Autumn Bits and Bobs.

[oldherbaceous]

Was just thinking, haven’t seen a post from Primrose, or Robo for a good while….hope they are both okay!

[Westi]

Really lovely mild day, but unable to get on the beds as way too wet. Spent my time securing everything following the blow, but this time most of the netting remained in the plot at least & not up the neighbours trees. My arch did not survive though, but lot's of bits can be re-purposed. Damn rats have now taste tested the other side of the tunnel, so quite some time securing that to stop them. I have so many smelly things around & in the tunnel it was making my eyes a bit teary. I am going down tomorrow while the weather holds to get the last of the laminate sheets out from the compost sides & get them all along that side as well as it seems to have worked on the other side. (I have pallets around the compost with black plastic lining but the lining was perishing, but will be OK until I can take some more laminate down).

Fingers crossed I might be able to get on with weeding the rest of the asparagus as no rain today & none expected tomorrow either. It's irking me now as last big job & been on the 'To Do' list for so long. Mind only have a few little things to sort until another tedious job has to sorted which is the ground elder. Fortunately my neighbour has taken the fence down between out plots & pretty much cleared the tangle so I should just be able to just dig my rhubarb out which needs splitting anyway & tackle the rest. It is no where as fulfilling as chasing bindweed though!

[Westi]

I finally got to sort the asparagus, almost finished as well! There was some rain overnight but beds not soggy. It was so weedy took ages & I lost some time carrying the Trugs to & from the compost so just piled it up in the end & will sort it on another day.

1st pic is the ones from plants, not crowns I bought so not building mini volcanos , but not 100% sure how deep these will have reached. They came in pots with advice to plant to same depth, each apparently had some crown attached but were really small. They have been in a few years & produced spears but limited in size & volume so thought I give them a bit more protection on top of the layer of my compost thinking maybe crown is a bit close to the surface. Any thoughts on these? They are still being sold.
2nd pic is the mature beds, but the closest one is split in two as have some purple asparagus on the right. The back one is my big boys who have been in near 20yrs now & when I finish weeding it, it will get another wooden edge on top of the one there so I can raise the whole bed so crowns tucked in.
They better be grateful!

bHdyG148RpubwkY0g2YWrg.jpg (5.75 MiB) Viewed 280 times

bHdyG148RpubwkY0g2YWrg.jpg (5.75 MiB) Viewed 280 times

[Westi]

Just checking the weather to see if still OK to go down tomorrow & my phone & local news says Max 12C & Min 11C! That will do nicely thank you! That should encourage me to work a bit faster to make the most of it & get more things done, instead of seeking warmth every 15mins. Anticipating the asparagus bed will definitely be finished, but should also get the Raspberries weeded & tied in until ready to trim in Feb & with any luck a last hoe of the strawberry beds & this years empty salad beds covered. That will be plot 1 finished if I can achieve it.

Started sketching out next year planting plan today as my back said no to going to the plot. I knew I shouldn't go down 2 days in a row, but when do I ever listen to myself when I find it difficult to listen to others sometimes?

[Clive.]

I see that we might reach 8C briefly around lunchtime tomorrow...seems to have been a day for delivering plants today for the various couriers. Two small parcels of roses arrived at the big garden and my Claire Austin order arrived..
Lovely and sunny with greenhouses well open middle of the day to vent.
Turned down cold at home time today and came up misty...and having just taken the box from my delivery out to the cardboard/paper bin it was glazed over with lightly stuck lid.

C.

[Myrkk]

Planted some peas a while ago as saw an article that mentioned winter sowing peas to get an early start the next year. I now have some gorgeous pea seedlings but the weather has turned quite chilly here so not sure about popping them out under a cold frame. Think I may have another DIY moment and make a cold frame for them. It will be nice to have fresh pea shoots at least over winter.

[Westi]

A cold frame would be good Myrkk as then you have it for future use, but before I had the tunnel I just did a DIY set up & they did fine. My first ones weren't too successful as they were tall peas & spring was a bit late to uncover & they just tangled themselves up, but I just loosened the micro mesh & let them do their thing & they survived my pulling them off the mesh & grew more tendrils! The shorter pea varieties do much better as I find they kind of just sit a bit longer doing very little before they decide warmer weather is on the way.

My DIY was some wooden fruit boxes I got off the supermarket pile, joined them together into a square & secured it in place with tent pegs. Left the bottom wood planks on for stability & planted into these gaps. A few hoops over it & the micro mesh pegged on, although I did end up stapling it as kept blowing off. Pea shoots will just grow on a window sill though, so you could do some in & out sows maybe?

[Westi]

OK it was the glorious temp forecasted on the plots but only if you could hide from the wind, but went for it! Asparagus is all cleared & hopefully all the weeds removed, the length of some of them was amazing, don't know the name but clover like & wee flowers. Topped up & fed but bed had dropped a bit so didn't have to add another wooden edge. Autumn Raspberries also weeded & tied in ready for cutting down next year. Another rat tear in the tunnel wall mended, so no more laminate sheets left if they try to progress further but put down some Silent Roar...it certainly has a bit of a smell to it but whether can be identified as Lion Poo by rats will be decided by no more holes!

[Geoff]

Bit disappointed today. Stock checked my seed collection and drafted a shopping list but no Brown Friday unless I've missed it somehow.

[oldherbaceous]

You’re doing well, Westi!

I’ve been waiting for their sale too, Geoff… but seen nothing.

Planted some garlic and broad beans into pots this morning….

[Geoff]

We'll just have to order veg seeds from Premier today at 10% off (BF10).

[Westi]

Last council garden waste collection next Wednesday, until next Feb, so went around the back garden & basically trimmed & weeded everything left. My compost bins in the back garden were a bit full as well so transferred some partly ready compost from them as well, obvs leaving me the bottom well rotted ready soil.

Council has given us planning permission for the garage conversion already; certainly didn't expect them to be that fast but knew they probably would prioritise due to Mr's disability. Today the signs went up for objections, should be OK as no one will be compromised as on same footprint as the garage, same height etc...just without the asbestos! My neighbour a couple of doors up has started a bet with some of the others in the close that just one person might object, has done it before to many of them; just that type of person! No one has ever had to change their plans so expect the council know his name quite well! I'm getting a bit excited now, don't care what it looks like etc. as plans look fine, just want a bit of the mega skip at my disposal, will be so handy to get rid of some more of Mr's bits & bobs in one swift fell without luging single items to the tip!