It's amazing how quickly you forget where you're at with stuff after a couple of weeks away tending to other things.
Still everything appeared to be how I left it, so no vandal damage (two or four legged varieties) to contend with.
Planted some more tulips I found hiding in the trug. Filled the trug with spent and sieved growbags ready for the garlic. Another growbag went to providing an almost invisible layer over one of the raised beds. It really doesn't go far, despite breaking your back getting it to the lottie !
Took more netting supports up, but almost immediately found that I didn't have anywhere near enough plastic joints. Thinking cap on, will take up a length of hose next time and cut some from that. Baby Bro donated much to the cause during his brief visit, so I now have three full length hoses to choose from.
We had a new fridge delivered at work in the week, so I grabbed the cardboard and polystyrene packing. Was thinking of insulating the cold frame with the polystyrene and the cardboard went over a couple of bare areas of soil.
Lifted half a dozen leeks from the flower bed because I wanted it clear for the new path. Small as they are, they are destined for the soup this week.
Moved the 5'x5' RB over about a foot to it's final position. Just a shame the rest of the leeks are in the way. Spent a bit of time moving paths to suit. Despite the paths being compacted, it was reasonably easy to dig. It would appear that's I've got a strange shaped area in between the 5'x5' and the bean trench. Can't really visualise it until I've got the last 8'x4' built and in place which will be almost next on the agenda.There's still a huge pile of cow poo in the midden, so my main priority is to lift the last of the swedes and the cabbages and get the two final RBs in place and filled with the stuff. I'm surprised it's not all be grabbed by now.
Ma and Pa in law came to visit for a chat over the fence, so they got one of the swedes and I brought two home. Bit of splitting damage to one, and what appears to be root fly tunnelling. Still there's enough there to go in the pot and I was more than pleased that I actually got some grown which was more than happened last year when they all rotted.
The green manure mustard had fairly shot up. Keeping a watchful eye on flower heads forming. I really must find out where the mustard sits in the rotation plan and how long I'm likely to be able to leave it before I dig it in. It's definitely an easy way to ignore any weeds that might be lurking, you just can't see them !Stood and looked at the plot for ages thinking what to do next so turned the compost heap. Bit wet and soggy so made sure extra newspaper went in as I refilled it.
Went for a walk around the site on my way home and ended up having a cup of tea and a chat with the lovely Mrs Minute Taker and her chap, and the Chairperson popped past too. Came away with two jars of home made chutney, a pepper and a sense of well being.
List of things to do before I can put the lottie to bed:
- Obtain 2"x2" post for the last 8'x4' bed legs. Build bed.
- Remove cabbages and swede and dig over where bed is to be. Fill both with poo.
- Find two more pallets and get another couple of bags of post fix to finish side fence and then I can get the hanging basket brackets up.
- Plant garlic in trug.
- Fill RBs with spent compost from the plot (which is going to take a while as the tomatoes in the g/h are still ripening !).
- Build a secure tool store. Everything is just crammed in the corner of the shed atm and now I've used the trug, everything's just been stuffed into carrier bags.
- Think about the paths. I'd originally thought woodchips, but with the likelyhood of flooding I can see them ending up a soggy mass. Chuckies, pavers or bricks would be ideal, for the central path anyway. Shame I don't have any !
- Secure the fence that the Lovely Mr Sec has excavated right up to and which is leaning precariously towards his plot.
- Measure up and cut netting from the huge roll that's sitting in the plot shed.
- Devise my cunning planting plan!
End of chapter.
xx
3 comments:
it's so warm and sunny here not thought about starting the sweetpeas yet,mine are still flowering,soil too dry to dig, and i've got onions,garlic and broad beans to clear the ground for and plant yet.. help!
planting wallflowers,pansies to make it look nice over winter and I've just found my tulip bed again under the grass... oh happy days
enjoy your soup!
My pansies have been in and flowering for ages, although some of the plug plants seem more keen than others. I thought the black one was amazing ! Some of the wallflowers are in bloom, those that I didn't get chance to pot on are falling well behind the others. I suppose there was a good month between the two arriving so the second lot better get a move on. Primroses are in the ground both at the lottie and the plot and I've still not some growing on, may try and put some colour in the front border. Mr Sluggy and his mates had the first lot of wallflowers I put in there !
I pulled my sweetpeas down a bit early I must admit. There was the odd bloom scattered about but the whole thing looked a mess, so I saved some seed and binned the whole caboodle. I grew so many this year, I couldn't keep up with the dead heading or cutting and they kinda got away from me.
Lordy b! You'll be catching yourself coming back ! Are you sowing Aquathingy Claudia ? I'm putting mine and The Sutton off until next month, but sowing them in Roottrainers cos the BB bed is just poo atm ! I was wanting a late variety, but I think I will just do 3 of each now, another 3 in January and then another later sowing of The Sutton in Spring. If I get 9 plants of each successional, then that should be manageable and do us ! Not sure I' bothering with onions this year. For the space and return, I'm not sure they're economically viable.
I'm cutting down on the garlic too. That's the crop I was most successful with this year. I'm going to use my two biggest bulbs from this year so with a bit of luck with get about 24 cloves. should be enough to fill the trug. I should do a round up shouldn't I ? lol
Soup now deferred til tomorrow.
:-)
I grow Bunyards Exhibition BB every year, grew some as a green manure this year ,but as the weather was sooooooo bad I left them in,we now have a freezer full.....
Always grow Radar onion sets, we finished them last week, I dug them up beginning of June I find they store very well.
Eating curly Kale at the moment, my fav veg, and picking punnets of strawberries, never had them this late before, in fact I'm getting sick of them!
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