God I love growing our own

[enrico]

This is part of my wild area. I do love comfrey. It is no good for my bees but the bumbles love it

 

[The Poot]

This is part of my wild area. I do love comfrey. It is no good for my bees but the bumbles love it
View attachment 39704

I have a row of it fronting a border for the same reason - bumbles.

 

[Amari]

How do you plant your spuds?
I mark out the rows then make holes in flat ground with a modified bulb planter and drop in the spud. I then rake adjacent soil to make a ridge above the spuds. No further earthing-up needed. The pics below show Casablanca, planted last week March, coming through.
My neighbour on the allotment digs out a furrow, plants the spuds and earths up progressively as the foliage appears.
Another neighbour plants in holes on the flat and earths up progressively.

 

[E&MBees]

Last year I planted in furrows, earthing up as leaves appeared in my raised beds. This year in bags as I’ve run out of bed space. I’ll add homemade compost as leaves appear to the bags.

 

[Sutty]

I'm not a home grower currently but I've heard of people growing potatoes in old tyres - add another one and fill with earth/compost as a way of earthing up.

 

[Erichalfbee]

In bags
The slugs eat them in the ground

 

[JamezF]

I stick my trowel in the ground, pull the soil/compost aside, drop in the potato and cover it back up. For earthing up I just spread more compost around the plants.

James

 

[enrico]

All my spuds showing now, one small cucumber and one set tomato in the greenhouse. Peas half way up poles and broad beans setting nicely. I love spring

 

[JamezF]

Hmmm. Electronic person, much?

I've been out in the veg plot weeding this morning and have a nice little collection of new potatoes from volunteer plants that I have removed. Around 1pm the Sun came out and I had to go to check I didn't have a swarm leaving one of my hives. The volume of bees flying had gone right up to 11. Nothing exciting was going on though -- just enjoying working on the sycamores I think.

James

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

didn't know Daleks were into gardening

 

[JamezF]

didn't know Daleks were into gardening

Perhaps it's a new Eco-Dalek, to be introduced in the next series starting this coming weekend.

James

 

[JamezF]

Spent pretty much all day in the veg plot today. So much to catch up on now the weather seems to be improving, at least until next week. I'm bored of weeding despite being little more than half way through what needs doing, so I started the day by planting out trays and trays of what in a normal year might be called seedlings, but this year are rather bigger than that. I think I managed about twenty trays worth in the end. There are still more to go though.

Rather than being a pleasant and leisurely activity it now seems to be a rush just to get the stuff done that absolutely needs doing now. Just a question of getting my head down and getting through it, I guess.

James

 

[enrico]

..

 

[Dekzion]

It's murder on the plot now! I've always dug the plots, fertilised and mulched the beds BEFORE November!
but when it started to hammer down in October it was impossible to get on there. Our allotment is clay, but as it's been worked for decades it's okay as long as you don't stand on it. So now it's finally started to dry up a bit it's a race to get it all turned over before it sets like concrete!
Oh and there's bees to keep a check on!

 

[enrico]

Had to do some harvesting today

 

[Goran]

Pickling cucumbers finally planted out.. Cantaloupes also..
Our cherries seems will eat little to none, swarms of various birds are eating them as they get light red color.. Woodpeckers, jays and many others.. I am so happy when see one of our cats drag some bird around.. But there are zillions of them, so it isn't noticed that they are missing..
I am worried for hazelnuts will happen as same..

 

[JamezF]

It's murder on the plot now! I've always dug the plots, fertilised and mulched the beds BEFORE November!
but when it started to hammer down in October it was impossible to get on there. Our allotment is clay, but as it's been worked for decades it's okay as long as you don't stand on it. So now it's finally started to dry up a bit it's a race to get it all turned over before it sets like concrete!

I gave up digging a few years back. Far too much hard work

Spent most of the day in the veggie plot though, and shifted a huge amount of compost (several tonnes I'd think), spreading it on beds I need to plant in (should have been done over the Winter, but delayed due to the rain) and "composting up" my potatoes. I need to get that bay emptied though as I have a trailer full of grass clippings and nowhere to put them right now.

Discovered a nest of buff-tailed bumble bees in one of the compost heaps. Clearly fairly new as the queen was still foraging as well as the workers. I'll have to try to work around that if at all possible. One of the workers spent a good five minutes trying to get inside my shorts. I told her that those days are behind me, but she wasn't taking "no" for an answer.

Composting the beds does at least mean I can get some of my summer brassicas planted out now. Not entirely sure when though, as tomorrow is a "bee day" and my legs have already given up functioning.

James

 

[Curly green finger's]

I gave up digging a few years back. Far too much hard work

Spent most of the day in the veggie plot though, and shifted a huge amount of compost (several tonnes I'd think), spreading it on beds I need to plant in (should have been done over the Winter, but delayed due to the rain) and "composting up" my potatoes. I need to get that bay emptied though as I have a trailer full of grass clippings and nowhere to put them right now.

Discovered a nest of buff-tailed bumble bees in one of the compost heaps. Clearly fairly new as the queen was still foraging as well as the workers. I'll have to try to work around that if at all possible. One of the workers spent a good five minutes trying to get inside my shorts. I told her that those days are behind me, but she wasn't taking "no" for an answer.

Composting the beds does at least mean I can get some of my summer brassicas planted out now. Not entirely sure when though, as tomorrow is a "bee day" and my legs have already given up functioning.

James

I’ve moved 18 tones of soil/ well rotted manure over the last week and today I sowed 4500 runner bean seed into 60 cell root trainers another 4k to sow over the next few days
Also been setting up a watering system from a spring at the edge of the field to water everything I’m using a solar panel pump.

 

[enrico]

I’ve moved 18 tones of soil/ well rotted manure over the last week and today I sowed 4500 runner bean seed into 60 cell root trainers another 4k to sow over the next few days
Also been setting up a watering system from a spring at the edge of the field to water everything I’m using a solar panel pump.

I don't know what I would do without my well. I have it all rigged up now so that I just tell google to turn the water on for ten minutes and hey presto. I have sprinkler bars that I can put between my rows of seedlings. All my beds are 1.5 metres wide so that they can all take the poles for the netting so the sprinkler is 1.5 and I can just move it easily. Saves so much work with watering cans!

 

[Erichalfbee]

I’ve moved 18 tones of soil/ well rotted manure over the last week and today I sowed 4500 runner bean seed into 60 cell root trainers another 4k to sow over the next few days
Also been setting up a watering system from a spring at the edge of the field to water everything I’m using a solar panel pump.

Hard work!
Maybe you could borrow enrico’s Alexa.