2023 - What I did today

Went to the plot with my husband and youngest. Baby took a nap and we worked in the brilliant sunshine. It felt positively like South Wales out there today.

Transferred our blueberry plants in pots from the house to the fruit cage at the plot. Planted out a few lettuce seedlings and some cornflowers. My husband dug brambles out of the area under the big apple tree. The one we thought we'd never clear and use because it was next to the old dilapidated shed and the huge black rain barrel, which itself sat on a huge mound of dirt covered in bindweed and bramble. We left marveling at the possibility of what the plot could be like this year. Good day.

You're right, DJ, the weather has been positively sunshiny today. Attacked part of the boundary "hedge" today. Coppiced a hazel tree in order to cut down the holly and brambles that were growing through it. Lots of hazel sticks for bean poles now. Filled 2 garden waste bins for collection tomorrow - then I can start again. Holly is a horrible thing to cut down, I feel like an inside out hedgehog.
Cut the deadwood out of an elder bush to tidy it up a bit.
Planted some Cosse Violette CFBs in a big planter thingy. The soil doesn't go right up to the top of the box so the beans will have a little protection until they start growing. Hope they don't mind sharing their box with some rogue potatoes that have appeared there.
A Good Day here too.

Not much gardening. A walk round and a bit of watering. Then started chair restoration. Then started sorting another shed. This one is more difficult because it’s one of Bobs! You can see the floor of it now. Just all the shelves to sort now.

    Cold and wet today so not much happening outdoors, I did catch some tadpoles and put them in a container as the old pond is losing water and I don't want it to dry out completely. I dug a little channel to link one puddle with another so that none are stranded.   Its silting up very quickly.

Received some minuscule basil plugs from J Parker’s.
Supposed to be African Blue Bush - but I’m not convinced.
Looks as if Evri has stored them in a chiller or freezer compartment. They are absolutely sopping wet and very very cold. I have been trying to dry them out by putting them on layers of kitchen roll and newspaper on the kitchen floor. Have already saturated five sheets of kitchen roll and two The Times newspapers.
I think this is another company to be crossed off my list.
The last lot of plugs I received were sent on Tuesday- and arrived the following Wednesday - dead.
More the fault of Evri of course, and Parker’s have said that they will replace them.
Just can’t be bothered to complain about the basil though!

Lots of planting in my garden. Rescued my blow away tunnel. There’s been a strong breeze the last couple of days. Definitely not what I’d call windy. But the tunnel had moved 45 degrees. So spun it back to where it should be. Put lots of rocks & blocks on the frame. Re tied the ropes holding the cover. Then started doing lots of tidying up around the place.

Sowed some seed indoors. Patted myself on the back that my terrible temporary repair job of my greenhouse lasted the night.

I'm quite a way behind where I usually am by now.

I sowed parsnips a couple of days ago and today prepared an area for sowing carrots and some cauliflower plants that need planting out but they will have to wait till Sunday. I also potted on some tomato plants which will need planting out as soon as possible but the greenhouse still needs some cleaning to try to reduce pests.

The weeds are growing fast also on the space I had earmarked for maincrop potatoes. Peas, beans and broadbeans are all sprouting and need somewhere to go, as do onions and leeks.

Even the weeds are slow to appear in my garden!

Received some minuscule basil plugs from J Parker’s.
Supposed to be African Blue Bush - but I’m not convinced.
Looks as if Evri has stored them in a chiller or freezer compartment. They are absolutely sopping wet and very very cold. I have been trying to dry them out by putting them on layers of kitchen roll and newspaper on the kitchen floor. Have already saturated five sheets of kitchen roll and two The Times newspapers.
I think this is another company to be crossed off my list.
The last lot of plugs I received were sent on Tuesday- and arrived the following Wednesday - dead.
More the fault of Evri of course, and Parker’s have said that they will replace them.
Just can’t be bothered to complain about the basil though!

My last order from Parkers was sub standard,  the plugs were just too big for the packaging so some growing tips got broken, plus empty cells. Not what you expect when you pay a fortune.