2024 - What I did today

Took some dead summer bedding out of large glazed pots and replaced them with various daffodil bulbs I picked up in Aldi and forget-me-nots I grew from seed.
Discreetly trimmed some of the neighbour's overhanging shrub branches along the front path.

Moved some of the supermarket crates that were sown with salad leaves, into GH2. Also a larger crate with DFBs. Its getting cold overnight so I'm giving them a bit of TLC,
Drained the Hotbin of compost liquid. I have so much of it, I'm running out of containers. Going to have to pour it around the garden willy-nilly, just to get rid of it.

Found, cleaned & sown seeds & stones. More Rock splitting. Put split rocks in place. Around the edge of the fence bed (named because it’s next to the fence, I’m smart, I am ! )
Gave a little pot full of sunflower seeds to a neighbour that was admiring mine yesterday. She’s had no luck this year and was going to buy more next year. I couldn’t let her do that. When I have lots to share.

A bit of weeding in VP4.
Lots of hacking and weeding in the front garden as its garden waste collection tomorrow.
Sowed Mangetout to annoy JJB.

Continued clearing gh of mite infested cucumbers and blighted tomatoes. I'll have to steam clean all the nooks and crannies over winter. I'm minded to sow a different variety of MT in pots to see they'll stand the cold over winter.

Potted up some Nine Star perennial broccoli seedlings. Also 28 tomato seedlings that have grown in a heap of hotbin/worm compost. I've no idea what variety they are and its obviously the wrong time of year to be planting tomatoes but, who said I should garden by the rules?
Squashed some blackberries into modules to see if I can grow them.
Planted a few chard seedlings in one of the big pots in GH2.
Moved 2 big pots into GH1, one with a courgette plant and the other with 2 edible seed pumpkin plants. They'll have more chance of fruiting in the GH.
Cleared out the cucumbers and a couple of tomato plants - lots of whitefly on them.
Filled 2 x 30ltr pots with old compost and sowed Bijou mangetout in them. Also planted them with rocket seedlings.
Cut back some ferns, pulled up montbretia and vinca, cut down brambles and a very thorny wild rose. Chopped the ferns and montbretia leaves onto the path.

It's clearing up and clearing out time. I cleared out compost no.3, sieved and bagged up the remaining compost, then put the bags in a square dalek for storing until next spring. Now, having an empty 1m³ bin, I started chopping down outdoor toms, sweetcorn and anything else past its best to refill it.

I've some room in the gh so set up a winter sowing station. Nothing elaborate, just returned some staging slats and plonked a tray on top. Whether it will get used is open to debate. Sowed some broad beans. Filled an MFB with some old dirt from a cracked terracotta pot full of dumped white, very invasive, white narcissus then replanted the bulbs in a bed enclosed by bricks. Although the bed is in the shade of the copper beech, the bulbs are so prolific at least some will thrive. Sowed peas in the MFB.

VP6 Day Dug up weeds and bits of weed membrane that I'd forgotten was put there about 3-4 years ago. No wonder things haven't been growing too well in VP6!
Attacked the hedge beyond VP6 - I'm determined to thin it out so that I can walk in the ditch (mostly dry) behind it. One day, I'll succeed.
Dug up a stray chard plant and moved it to be with its cousins in VP5.
Raked out lots of dead grass onto the paths. The perfectionists would hate my "paths".
Drained the wormeries and fed the little fellas - should have done it a few days ago but the weather stopped play.

Had some help reroofing an outbuilding last weekend and it was leaking in just one corner where it abutted the neighbours wall. So yesterday, as it was forecast dry for a few days, I went up and painted the spot with some bitumen damp-proofing emulsion. Well it rained in the night and the emulsion hadn't dried so will need to check it at intervals till it is dry and see if it needs another application. It has stopped leaking for now though. 

After checking the roof and harvesting stuff, I cut the hedge at the back. The estimated number of days work to do over winter is down now to 43 from 53 a month ago, at that rate I can hopefully put my feet up at end of January.

Picked lots of apples for dehydrating and juicing.