What have you done on the plot today?

[campagman]

first two runner beans are showing their heads. Planted in the ground a couple of weeks ago, I think. The Broad Beans are showing good growth each day now.

[The Family Cyclist]

As the kids are on holiday and don't need to herd them went up allotment before work to water it. Carrots and beetroot I planted a while ago show nothing. Most over things doing well and hope thr chard I transplanted Monday takes but will plant some direct


Do appear to have some parsnips coming through and the artichokes are going great guns. Lovely to get some fresh air before work

[Mrs Pingu]

My sunflowers were already growing out of their new pots so on Weds I bought some bigger ones, and some huge ones to house the courgettes eventually. I also fell into the trap of buying another lupin (I can't help myself) and another sedum. We'll see how long they last before they get eaten. Also bought some lupin seeds and planted them in the 'book' cells I had delivered this week.
I repotted 12 of the 18 sunflowers yesterday, I ran out of big pots at that point. I really need to give some away.

I then used the grass hook to cut back some of the tall seedy straggly grass. I'm starting to think no mow is a waste of time and I should just mow round all the patches of clover and any other interesting stuff. I'd like to buy some more wildlife plugs to put in the lawn. The self heal I dug out of a bed and put into the lawn is not looking desperately impressed.

I dug up 2 geraniums and a small buddleia the other night while I was on my ground elder mission. I planted them back again quite quickly but the geraniums look a bit upset while the buddleia looks like it might be terminal, the leaves are all hanging really limp.

[Flite]

Cut the buddleia back very hard, chuck a bucket of water on every day, award yourself a gold medal if you manage to kill it.
If they are proper geraniums, rather than pelargoniums - the gaudy bedding things - again trim back and water. There are some delicate "alpine" varieties, but most are tough survivors.

[rafletcher]

We have a perennial geranium, can’t kill the bloody thing! Transplanted stuff can sulk fo a couple of days.

Yesterday I bit the bullet and cut down the bulk of our, until this winter, very happy daphne Jaqueline Postil which has astounding early spring scent. The see-saw season with late severe frost did for it. From 3m tall it’s now mostly 1.5m tall. There are leaves, but time will tell. Likewise for the bay adjacent to it. Still looking sorry for itself, but there are fresh leaves. In contrast the rosemary is romping away. I also ventured up the ladder (ugh) to get both clematis and euonymus down from the gutter.

Today I cut down some of our teasels as they migrated to be next to a path and they keep scraping my hands. Repotted an Acer (only 60cm tall) that was looking a bit poorly. Pot bound doesn’t do it justice!  The pepper plants (those long red ones) came out of the greenhouse to harden off, as did the first sowing of French beans.

I had the sprinkler going for a couple of hours all over the garden last night. It’s bone dry here.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I love buddleia. The flowers are pretty and the bees love it. Just prune back hard every now and then.

Finished moving the asbestos. Also moved a stack of blocks, and 12 bags of building rubble. I'll be disposing of that for months.

Had a bonfire of old rotten fenceposts.

Dug out 5 good fenceposts and pulled out a strainer post (proud of that, involved fiddling with prussic knots on the post and heroic levering with a thick crowbar.).

Trouble is, I now have a stack of rusty sheep fencing mesh to dispose of.

[Mrs Pingu]

I spent from around 10am to 1530 on my hands and knees digging out ground elder on one side of the garden and then digging a trench to put my plastic membrane in, using a hand trowel. My wrists and forearms now feel very weak and weedy and my neck is all stiff, and I'm knackered. Beat working though.

In other news, after no mowing something else has finally appeared in our lawn, common mouse ear. The rest of it doesn't really grow apart from some straggly seedy grass so this morning I raised the blade height on the mower and mowed around the clover and buttercup and mouse ear and the yarrow and self-heal I transplanted earlier. It doesn't actually look that different apart from not being able to see the grass seed now (apart from where it's growing up thru the clover).

[The Family Cyclist]

Got up the allotment yesterday to water, carrots and beetroot have failed, just didn't grow but wonder if ground was too cold qhen planted so will sow more. Parsnips seem to be doing  well

Tonight after watering the garden from the stream sent the wife who needed some fresh air after being on the computer to sow some more salad amongst the ready to harvest salad  while I sowed some more herbs

[Mrs Pingu]

Spent an hour on the other side of the garden digging up ground elder roots. Fortunately the soil was a bit less solid on that side. I did a fence panel length and then plant the first 2 of my sunflowers in the bed. Not sure how they'll do as the will be shaded for some of the afternoon by a pieris, and I'm starting a book to see how long before they get eaten by snails, but we'll see. More of the same to do over the next week.

[Wowbagger]

Yesterday I planted 10 runner bean plants and provided two stakes as support for our apple sapling. I also had to go to the kitchen tap for water as both water butts are now empty.

[The Family Cyclist]

Last night ran up the allotment and gave it a good soaking. Didn't leave strava running this time but as had to venture to some further water troughs as one nearest my plot is slow to refill reckon on about .6 or .7km walked doing it

Up early with the hound this morning so watered my garden before it got too hot.Glad to have the stream as down to about 100l in one water but which I try and reserve for stuff that need a rose on the can as get blocked from stream.

