2024 - What I did today

Not much just weeding, watering and harvesting.

A day of rock splitting

Before. I had started putting pilot holes in     

When it goes exactly where you want it. It’s a pretty awesome feeling.      . It definitely doesn’t always work this well.

How much rock I’ve still got to go      After 36 holes, 4 large rock, 4 small rock & a load of rubble/chips for ditch filling.

I feel exhausted just looking at your photos, SC.
My day was a little less strenuous, - I played with the plants on the windowsills; cut back the overhanging mints and lemon balm from the side of the rockery path, did some weeding in VP3.
My Hodmedod's order arrived, and one packet of "All in one" peas had split in transit. Its "A five variety mix of Red Fox Carlin and Black Badger Carlins, Whole Blue and Whole Yellows, and Marrowfat Peas.". I put the loose peas in a jar and I'm going to try growing them - either as pea shoots or proper height peas. I have about half kilo more of these peas, so plenty to experiment with.

Yesterday the heat and humidity was enervating so nothing useful done. The usual harvesting which foolishly I did at midday, I was dripping. Haircut and visitors took up the rest of the day. This morning we had a little bit of rain. YAY! The early morning forage resulted in an armful of broccoli shoots about to go to flower. Oh yes, I also culled a cucumber plant. Last year I bought a pkt of Honey Plus mini cucumber seeds, I grew a plant and the fruit was disgusting. I moaned at the supplier, can't remember who, and reluctantly got some freebie seeds as a sweetener. This year I gave it another go, to see if it would redeem itself, picking the cucs a lot smaller as the seed companies suggest. It was still disgusting. The plant went on the compost and the seeds are going in the bin. One to avoid IMO.

Finished digging out the crescent bed and re-defined the edges. As they had been skewed, by skew. He’s so helpful.
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Fed the tunnel. Now going to do a very important good weather job. Have a shower   . 

Might be back later if I do anything else in the garden today.

Started putting some rocks round the edge of the crescent bed.

A bit of weeding and watering, nothing memorable. Still waiting for some rain.

So far I took an hour to pick all the stuff. Beans MT & broccoli. Then pulled out some courgette/summer squash plants that were non productive after the chemical disaster or I just didn't like. Then potted on a couple of the new plants standing in the wings into large pots to sit outside until the autumn with a view to taking them indoors to extend the season. Some of the half dozen young plants will be put in the patch where the old ones came out in the hope that the chemical stuff isn't resident within the soil.

Tied in the climbing winter squash and tomatoes.
Dead headed the dahlias and cosmos.
Continued to collect cerinthe seed.
Watered - despite all the forecasts of rain we've had nothing.

Did some work on Vegplot 5. Set out 3 "rings" (slices off old water butts/compost bins" and emptied some hotbin and wormery compost into them.
The plan is to put a bean frame in each one and grow beans in them next year. I did this before, with just one ring, and it worked well.
Hacked my way through the undergrowth to open up the centre of the soft fruit patch. Cut all the branches off a hazel bush, cut down lovage, cut out the dead raspberry canes, pruned some tangled apple tree branches. Chopped up all the foregoing and spread it on the path. Also lemon balm and montbretia but the roots of these went in the bin. Brambles and perennial weeds also in the bin.
It started to rain about 5pm which is good news.