Kitchen Garden Forum

We have been working on the deep herbaceous border this week and it is getting quite a split up as it received only a cursory fork trough last year as it was getting late when we got to it...and then had to abandon it due to weather and only completed its cut down in March.!
So I started at the "March" end as its plants were in huge clumps. My early grumble at being rained off on the first day I started work on it has turned to dust.
Yesterday I was in a corner fully sheltered from the quite fierce wind and today it has been quite scorching enough that I can feel my face burning.

Two of our loyal volunteers have removed the Nicotiana bedding this morning and forked that area ready to receive the Wallflowers....and this afternoon worked on the perpetual task of tidying the rear of the stock plant area and found, cleared and filled 2 frames that now have their lights shut tonight...

Clive.

I spent all day in the garden today rather than the allotment, just doing a general autumn tidying like weeding and removing the frosted dahlia plants. But the greatest fun was emptying our five compost bins (large dustbins with holes drilled in the bottom, sides and lid). Wow, what beautiful black, friable compost! I never put weeds in those bins or seeding flowers, it's mainly just vegetable scraps like all the pea and bean pods, all peelings, non-seeding plants, egg shells, cardboard, coffee dregs, tea bags etc, occasionally layered with a bit of cow manure, shredded sunflower stalks and grass cuttings.

This afternoon I spread most of the lovely stuff on the herbaceous borders to make sure that the bulbs are well covered but quite a bit also went on the home vegetable bed. Now all five bins are 'primed' again with half-rotten stuff and will be filled over the next year.

Good to see some Snowdrops out this afternoon....

Clive.

They seem to come out as early as the Christmas adverts on T.V, Clive.

I suddenly remembered the Snowdrops today and sure enough when I went to check there they were in flower.

Rumbling with thunder here now and pouring down.. .. good for "my" just planted out Wallflowers.

Clive.

And I thought my Blueberry and Strawberry flowers I found today were strange.

Has anyone else noticed the increase in guests that are on the forum just lately.

Now, if we could just get them joining in.

I hope todays photo doesn't put them off joining.. ..

Clive.

Oh, Clive, I hope you got every little bit out! Luckily, we have never had bindweed problem but we are still finding horseradish coming up in a bed which we thought we had cleared of it about four years ago!

We have had four great days, weatherwise - dry, sunny with a light breeze - and have got all the autumn clearing done on the allotment, working about 3 hours every morning and two hours in the afternoon. Only the wildlife patch untouched which will be tidied in spring.

Clive,
That would be one forkful for me

It's all under some Orange Triumph Rose in the middle of the kitchen garden centre border...well actually it tends to be everywhere given half a chance...but it knows how and where to hide in Rose roots ...and the finer white root is really some proper enchanting nightshade..

Clive.

Some very welcome rain last night and this morning, now if it could just stop in time for work, i will be very pleased.

That rain made it a bit too wet on the top for bindweed extraction... so I decided to try to push the back greenhouse forward a little more.... A little bit more whitewash and some green wood preserver...and I got the new top shelf in. Only 3 more to go.........

Clive.

Clive, re bellbine. Many moons ago when I moved into my present house had bellbine in a corner near the last fencepost. I tried nearly everything bar dynamite, replacing the fence some years later found out why I couldn't. eradicate it, the previous owner had dug the fence hole too deep, rather then chuck some earth back in the hole, he placed an upturned plastic washing up bowl in the bottom of the hole, the bellbine was curled around the bottom like spaghetti.

Good day here for me as its my weekend off from work,
Have redug 3 beds today trying to remove as many stones as possible,
Chicken pellets worked in. If weather permits , will plant some spring cabbage tomorrow.