down at the allotment and in the garden what are you up to

[red]

planted a row of parsnips in toilet rolls. wonder how long before hte jackdaws pull them back up again. gonna try germinating some in kitchen towel next....

[G]

Planted my broad beans, a little later than some on our allotments but had to clear the ground first.

Did another dig on a recently cleared bramble patch to catch the roots a second time.

Had a chat with Irish Eddie who has two, very well ordered plots, he has a back twinge, but told me he can't complain as he'll be NINETY next month.

[Mainer in Exile]

Set up a poly tunnel/cold frame today and moved every thing from the window sills into it. Sowed watermelon, orache, New Zealand spinach, and more lettuce in pots and seed trays.

Added three Sussex hens to the flock.

[red]

planted my peas-grown-in modules to replace the ones the mice ate.
started planting my beetroot-grown-in-modules

still planting potatoes... three varieties in:annabelle, cara, valor
and desirree still to go

sowed more peas-in-modules
sowed some rhubarb chard (in modules!)

[yugogypsy]

Rick is planting peas and I am waiting for a call back from the nursery on the sea-buckthorn I want.

Make that they just phoned and they do have it-hurray.

Apparently its a bit tricky to harvest, but I'll give it a go, I did a bit of reading on it today and plan to do more.

I'm going to plant it along the front perimeter of the property and put holly trees across the back.

Nice prickly things to keep out any invaders

Our neighbour is getting pigs so I should be able to get rid of my overburden of Jerusalem artichokes this year.

Last years mangels are sprouting new leaves which we've been giving to the chooks and we're grinding the mangels up for the horse and donkey.

We aren't making as big a garden this year as we have too many other things to do, but what we are planting should feed us through winter.

I'm going to pick up more canning jars at the thrift store and we're saving jars for jams and chutney.

Take Care All
Lois

[charlie]

Sowed a couple of rows of carrots, and some Borlotti beans.
Measured out the ground for a couple of raised beds.

Sowing some more tomato seeds to go on the window sill.

[yugogypsy]

WEEDING

I can't hardly find my herb bed for weeds and I've got to get outside and create some order out of the chaos!

Lois

[ina]

I still get stuck in the mud even just walking to the bird table...

[red]

oswing more seeds... more lettuce.. more dill,

all our spuds are in

today mostly have been shifting muck..

[yugogypsy]

Well the weeds are out and we need to put in some more dirt and do repairs, but the thymes and oreganos all survived the winter.

When we get more dirt in I have to split up the chives and spread them out

I just stopped for lunch and thought I'd answer this post
Lois

[Annpan]

Built some hot beds and a cold frame and created a seed bed... sowed tomatoes, courgettes, butternut squash, broccoli, swede and leek.

Started turning over some land to plant potatoes... dug a 20ftx2ft trench, planted 7 potatoes, got tired.... I'll do the rest another day.... it is exhausting digging up grass hopefully once it is done this year I wo't need to worry about it again.

[ina]

Well the weeds are out and we need to put in some more dirt

Dirt - is that Canadian for compost, or soil?

[chadspad]

Whats a hot bed Annpan?

My parsnips are coming up already. Ive planted about 4 boxes of broad beans - we will have enough this year lol. Loads of peas were started off and planted outside this weekend. French beans have been started off in pots. I cant sow anything that has a bean outside as the mice eat them all!

[Thurston Garden]

Whats a hot bed Annpan?

Here's mine!

[chadspad]

Well thats pretty cool! Ive got chickens but no tunnel, can I still make a hotbed outside? Perfect for squashes eh?