Then dug out our old Christmas tree from one of the repurposed baths as even after 2 1/2 years it hadn't regained growth on one side

After weeding the bed and topping up with fresh compost planted my sprouts into it with beetroot between and radish as a fill in crop

Also received my copy of permaculture magazine which I've just subscribed to so actually had some time in garden reading

[rafletcher]

Not nearly as much as I’d hoped - read virtually nothing! It too hot (for me) to garden much. Did put the water ping can on the sweet pea plants and adjacent runner beans (just one or two). Also put the hose on to the new honeysuckle for half an hour and will douse the newly planted Magnolia later this afternoon. Refilled the water butt using the hose. The sprinkler will be on the raised beds this evening, sweetcorn and Marmande tomatoes principally. There should have been French beans and some peppers in there too, but they’re just sat in their pots / modules on top of one as, as I noted initially, it’s been too hot to plant them out. Hopefully tomorrow morning will be cooler.

[rafletcher]

Well I did plant out the beans (ok) and peppers (looking very floppy) yesterday pm. And today I planted out a new climbing rose New Dawn.

[Mrs Pingu]

After I'd cooled down post commute I spent nearly 3 hours out in the garden. More ground elder digging before planting the remaining 10 sunflowers in the garden. Let's see how they do in the 'wild'.

[rafletcher]

Cut the grass for the first time in 3 weeks. Tied in the Marmande toms in the raised bed, and side-shooted then (even tho yr supposed not to have to). Then put canes in the remaining, much leafier, 8 in pots on the patio, side shooted and tied in. Planted another row of French beans, this time straight into the garden, 2 per hole. Chopped down all the chives that had flowered, hope they regrow. Tomorrow I’ll uproot and put into pots some of the mass of parsley my wife sowed. Plus move some lettuce and chard seedlings about to give them room to grow on.

[The Family Cyclist]

Not been up the allotment for just over a week. Been super busy and thankfully had some rain. Got up there early this morning to give it a good soaking. It need some attention, grass on paths grown and needs mowing and strimming. Problem is I'm usually sneaking up there before kids are up on weekends so can't strim or mow at 6am as our plot is right by houses

The first early spuds seem to be struggling so going to start digging those and see what crops like. Leeks have taken well and chard is going good as well. Might also test harvestbsomengarlic and if can find the shallots amongst the weeds try a few of those.

Thankfully after this week things calm down a bit, no ultra marathons or foreign weddings so will get a bit more time

[rafletcher]

Side-shooted the Marmande in the raised bed. They’re much smaller and less robust than those “leftovers” I potted up, and the latter have fewer side shoot. Maybe it’s a water thing as the raised bed does drain well.  <shrugs>. Tied in those that needed it. Transplanted a couple of my wife’s somewhat randomly sown lettuce to make up for slug damage in my serried rows. Planted the last of the brown lettuce seeds. Pruned all the flower spikes (bar 2) off the Maid of Kent, as it’s (nearly) over. Thinned out the Gala apples. Discovered that the (hardy!) winter flowering clematis that got blasted this winter has actually survived and is sprouting again from the roots.

[Bledlow]

Watered. Most things looking good, but don't want to plant the empty bits because we'll be in Japan for a couple of weeks, & I don't want to ask too much of the watering volunteers. Got the neighbours signed up for the garden at home.

No sign of frogs in the pond. Where have they gone? Not seen any of 'em (there were three) for over a week. Maybe hiding in the undergrowth somewhere. Fingers crossed. I heard froglike noises a couple of days ago: first from one direction, then pause - then from another direction. Repeated a couple of times. Maybe that was two of 'em.

Accosted by the membership secretary & invited to join the committee. There's a vacancy. Should I or shouldn't I?

[MikeFromLFE]

We came home with vast quantities of redcurrants and blackcurrants. They will probably be frozen while we work out what to do with them (we've still got jam and sauce from last year).

Happy with the first of the Charlotte potatoes.

None of the root crops are thriving and the germination has been poor - other plot holders are saying the same.

The weeds are doing nicely thank you.

[rafletcher]

Potted up to courgette and cucumber seedlings. The former because my wife always grows then, but the amount of raised bed they occupy is disproportionate to their yield and our desire to eat the damned things. And the latter is going to precipitate a clear out of accumulated junk from the (small, 6’ x 8’) greenhouse to make room for them to grow.

Planted another row of ( French bean seeds, that’s the 4th. The first is just flowering.

[Bledlow]

Transplanted a cucumber plant from a pot to the allotment, where people will water it along with the rest while we're in Japan.

[rafletcher]

Cut up and disposed of half a dozen polystyrene boxes, in which fish had been delivered years ago, that were cluttering up the ground in the greenhouse, and removed for wifely procrastination about a dozen wicker baskets of varying sizes that had contained plants, again years ago. This to clear floor space for the newly potted cucumbers. Will also have to dispose of several dozen old plant pots.

[rafletcher]

Went to empty the kitchen "caddy" into the compost bin, and found this...

[/url]Squirrel?

We've had the lids nibbled before - at first we thought rats, but they tend to burrow in from the bottom. I'm now thinking squirrel, or I guess glis-glis is a possibility as the cat's brought in a couple. Either way, it had had a real go at the lid this time! Not sure what prompyed it, the only "unusual" addition was some old burge buns and a couple of bits of left-over burger from Friday.

[MikeFromLFE]

Drowning in redcurrants.
That is all.

[The Family Cyclist]

Due to actual rains which put around 300l of water I the water butt's I've not had to water. Last night trimmed the willow stump to make poles for use next year. They sprout if you use them too fresh. Tied up sprouts and had a bit of a tidy

Think I'm going to have to give up the allotment as struggling to keep on top of it. Does mean I have leeks which not sure what to do with as don't want to plant up allotment as lease expires I think September