Today I did something in my Garden

paddylonglegs

Planning repaint garden walls, they are covered in the usual green mildew and whatever else.

Any thoughts on how to clean and prep walls without a power washer?

Harry Palmr

I used an 8 inch long hard bristle scrubbing bush for cleaning if the mildew is extensive there are home made concoctions like a vinegar and baking soda mix which you paint or spray on, leave for an hour then scrub/wash off. No idea if it works.

https://static.cleaningsupplies4u.com/420/420/assets/images/product/hand-scrubbing-brush--stiff-bristles.jpg

beggars_bush

Put up windbreak netting along fence to stop veg plants getting burnt.
Planted out beetroot red onions
Planted cucumber in polytunnel, more to go outside next week
Pumpkins going out later this week too and squashes

SnowyMuckish

I’ve been hardening off some young plants for the past week and I’m biting my nails trying to hold back planting them out. It’s the one part of gardening that I have no patience for! Going to wait out this cold spell coming this weekend and see how things fair out after that. Hopefully the cold spell won’t last too long?

SouthWesterly

Another bed done, runner beans, Swede, turnip, okra, dwarf beans , mixed salad leaves, marigold and calendula.

SouthWesterly

Another day digging in my hybridised no dig garden. Planted a load of brassicas in starter beds.

magicbastarder

magicbastarder wrote: »

trying out something today - since we're not really using the car much, and it's sunny, i nipped off some of the oregano plant and am trying to find out how well drying it on the dash of the car works.

forgot to report back; this was a success. less than 24 hours later, crispy bone dry herbs.

NIMAN

After some major drainage work last month, finally got the full area rotovated, raked and reseeded yesterday.

The seed was literally being spread as the rains arrived. Couldn't have timed it better.

Hopefully the drainage will be fixed now, no way doing all that again next year!

https://flic.kr/p/2iYNNbY

https://flic.kr/p/2iYRwGP

GreeBo

NIMAN wrote: »

After some major drainage work last month, finally got the full area rotovated, raked and reseeded yesterday.

The seed was literally being spread as the rains arrived. Couldn't have timed it better.

Hopefully the drainage will be fixed now, no way doing all that again next year!

https://flic.kr/p/2iYNNbY

https://flic.kr/p/2iYRwGP

I hope the forecasted frost doesnt do you any damage!

SouthWesterly

Finished my beds today. Planted out a load of herbs and a poppy bed.
2 beds spare for the next batch of veg and 2 which I'm leaving covered with plastic as I've enough planted... For now.

SouthWesterly

Finished my beds today. Planted out a load of herbs and a poppy bed.
2 beds spare for the next batch of veg and 2 which I'm leaving covered with plastic as I've enough planted... For now.

Igotadose

SnowyMuckish wrote: »

Hopefully the cold spell won’t last too long?

My unscientific rule of thumb is that, if NYC gets a weather system, 3 days later, we get some aspect of it.

Well, for this weekend, they're predicted a record (due to late in the season) cold front dropping snow and going below freezing throughout the Northeast US, for the weekend.

I was pretty sanguine about the cold we were having here - I had lots of seedlings out, none seemed to suffer. And the wind, usually the worst problem I face, abated the last couple days. But now, I'm beginning to regret not having any fleece to cover what's out there, I think by mid next week some aspect of this record system in the US will be upon us. Fingers crossed I am completely wrong! I really wish the DIY shops were open!

I wonder if I could get some wool from the local shepherds. I know they basically throw it away, maybe I can mulch with it to keep the seedlings warm for a couple days... I think I'd be causing a huge mess though..

Harry Palmr

There will be some cool nights but nothing exceptional as the weather is basically slack continental HP not Atlantic from the US north east

https://www.wetterzentrale.de/en/topkarten.php?map=1&model=ecm&var=1&time=252&run=0&lid=OP&h=0&tr=24&mv=0

Wyldwood

Newspaper can be used if nothing else is available for insulating plants. A couple of layers weighted with stones.

magicbastarder

Igotadose wrote: »

My unscientific rule of thumb is that, if NYC gets a weather system, 3 days later, we get some aspect of it.

My father in law deals a lot with a company in Iceland, and it seems to be a good time of thumb that if we're having good weather, it's miserable there, and the converse.

Same applies with Portugal to a lesser extent - some of my colleagues are based in Lisbon.

CelticRambler

If you can get hold of a barrow-load of freshly cut grass, heap it strategically around the bed to create some mini hot pockets as it decomposes. Once the temperatures rise again, you can either remove it entirely or dig it in.

Doctors room ghost

GreeBo wrote: »

I hope the forecasted frost doesnt do you any damage!

I sowed grass in early April and it got 3 good frosts. The same grass is a foot and a bit high today not a bother on it

CelticRambler

Not exactly something I did today (other than upload the photos) but this is what happens when you've planted all your seeds, transplanted all your seedlings, mowed the grass three times in the week already and every other job is paused waiting for fresh supplies ...

The extreme southwestern corner of my bit of garden, somewhat neglected ...



