What did you do in your garden today?

[Oliver Buckle]

Sme price as they were more than seven years ago, that's me, look for a bargain I might even pop back for another fiver's worth.

 

[Susan BBPM]

We walked our 4 Beagles on the beach today and whilst there collected several huge bags of seaweed. Last week we got several wheelbarrows of manure from the farm.

I've emptied out my summer containers (old store bought compost) onto my veg beds (putting down a sheet of cardboard if it's weedy) then covered them with a thick layer of manure then seaweed.

Next layer is going to be sack loads of leaves.

I left the manure off the potato beds and put down some sulphur on them instead.

Hopefully that'll result in some nice, nutritious soil for next year.

 

[Susan BBPM]

Mowed the lawn and collected some leaves.

Today's main job.


The feature bed in the middle of our garden is shared by this Sambucas in the summer.

But at this time of the year, it looks a bit sorry for itself.

It'll get a prune after Christmas.
So it swaps places with this Mimosa.

This is already showing blooms forming.

Just a question of heaving out the whole tub.
The idea is that these several slow growing azaleas will eventually hide the tubs, but I've been saying that for nearly ten years.

I LOVE that view down your garden from under the pergola (?) - second pic from bottom. Truly beautiful.

 

[Spigs]

I thought I'd start a new thread that can be continuously updated by everyone any day of the year. We have people on the forum from all around the world, so there is always somebody doing something with their garden. I think it would be nice to check in and see what our members have done. So whether you've been busy today or busy three months from today, here's the question... What did you do in your garden today?


I spent today preparing my vegetable garden. I had tons of weeds to pull. There's some kind of invasive grass that pops up in there, along with creeping charlie, so I pulled as much as I could find. I can start planting in about four weeks, so it's nice to have it all ready for the season! If I remember right, peas seeds can be planted before the average last frost date, so I might plant them soon. As some of you may know, growing fruits and vegetables is only a small hobby for me. I'm not into it as much as other forum members. I grow peas for my pond fish, as well as couple of tomato plants, pumpkins for decoration, strawberries, a blueberry bush, and a peach tree. I'm also trying lettuce this year. Tomorrow, I may add a few native plants to the outside edges of my vegetable garden so it looks a little more showy throughout the season.

Hi there, today i potted some new dragon fruit stems and whale fins.

 

[Sean Regan]

Still too wet for leaf gathering,
But most are down from the acer in the front garden.

The acers in the back garden are now as red as they have been for years, but are already losing some leaves. It's going to be warm for a few days, so they may hang on for a bit.

The branches form a thin canopy, but already the leaves lost, means that there's gaps you can see through.
There'll be a lot of deadwood to prune away later and many, "white ends" that need to be removed, but there's always new growth to replace it.

 

[DrMike27]

Haven’t posted in a while, but then again, I have pretty much left the garden on autopilot most of this summer and fall. Wife and toddler got in on cutting down the asparagus for overwintering. Also, my first real pumpkins!

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I think that young man is past the 'toddler' stage, funny how parents are always the last to see how grown up they are

 

[cntrlwagdnr]

We have harvested everything except the remaining parsley, a few onions and and the parsnips now, because it was all finished or would be in day or so as the forecast is for freezing overnight. The last things yesterday were the peppers and hardy mini kiwis - last of the bell peppers and more mad hatter chilis than I ever dreamed of, the scotch bonnets and the Carolina reapers. Bell peppers did well this year. We made stufffed peppers and froze them last week, so gotta find something to do with these now. Over 200 mad hatters off one plant - prolific! most too late to ripen on the plant, but trying to do it indoors with some. They are delicious green though - mildest chili ever by a long way, but tasty and crunchy. Chili hater's chili! Scotch bonnet gave me a couple of beautiful ones - very late getting going and setting fruit. Same with the reapers. Fabulous plant but no fruit set until very late. Then the thing went ballistic - too late. But did get a few nice ones and a handful of little ones. Currently trying to ripen some of them indoors in a bag with a ripe tomato. Had to cut all the remaining Basil, which did great this year.

