Long awaited Spring Bits and Bobs…

[oldherbaceous]

I also sowed some more broad beans, beetroot and prepared an area for sowing onion seed, tomorrow….this is something I haven’t done for years, as I have been using onion sets for many years now.
It’s lovely to be getting some seeds sown in the ground….

Sounds as if you have had a fair feast, Clive.

[Clive.]

My dad used to put in a long seed row of onions when we had the use of a square of garden over next door. They were quite close together along the row and made some nice useable sized onions.

C.

[oldherbaceous]

Been and dug the last strip of allotment, where I had Winter crops growing….a nice feeling having that out of the way.

[tigerburnie]

Have to say going no dig has been a boon for me, happy growing that way and as digging would not have been possible this past year due to my health, it has allowed me to carry on growing when I would probably had to have stopped.

[robo]

I know the feeling tiger I had 12 months were I didn’t care one way or the other when my wife died then 2 years getting progressively worse with my knee to were I couldn’t do anything now sitting looking at my rear garden wishing someone would make a start for me

[tigerburnie]

Gardening is great therapy Robo, you know that, I am currently doing it sitting down in pots and containers, doesn't have to be a lot, a tomato in one pot a lettuce in another, need a bit of gentle looking after and when you come to eat it, you just know it will give you a lift, Chin up mate.

[oldherbaceous]

Afternoon Robo, you will get there…as Burnie said, maybe just a few things in pots, to keep your hand in…times can be very tough and you have certainly been up against it!

[oldherbaceous]

There’s a really nice young lad taken on a plot, over the allotment….he wants to have a giant pumpkin growing competition, so just had big bertha out, and rotovated in six barrow-fulls of manure…that should give the plants a boost!

[Westi]

I behaved myself & did what intended today while the sun shone. Salad bed sown (4 varieties), turnips in, more carrots in the frame (well only ones as the others were no show), mooli, radish, outside peas stinking of peppermint oil, chard plants in along with the Cauliflowers. A few more things to go but delayed covering the Cauli's - why does the wind always increase when you are trying to cover beds & why does the dog find it the perfect thing to have a quick lay down on?

[Clive.]

Here I got the early onward pea row sown and then put in a row of chard which is now one of my staple veg. The first row of beetroot is in, Moneta, not one I have grown before but looking forward to a beetroot sandwich, another of my staples The Radeo pea location is mapped out ready
..and to finish the day I've just inflicted a haircut on myself, that clipper that I bought at inflated price in the first lockdown...must now have paid for itself though...woolly hat back on tomorrow

C.

[oldherbaceous]

Not so pleasant out there this morning….loads of pricking out and potting on is in order, I think!

[Primrose]

Robo, would it be worth paying for somebody to come in and have a "one off" digging,clearing session for you to start the season off? If is makes subsequent work easier and possible for you it might remove that "overwhelmed" feeling one has at the start of the season when one isn,t fit for heavy work.

Meanwhile its typical Bank Holiday Monday weather here - pouring with rain but yesterday,s sunshine finally bought on the first green grass shoots of my newly seeded over vegetable plot. Now I,ll have just one long border left for vegetable growing. After so many years I need to try and keep my hand in, even if Mr Primrose will be doing all the manual work! It,s really important for me to have few things to look forward to developing during the growing season to get me out of bed in the morning!

[retropants]

I’ve been giving my house plants a good and thorough dunking and shower with rain water. They were all very dusty and tired looking. They look much better for it, hopefully they’ll put on some lovely fresh growth soon.

[Westi]

Pretty much finished my sowings as I brought the seeds & pots home knowing the weather wasn't going to play fair. By the time I put in the rest of the seedlings & sort out the tunnel they will be up & ready. Had fun with a £ shop coir compost brick; well £1.50. No guidelines on use just said wet it & they recommend mixing it with regular compost. I ended up with a large bucket full of the coir & just used my home compost so I will likely get a few weeds, but easy to remove.

I have loads of coir left which I don't want to waste so my idea was to use this on my soggy bed as it will soak up water but also dries out quickly; too quickly for normal pots or beds if another heat wave? Is this a credible idea or just another Westi moment?

[tigerburnie]

Plus 1.8 in the greenhouse last night and a light frost outside, the suns now out it looks like Spring but it's not fooling me, it's still got bits of Winter still hanging on, caution required.