2023 - What I did today

Watered and armpitted the toms and watered the poly. Now off for a day at David Austin roses. Will have to wait till come back to pick the raspberries.

Netted strawberries they're just starting to change colour then general weeding and tying in.

Fishing, caught nowt and sunburned my feet because I had sandles on. Strange patterns on feet!

Well it was my first visit to David Austin's (and probably my last). The scent was overpowering when we got out of the car. There are quite a few rose gardens to walk round but the queue for lunch was long - glad we stopped at a cafe for a bite and a drink before getting there. Purchased a couple of roses: a pink climber 'Mary Delaney' for Chris as she is Irish and liked the name and a pale yellow 'Vanessa Bell' for the scent.
We have a place earmarked for the climber but I'll have to find somewhere for the other.

A couple of views of one of the gardens and purchases:

             

Planted out pumpkins and winter squash:
Potimarron (to scramble on ground)
Harlequin (bush type)
Jack Be Little, Baby Boo and Sweet Dumpling mini squash growing up bamboo teepees.

I also planted out some Valentine sunflowers and Green Eyes rudbeckia to attract pollinators and direct sowed some climbing nasturtiums under the teepees.

Too hot and dry for working in the garden. Watered the courgettes and squashes in the dry pond and set out more dishes of water for the birds and critters.
Potted up some Golden lemon balm cuttings that had been rooting on the windowsill and took some more as insurance.
Watered and tied up the cucumbers in GH1.
Watered the seedlings on the outside table and those in GH3. I have some sunflowers to plant out but I'm reluctant to do so when the ground is so dry and hard.

I cut all the foliage from my potatoes in the poly tunnel as they seem to have developed a black spot on the leaves and were turning yellow and dying off. Ten I side shouted the tomatoes tied them up further and gave them a good feed with seaweed feed. Fed my chilli plants with seaweed feed, then cut back all the parsley and sage plants.
Weeded and tidied up my fruit frame with the blueberries and cranberry plants.

A lot of us working on tomatoes today! Armpitted and tied in mine
Put up pea sticks.
Strimmed grass paths in the potager and elsewhere.
Tied in cucumbers, trombo on the arch and the first branches of à baby peach tree being traîned over the same arch. This may not end well !
Thunderstorms at 5pm stopped play, torrential rain for 20 minutes (100mm per hour rate ) flooded the hugelkultur bed, drive and road. Very glad we put in new drains with the extension. Hour long powercut, too.

Planted out my one and only runner bean. Sown some more with it. Dead heading lots of things. Rest of the day will be moving related jobs.

Nearly forgot the most important thing I’ve done today. Hand pollinated a courgette flower.

Woke up very early and planted out Thelma Sanders and Table King acorn squash with rudbeckia Green Eyes and lime green nicotiana.

I still have a few things left to plant out, but I am determined to get it all done by the end of this weekend.