+ years. Did a bit of pruning of another rambler, and confirmed what I suspected - it’s the only thing keeping our pergola standing! 

[Bledlow]

Planted the 3 blackthorns (I thought there were 2).
After I'd picked up the 50 million cat poos that our cats have been leaving in that area over the winter. Yeuch.

I hope you didn't waste all that manure. 

Cat poo is no good, as they’re obligate carnivores. Ok to add to a compost heap though.

I chuck the contributions we get from neighbouring cats in the compost bin.

[Flite]

Ok to add to a compost heap though.

Not usually recommended for home composting
We put used cat litter etc down the numerous rabbit holes in a vain attept to persuade them to leave home.

[Wowbagger]

Cats shit on my freshly dug soil, for preference. I'm not prepared to remove it - I found the worst part of dog ownership was dealing with his turds, so I'm damned if I'm going to handle the ordure from other people's moggies. The worms, slugs and other natural processes seem to make it disappear. If it does leave potentially damaging toxins behind I don't know, but they haven't killed us yet, nor, so far as I know, made us ill.

[Jurek]

Cats shit on my freshly dug soil, for preference. I'm not prepared to remove it - I found the worst part of dog ownership was dealing with his turds, so I'm damned if I'm going to handle the ordure from other people's moggies. The worms, slugs and other natural processes seem to make it disappear. If it does leave potentially damaging toxins behind I don't know, but they haven't killed us yet, nor, so far as I know, made us ill.

Pipe freezing spray renders poo (cat / fox / dog) manageable.
ETA Foxes will avoid areas that have been anointed with male urine. Exactly the opposite will be achieved with female urine -  they'll go wild for it.

[campagman]

I repotted the strawberry planter with plants off last years runners. 6/9 plants survived the winter ok in the Greenhouse.

[The Family Cyclist]

Off up the allotment shortly to get in earlies and shallots. Actually taking the car as the rats have very kindly dug a load of the good compost from the bottom of the heap. Got about 80 litres to put on the plot

I won't however be encouraging the rats to stay as they seem to take payment in chicken food

[The Family Cyclist]

Well that worked better then planned, weather forecast was fairly pessimistic but steadily improved and while the wind was cool was glorious sunshine

We're trying no dig, well to dig as little as possible but was heartening to see where we did dig a hole to drop a spud in (as opposed to trenches) loads of worms which hopefully shows the soil improvements I've made are working.

Spuds and shallots in, cardboard repositioned to cover weeds and harvested some more artichokes. While the kids were busy fighting with the artichoke stems (Jerusalem) I thought I'd hoe down a few nettles that were growing on what will be the squash area which we flattened and covered in card and manure last year. Looked at the hoe and had managed to scoop up a lizard. Thankfully unharmed but was great for girls to see and encouragement for not using chemicals

[Mrs Pingu]

Pingu was asking me what I was going to do with this cold frame that Pumpkin built for me today
2023-03-27_05-44-14 by The Pingus, on Flickr

So I bought seeds of all the plants I've not been able to find ready grown, and some other stuff for shits & giggles. Could well be a disaster...
2023-03-27_06-32-49 by The Pingus, on Flickr

[Flite]

Savaged the sedges.
Yearly task of hacking back all the old dead sedge foliage around the pond to let the new growth get through. Done about three quarters. Need to leave the rest for a week or so as a refuge for beasties, then that will get chopped. Always surprises me how quickly the new shoots grow.
Needs to be done before the frogs, toads and newts get busy.

[Mrs Pingu]

The weather up here is a bit pish, not warm enough for sewing seeds yet according to the packets.
So I decided to plant some of the fuchsias I bought a while back. Before doing this I decided that I would finally get round to digging up 2 piles of crocosmia and I would plant them there.
Jeez, I knew the stuff is invasive but there were hundreds of bloody bulbs. The brown wheelie bin is now 1/2 full and very heavy being as there is a lot of clay stuck to it (I dare say the scaffies will be unimpressed).
There is another pile still needing to be dug up but that can wait for another day. Still got a load of plants to stick in the beds too.
Not sure how well the fuchsias will do, they are completely pot bound.

[Mrs Pingu]

Last week while we were off I hoicked up yet more bloody crocosmia and then weeded a lot of ground elder. That stuff is a pain in the ass..
Once I'd cleared an area I chucked a load of alchemilla seed at it for shits & giggles.
Sunday I dug up one of the rosemary bushes which looked like it had given up the ghost and pulled up yet more ground elder.

Yesterday I put seed compost in trays and planted sunflowers, teasels & sea holly. I threw some cornflower seeds where the rosemary bush had been as well.

Today being as the weather was warm enough to lunch outside I noticed there was a lot of stuff sprouting out of the lawn. Decided it was probably sycamore. Spent the next half hour picking all the sycamore seeds I could find out of the lawn. They're a pain in the ass too. Didn't have a problem with them last year, I guess last autumn must have been a good one for sycamore seeds.

In happier news the skimmia bushes are flowering and sound like electricity substations covered in honey bees

[Bledlow]

Planted taters.

[Mrs Pingu]

Fell into the garden centre y'day. Planted a couple of vinca minor to cover the ground where I dug up the rosemary, some pulmonaria and an aqualegia. Then I chopped some holes in the lawn and put some yarrow in there, being as my wildflower lawn isn't growing itself. Finally I planted some poached egg plant seeds.

[Flite]

Started putting bark mulch on the perennials in the ornamental garden.
The blackbirds sat on the trellis plotting.
By tomorrow morning they wiill have redistributed it all over the gravel paths, according to sods law.

[De Sisti]

Cut and scarified the lawn (removing as much moss and dead blades of grass as possible).
Will probably start to sow some more grass seeds next week.

[Bledlow]

Managing compost. Emptying bin 1, & starting to move the contents of bin 1 to bin 2.