Kitchen Garden Forum

Today and yesterday I are mostly bin doing this.

Pa Snip these are my raised beds and bank supports, with my topup of Homebase topsoil £30 and some replacement strawberries.

Yes, welcome back PJ, from me, too. I was only wondering the other day what might have happened to you!
We spent a morning on the allotment today, my OH strimmed the grass paths and I went over all the bare soil with the three-pronged hoe, just to open up the soil before it rains over the weekend. The manure has broken down well but it's annoying to see lots of the supposedly compostable tea bags (from various herb teas) still apparent in the home-grown compost.
At home the first broad beans and peas (sown in the cold greenhouse some time ago) will be planted out tomorrow and the same roottrainers used again to sow the next lot of broad beans for the allotment. Peas for the allotment I only germinate in damp soil at home and then sow them direct, hoping that the mice will leave us some ...

Got one too!

It does help me though to get the Bordeaux mix out (is that banned by EU yet)? Or just cut them down! My phone was old number so worthwhile reminder. Got so much to do on lottie but got the clearing & cleaning done so ready to peel back the plastic - but maybe not this weekend judging by the weather report! Maybe greenhouse clean up?

Westi

Anything I need to get done will need to be done tomorrow or on Thursday morning. I'll be off to Chorley, Lancashire for three days as factotum for my nephew's cycle team.

I've got two tubs standing in the greenhouse with Rocket spuds in. They have just started pushing through the surface now. Soon be time to put some more compost in the tubs.
The peppers are ready for potting up.

I bought 12 Polka raspberries last autumn, and they are all showing growth now. Can't wait to sample them

Chard must be one of the best value veg. I sowed a short row of Vulcan on 8th June last year, and we are still using it now.
It will probably bolt before long, but we've had our money's worth out of it

Your mention of potaotes reminds me: I planted two Rocket potatoes in a large pot about 4 weeks ago and they are well up and yesterday I planted 3 potatoes each in even larger pots, Rocket, Desiree and Kestrel which are all still in the greenhouse. With us only having a half plot this year, I don't want to "waste" precious ground on potatoes which are usually slug-ridden in any case whereas the pot grown ones tend to be clean and disease- and pest-free.
When today I lifted the black plastic which had covered the vegetable beds at home, the soil was beautifully black and crumbly and our very tame robin immediately swooped down to help himself to little morsels, in fact he became quite a nuisance when I was trying to hoe!

All of my early potatoes will be in large pots this year.
I've got a bed ready for some Charlotte and Cara. Any of those over, will go in pots as well

There is quite a large patio area at the end of the garden that has loads of room for tubs.

peter wrote:Today and yesterday I are mostly bin doing this.

Pa Snip these are my raised beds and bank supports, with my topup of Homebase topsoil £30 and some replacement strawberries.

Perfectly fit for purpose they are as well. Once upon a time I would have been easily able to lay my hands on similar, but drums are no longer an easy option to obtain.

The good old 'elf stopped us taking blue drums home.

Something to make you all smile......Monday i decided to rotovate my three allotments with Big Bertha as it was such a lovely day.
I had done about a third when she ground to a halt and cut out. After about two hours of tinkering about and being worn out from swinging her over, i reluctantly gave up. My mate who does mechanical work for me is unwell at the moment, so he couldn't have a look at her. So i resorted to hiring a large 13HP rotovator, (which i have to say still wasn't a patch on Big Bertha), as it took three times as long and still didn't get as deep as i would have liked, but at least it was done. But the funny thing was, later in the day after i had finished everything, i thought i would just try Big Bertha one more time, and yes you have guessed it, she fired straight up...I know i should have been annoyed, but i just found the whole thing quite funny....apart from paying £70 out for the hire of the other one, that is.... ...

Oh, there is a saying for that kind of situation

Murphy's law - the probably of an event happening is inversely proportional to the desirability of it happening

Murphy's wife's law - Murphy is an optimist

Bemused plot holders rushed to OH's aid when Big Bertha broke down.



Do think it a bit OTT though, one hell of a way to create furrows for potatoes.

Pa Snip wrote:

peter wrote:Today and yesterday I are mostly bin doing this.

Pa Snip these are my raised beds and bank supports, with my topup of Homebase topsoil £30 and some replacement strawberries.

Perfectly fit for purpose they are as well. Once upon a time I would have been easily able to lay my hands on similar, but drums are no longer an easy option to obtain.

Inspiring me to sort out my buckets and plant British Queen seeds. Here it is not blue drums but sheep and cattle feed buckets, I do have beautiful blue buckets that once held mayonnaise from a plumbers wife who made potato salad but they are mostly in real bucket use..

Spent far more time than I realised earlier sorting out my barrels.
Just three left to do and I ran out of fresh soil, so back to Homebase(this evening) for six more bags. Advertised as 3 for £10 I was actually charged £17.51 for the six. All processed barrels full of strawberries or replanted green garlic, some missed bulbs and bulbs from the flower heads that had taken root.

Also sorted out my 4'×2' sleeper based raised bed and put the wooden coldframe in place ready for sowing some carrots in it. Some couch had come from the path through a corner joint and fanned out about eight inches down, that took a while to tease out. Finished by weeding a four foot strip along the front of my first plot.

As I was locking my shed at the back of the plot a lady passed along the footpath, the other side of the fence, with her two granddaughters. One of whom heard me, took one look at me and exclaimed to granny "It's Mr McGregor!", nice that Beatrice Potter is reaching another generation.

I think the little Girls comment towards you Peter, was very polite....