Kitchen Garden Forum

The forum seems to be really, really quiet - where is everybody? I trust you are all out in the garden or on the allotment, working hard.

Alternatively, something has gone wrong with my settings because I have lost my 'bookmark' for forum.kitchengarden.co.uk ........

I'm still here but busy at present not much pleasure time

Playing with my new toy

I'm putting a few posts on Monika, but, so, so busy at work and at home.....

I have to admit that I have done nothing gardening related....my daughter took me to a nearby chocolate shop outlet ...and it was wonderful. Spent a long time there sampling freebies...and now too stuffed to lift a trowel.

I like your new toy, tigerburnie! My OH trimmed all the grass paths on the allotment this morning using our Stihl strimmer and it works a dream on a lithium battery which lasts 35 minutes. We used to have a large petrol mower but that was very heavy to handle on our very sloping site so, being in our 80s now, we replaced it with the battery strimmer and are very happy with it.
I spent the morning watering (everything is really dry) and prepared the beds for the next lot of broad beans and peas and measured out the leek and (seed-grown) shallot bed. Also cut our large comfrey bed for the first time this year and dug three large holes to fill with well-rotted manure for the courgettes at the beginning of June. There was a chilly wind but we soon worked ourselves warm!

I've been at work, but after work pampering the baby plants! Still with you all though, but bit of an IT issue (my end) which really was the topping on the cake for a bad day! I'll be in a better mood on Sunday when I am on lottie & in my favourite place!

Don't mention strimmers!

Lost my patience with Einhell today and took mine to repair place.

Other than that out in the garden at 7:30 and in just in time to open and pour some wine to aid our shouting at Monty, perhaps one day I'll catch up. Wife's birthday bash in the garden a week on Sunday just to rack up the pressure. Flower garden at last looking something like, apart from the areas that need strimming of course, hope buttercups compost well. Need to go back to veg; tomatoes, cucumbers, squashes, peppers, tomatillos, etc. all look like they have been in their pots too long. Been given seeds of luffa (loofah?) and chick peas and they have germinated almost 100% so will have to work out what to do with those as well. Runner beans just germinated but bed is still full of remains of winter greens and needs clearing and digging. I must have been wicked once but I don't remember it.

Geoff wrote:

I must have been wicked once but I don't remember it.

The worst part of that is I bet you cant remember if you enjoyed it or not either.

Cooo-eeee! Waving from Bournemouth!

Seedlings are all coming up but I'm saving my questions for when I'm in a fix, which will probably be in about a month's time. I'm hoping to get our greenhouses up then and start off the first of the no-dig beds. You'll be praying for a bit of on-line silence by then.

Today after I are been walking the dog I are mostly bin in my shed hiding from the rain.

Made a step out of a deck board to cover the framework of the original shed and the bolted to it first structural member of the extension.
Ruddy thing split when installed, had to make another bit of deck board fit the location.
Used my recycled insulation, plywood and interior cladding to start lining the extension and fitted a gifted fluorescent light above the doorway opening between original and extension.

Found an acceptable cheap gin, Sainsbury's 1L £16 against my (still) favourite Adams dry Copper House gin 70CL £26.

Got a waiting list of two, abruptly on Wednesday, just after I'd weed killer sprayed the dandelion infested vacant plot and arranged arranged a squatter to keep the vacated by demise plot as tidy as Trevor had kept it - hopefully. Guess if I'd done nowt I'd have no prospective tenants.

Been doing serious yard work all week around my full time job. Nothing plant based, but lots of clearing, bagging up and tidying. Found some freebie plants in my lawn earlier, Alchemilla mollis and some holly leaved hellebores, so I've dug them up and potted them on. Then it started to rain, it still is, that was 9 hours ago!

I got a chair out and sat in the garden eating an ice lolly(I had been weeding and potting on Courgettes and Ridge Cukes before this )

Have you tried Hortus from Lidl Peter, at about the same price? My wife is the G&T drinker and quite likes it.

I've actually got round to sowing seeds but can't do any more until the shops open as I've used all my compost up. Contemplating sweeping paths (60 ft long) and digging up the sea of dandelions before they seed everywhere. Got to do some housework too as visitors coming this afternoon. At least the bit of rain we had last night has saved me from having to water everything. The only downside is that it's made all the hedges grow about 6 inches over night.