But that was all yesterday. To answer the question as asked, I pulled - actually kind of dug up - a parsnip, to see how they are doing. Very nice! Very pleased. Cut it into strips and sauteed in a little bacon fat, EV olive oil and butter with a little sprinkle of salt and pepper. OMG! The absolute tenderest, mildest parsnip I have ever tasted. Made a nice big helping to go with my leftover fried chicken. Terrific alternative to fries (chips to you Brits out there). "my", because Corinne is out of town, her brother had some serious surgery yesterday, I think these will convert her to liking parsnips! Now I gotta go see how my sourdough starter is doing and make some bagels.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

cntrlwagdnr, do hope your brother in law's surgery had a successful outcome. Freezing weather will make those parsnips even sweeter.

I took out a short row of runner beans and put the canes in the greenhouse rafters, then dug the potatoes. I always used to dump the kitchen waste in under the runners, and potatoes grew from the peelings. I caught on that they do the runners no harm, they grow at different heights, and the potatoes suppress almost all the weeds, so I have taken to actually planting a few along the row. Only four plants and not a huge crop, but enough to be useful, and they will taste good.

 

[DrMike27]

I think that young man is past the 'toddler' stage, funny how parents are always the last to see how grown up they are

In all fairness, he is only 3.

 

[Susan BBPM]

In all fairness, he is only 3

Officially (googled due to having nothing better to do with my time right now) once they turn 3 they are no longer a toddler.

Although I'd think of a 3-4 year old as a toddler.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

'Toddling', you know, when they have first stood up and they walk from the hip keeping their knees straight, not trusting themselves. It usually happens between one and eighteen months. That may not seem long ago to you, but from his point of view it is ancient history, at least half his lifetime ago. "Come on, catch up Dad, I'm big now".

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Opps, posted with Susan, I stand corrected, it was only last year

 

[cntrlwagdnr]

cntrlwagdnr, do hope your brother in law's surgery had a successful outcome. Freezing weather will make those parsnips even sweeter.

I took out a short row of runner beans and put the canes in the greenhouse rafters, then dug the potatoes. I always used to dump the kitchen waste in under the runners, and potatoes grew from the peelings. I caught on that they do the runners no harm, they grow at different heights, and the potatoes suppress almost all the weeds, so I have taken to actually planting a few along the row. Only four plants and not a huge crop, but enough to be useful, and they will taste good.

Thanks, Oliver. It went well.
As I posted in another thread recently, my dad always always left his parsnips till after the first frosts. But I was a picky eater - make the PICKY - in those days (polar opposite now!) so I can't confirm if that worked or not. But I'm ecstatic with the one I sampled the other day. Must have picked a great variety - now I just have to find that seed packet...

 

[Sean Regan]

Still too wet to do anything in the garden.
If it's dry tomorrow, I'll do some leaf gathering in the front garden.

It's turning colder, but this acer still has new pink leaves appearing.

I'd expected to have been clearing up the berries from this sorbus by now, but they are hanging on.

I like hebes as they aren't too much trouble.
A job for the winter will be to sort this lot out.
Three pots in each trough.

They are pretty much root bound now. I know this as I've pushed a cane through the compost in a few places in each pot twice this year to make sure they get some water, which met with quite some resistance. I'm going to remove them from their pots, cut out some of the roots and repot them with some fresh compost.

I bought these troughs a few years ago and painted them to match the rest of the woodwork in the garden. I made feet out of Polypipe for them to keep them off the patio and also removed the solid bottoms, replacing them with a couple of batons so that the pots could sit in plastic saucers on the batons. Otherwise, the trough would get totally waterlogged and rot.
I'll give the troughs another coat of paint at the same time.

The wisteria leaves are beginning to turn, those on this one are always the first. Once they start to fall, I'll give them a hand and strip the rest.

These present a bigger problem. I'll thin out the cascading branches on the one on the garage pergola.
You can see the "door" in the wire fence around the azalea bed I made, to keep the cats away from 'arry the hedgehog's house.

You don't notice the fence from the French windows.