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

[Thurston Garden]

I guess you could make one where ever you liked - if it's going to be outdoors though I guess it would benefit from some sort of cover (polythene?) to keep it dry until it settles down and the weather sorts it's life out!

[Annpan]

My hotbed is inside a cold frame - 6 inches of semi-rotted compost (I don't have chooks yet) and a sprinkling of top soil. They are all steamy on the inside this morning... looking good

It is somewhat of an experiment... inspiration courtesy of Thurston Garden.

[Thurston Garden]

inspiration courtesy of Thurston Garden.

[yugogypsy]

Thats soil Ina,

We used up our compost on the potato patch

[Millymollymandy]

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

I don't think you'll need one - you've got the climate for most things whereas they are in Scotland and need a bit of help with warmth!

[hamster]

Does anyone know if peppers are particularly slow to germinate? At least some of all the other things I've planted have started to come up, but no peppers.

[Thurston Garden]

Hamster - peppers are usually quite quick but they need a bit of heat (18 - 20C) to germinate and then a steady warmth to grow.

Do you have them in a propogator? If so, they should be through in a 3 or 4 days.

[hamster]

No, I don't have a propagator, they're just on my windowsill. Maybe my house is too cold for them then....

[Cassiepod]

Last night and at the weekend I finally managed to get some things planted
onion sets, some leaf beet, garlic cloves, runner bean seed, leek seeds, celery and becuase I found the packet some lupins for good measure.

I didn't think it was much but when I wrote in the garden diary i felt quite proud of it... let's hope they come to something.

It's raining and miserable today so that's probably stopped play for a couple of days now.

I also have some potatoes chitting on the kitchen windowledge which I hope to get in soon.

[ina]

No, I don't have a propagator, they're just on my windowsill. Maybe my house is too cold for them then....

Can you stick them on a radiator? That's what I did before I had a heated propagator... "Regulate" the heat from underneath with boards of varying thickness!

[Annpan]

No, I don't have a propagator, they're just on my windowsill. Maybe my house is too cold for them then....

Can you stick them on a radiator? That's what I did before I had a heated propagator... "Regulate" the heat from underneath with boards of varying thickness!

I have tried starting my strawberry seeds that way... nah... didn't work, they were on there for 3 weeks and everytime they sprouted the soil would dry out (I tried to water ever day) Out of 16 seeds 3 sprouted and only reached 1mm tall before wilting... maybe it was too hot for them I will stick the pots in a cold frame and forget about them... they'll probably get started that way...

[Millymollymandy]

Everybody's gone quiet! Are you all too busy in the garden?

I have planted out my French beans, runner beans and borlotti beans. My parnsips have germinated this year thank god but I am having the same problem with getting spring onions to germinate. They seem to not like my soil any more!

Anyway I am having to spend far too much time watering tiny pots of seedlings (or potential ones!) in my cold frames, which are pretty much like hot houses at the moment. I think I need to move them somewhere shadier!

Oh and last night I pulled up my first radishes - 4 rather small ones that I really needed to leave for a little longer, but they were yummy....

What are you guys up to?

[JR]

I think everone is hard a work planting and weeding!

Our plot is doing great, caugettes are getting quite big, although the yellow ones dont seem to be germinating. I need to weed one of the seed beds this week and plant out some of my herbs from seed into the new herb bed I dug in at home. (spending so much time at the plot better mow the front garden at home too).

Time to clear out the green house a bit so I can plant my chili plants in to bigger pots. Got lots of flowers for the plot and the beds at home and some spare tomato plants which I will find homes for. Going to keep celery and some other bits in the greenhouse for a bit longer. Will be ok until the chilies, tom's and melons really take over!

Thinking of putting a polly tunnel on the plot for next year got to be the way forward!

[hamster]

I've spent so long not having a garden that I keep forgetting to come to this thread!

Everything is doing okay here, peas and beans survived a whole week in the great outdoors, some salads and greens are just coming up that I planted a week ago. Tomatoes and squash and sprouts are hardening off, though I don't really know how big sprouts should be when planted out so I'm guessing on that.

The bf found slug trails on the carpet in the sitting room this morning. Don't know how that got there.

[Silver Ether]

Well I got spuds showing, cabbages lovely, great looking beans, leeks in, no sign of carrots yet, Pepper plants thriving and the pumpkin, butternut and decorative gourds are all up, broccoli is struggling but don't give up.... Cut and come lettuce is slow but getting there
Think its peas this week must look at the beetroot pack as well
One tomato plant looking well must get a couple more plants ...hey ho a weeding we all go ...