After two long days of lopping and chainsawing, a vision of the future begins to emerge:



By the end of the week, a "blank canvas" has been marked out ... and several new lines now added to the To Do list!



That's a very productive plum tree on the right; there's a hawthorn on the left, with two self-sown rhododendrons on either side of it conveniently placed to screen a messy rear access; a holly right in the middle and - I hope - a dogwood (didn't realise it was there until after I'd cut it to the ground); there's also some honeysuckle growing through the ivy. A big messy alder (?I think) was turned into stakes and wood chip mulch.

SouthWesterly

Put up bean netting and scaffold netting over my fruit bushes.

Need to make a stand for the rain barrel.
It never stops.

GreeBo

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

I sowed grass in early April and it got 3 good frosts. The same grass is a foot and a bit high today not a bother on it

It all depends on when it germinates though, with the weather we have had for the last while the seeds will pop, but if we get a sharp ground frost they could pop their clogs.

CelticRambler

SouthWesterly wrote: »

It never stops.

When you wrote yesterday that you had "finished my beds" I was wondering yesterday how on earth you could be finished. :eek: Mine are in various stages of "done", "to be done", "done for now", "should have been done" and "ah feck, I forgot about that one ..." :pac:

New Home

CelticRambler wrote: »

When you wrote yesterday that you had "finished my beds" I was wondering yesterday how on earth you could be finished. :eek: Mine are in various stages of "done", "to be done", "done for now", "should have been done" and "ah feck, I forgot about that one ..." :pac:

Probably just changed the duvet covers.

SouthWesterly

CelticRambler wrote: »

When you wrote yesterday that you had "finished my beds" I was wondering yesterday how on earth you could be finished. :eek: Mine are in various stages of "done", "to be done", "done for now", "should have been done" and "ah feck, I forgot about that one ..." :pac:

I took the week off working from home.
Spent about 5 hours a day every day digging out buttercup from the beds and planting.
All the beds planted except for 2 that I'm planning to leave covered in plastic.
Just had 20mm of rain in the last hour so hopefully with the ground being warm and the heat returning mid week everything should come on.

Have the following
45kg of various spuds.
30 artichoke
30 asparagus
Oca and mashua
Cabbage of various types, broccoli( various),cauliflower, Kale, various beans and peas.
Carrots ( various) Swede, turnip ( various),beetroot (various), onions, scallions, garlic, parsnip, fennell, dill, tuber parsley, chard, mixed leaves. Radish, lettuce and edible flowers.
I'm sure I've missed something.

I put the drone up last night. I'll stick up a photo when I can.

Also built a chicken, coop and run,( in the last month) got extra hens and half a dozen meat birds.

Got a rain barrel set up just before the storm today to take rain from the chicken run roof.

Hoping the fruit tree flowers survive the next few days. Looking at a great harvest of apples if they do. Lost everything this time last year with the cold storm that we got in may.
I set the rows of veg up with enough space to be able to hoe down the middle to deal with weeds.

Also 3 acres of hay growing in the field as well.
Half the garden also has wood chips of weed fabric which will help.

CelticRambler

SouthWesterly wrote: »

I'm sure I've missed something.

Tomatoes!

I think I've realised why we might have a different experience of being "finished" - or not: here, where I am, a longer growing season means that a lot of those tasks are spread out, otherwise the time is "wasted". I'm only finished the winter harvest a few weeks (last of my lambs lettuce and beetroot rapidly went to seed in the summer temperatures of April) and am now getting started on the spring harvest - the first of my pick-as-you-go feuille de chêne lettuce is ready, half a kilo of strawberries collected this afternoon, early cherries are already gone (birds got the lot of them) ... but I'm also preparing beds for what I'll be sowing in June (melons, beans, potatoes, various salad items) knowing that they'll keep growing until December.

Today was a wrapping up day, as I'm working away for two weeks from tomorrow (pandemic be damned! ) - so spent the morning potting on sweet peas and lupins, and spent the afternoon sowing more melons, gerkins and peppers, as well as some zinias and late marigolds (last year's didn't self-seed as expected ) to add to a tray of nasturtiums. The forecast is for "unsettled weather" for the fortnight which I'm hoping means a perfect combination of temperature and humidity for unsupervised seeds and seedlings.

SouthWesterly

Took a walk out this evening. Ground nice and wet. Shallots shot up overnight. A bit of warm weather next week will do it a, world of good and everything will benefit.

scarepanda

Today we dismantled a ramshackle greenhouse in our old house. It's been up about 6 years. How it's survived, especially hurricane Ophelia, we'll never know! We brought the perspex to the new house and my dad's going to take all the timber during the week when we are not there.

We also got a general clean out of the garden done. A bit of strimming and a good mow will see it out now.

SouthWesterly

Just got a delivery of wood chips. I'm back in action

beggars_bush

Polytunnel is getting a bit crowded

SouthWesterly

Ordered horseradish from future forests.

magicbastarder

we dug ours up, took up too much space for the utility we got from it. nice looking plant, though.