What Jobs are we doing in the Garden today 2014..

Just time for a quick burst in the garden this evening after work .

Sowed some butternut squash, pumpkins, sweet corn and a cue in the greenhouse. A bit of watering, then pop round next door to apologise to the neighbours for our escaped chickens ending up in their garden today.

Took a peace offering of some eggs, luckily no damage done to neighbours' garden. We get on fine with them and neighbour said she quite enjoyed herding them back through the hedge and into their run.

Still don't know how they got out - the gate in the run was secure when we left this morning, but neighbour found it open.

 

I finished planting out today! Two Manx Marvel tomatoes, Cosmos, Wangenheimia and six dozen Nicotiana......grew a few too many this year. It's pouring with rain so I suppose the slugs will be along to demolish the lot now! Washed loads of pots and trays ready for storing.

 

I've planted out all of the bare root plants I have been nurturing in the GH but mostly I've been running a relocation service for the vast amount of snails I've found. My first lot of pea seedlings have been all but eaten

 

It makes you wonder whether it's worth all the effort Yvonne!

 

Last year was the first time I've ever grown peas and they were so delicious I eat quite a few raw. I was really looking forward to this years crop but I don't think they will survive. I have started a second batch , hopefully I have enought time.

I hate killing anything, so I'm only left with taking the previous day's collection for a road trip !

 

In the papers the other day it said 65 feet was enough ...

 

Returned from family visits and holidays to some lovely weather and am now knackered. Cleared broccoli and chard from poly, Planted greenhouses and polytunnels with climbing French beans,chillies,various tomatoes( marmande,Sungold,Gardeners delight, and several heritage varieties) spinach , basil. Planted brassicas outside under debris netting,weeded raspberries. Debated whether to clear remains of bolted salad leaves but left them alone for now. Planted courgettes pumpkins and runner beans outside. Planted up 3 large blue ceramic pots with geraniums, and popped a castor oil plant in each one- love these in late summer.Now need to empty 3 daleks to fill with mountains of pulled weeds. And wondering where to put the Salvia collection blooming away beautifully in the greenhouse. And do I really need 20 cucumber plants? Why do I germinate so many?

 

I grow 4, and one of those is a spare, and in years when only 2 survive we have enough

Bad habit I reckon (speaking generally, not at you per se). I have a veg diary where I record sowing / planting and first/last harvest dates, and also "how many". Then comments for "Hated/Loved the flavour" and "Need More/Less next year". Been doing that for several years and now I only grow the number of plants we need, plus a few spares.

It seems to me that it takes a lot of time, effort and, key for me, greenhouse bench space to grow more than needed - unless you a) have space and b) plan to offload them to village fate or similar.

So I wonder why I read each Spring of so many people over-catering the number of plants that they grow?

Am I the only Scrooge grower that aims to only raise the number of plants that I need (plus the few extra that my Inlaws have - but they have the same requirements each year, every year, too ...)

 

Aaawww....
never grown peas Yvonne. What do you think went wrong?
Jenny

 

Mice are the main thieves for newly sown peas

 

Another lovely warm day, enjoying my week off.
Finally got everything planted in the ground over 300 bedding plants today.
Still a few left to dot around.
But clever me left the coleus out last night and the snails/slugs demolished a WHOLE TRAY of 24 and none left
I usually never get them further than the 1st leaf stage
Exotic border done and planted up

 

I know what you mean Kristen, once you've given them away, anything could happen to them.

Only spent an hour or so in the garden this evening. Still got a fair bit done though. Sowed some spring onions, mixed lettuce and runner beans in the veg patch, ran the hoe in between the spuds and hand weeded a couple of rows of beetroot.

Also helped Mrs Trunky find some bits and pieces to take to school tomorrow, they're constructing a 'bug hotel', so I managed to get rid of some old canes, a couple of those bricks with lots of holes in them, and some short lengths of old guttering downpipe.

 

Hahahaha ... our village fete is a fate worse than death ...

Being without conservatory space this spring has caused some things to happen out of order. Moved all the overwintering plants out of the greenhouse the other day, so it now has room to start some things off. Dahlias have been (potted up) outside, and started to sprout, so thought I would put them in the greenhouse for a few weeks "boost", and I potted up the Cannas today - which have been overwintering in trays. Surprised they haven't started sprouting all by themselves ... but the corms feel firm. They filled 70 pots

Watered them all in, and the hydrangeas that I extracted from under the greenhouse bench at the weekend - and now look like they have sunburn! so I put some capillary matting in some shade and moved them (must be about 70 of them and all!) onto it. I could barely see what I was doing, and it was gone 9:30 by the time I came in.

Watched the documentary on the 50th anniversary of Thalidomide on the recorder. Definitely worth watching, and will get the kids to watch it with me when they are home for half term shortly; there but for the grace of God went I .... and hats off to David Mason for getting decent compensation for the victims, at great personal cost to his own well-being I am sure.

Off to Chelsea tomorrow (errmmm ... today!!)

 

For me, I never trust that rabbits/ mice/ slugs etc won't win!