2025 - What I did today

Sowed melon seeds.
Emptied a 30 ltr pot and harvested 2 pounds of potatoes .
Mixed the compost from the pot with coir ready for potting up something else.
Weeded and cut back some comfrey. Broke my favourite secateurs - lost the spring from between the blades. After much searching and cursing, I found the spring but it seems to have sheared off.
Looked for another pair of usable secateurs - threw 2 pairs in the bin. WD40'd a couple of pairs in the hope that they'll be usable - but they'll never be as good as my favourite pair.

At the allotment refilled one and a half water butts after rearranging to get them in the proper height order. No mean feat to get the hose sorted out and dragged up to the tap. Planted out some flower and courgette and other seedlings. Tried to prop up a couple of sad pumpkin seedlings I'd planted out recently. I have hope for one of them.

Sowed melon seeds.
Emptied a 30 ltr pot and harvested 2 pounds of potatoes .
Mixed the compost from the pot with coir ready for potting up something else.
Weeded and cut back some comfrey. Broke my favourite secateurs - lost the spring from between the blades. After much searching and cursing, I found the spring but it seems to have sheared off.
Looked for another pair of usable secateurs - threw 2 pairs in the bin. WD40'd a couple of pairs in the hope that they'll be usable - but they'll never be as good as my favourite pair.

You should be able to buy a replacement spring. I just did a quick search and lots of options came up.

A few of my outside strawberries are turning pink so I thought to fashion a net over the patch to deter birds, making sure it was pinned down around the edge to keep mice at bay. Last year's attempts at protection we a complete failure, the mice just got through the plastic net, picked the berries and gathered them into a pile for storage. This year I've used a 1cm mesh hoping it'll be small enough to deter any but the most determined mouse, then they'll have a trap to welcome them. Having googled about mice, it seems they can get through 1cm sq. I'm hoping our mice are on the plump side and won't manage it.

Then watered.

Sowed melon seeds.
Emptied a 30 ltr pot and harvested 2 pounds of potatoes .
Mixed the compost from the pot with coir ready for potting up something else.
Weeded and cut back some comfrey. Broke my favourite secateurs - lost the spring from between the blades. After much searching and cursing, I found the spring but it seems to have sheared off.
Looked for another pair of usable secateurs - threw 2 pairs in the bin. WD40'd a couple of pairs in the hope that they'll be usable - but they'll never be as good as my favourite pair.

You should be able to buy a replacement spring. I just did a quick search and lots of options came up.

Thanks for looking. The panic is over - I've found the refurbished Felco secateurs that I bought a while ago and was keeping for best.  I'd put them somewhere so safe that I couldn't find them. 

Planted out some sunflowers and antirrhinums . Started digging out paths between flower beds. Should have started days ago. It’s incredible light weight with it being so dry. I can really load the wheelbarrow up. Off to do some more now.

Cut down several self seeded trees that had grown to big for their spot - a birch (about 15' tall), a few small oaks, hazel and ash. All from the old rhubarb bed! Pulled up lots of grass and weeds around the rhubarb which is struggling. I plan to move all the rhubarb to another spot in autumn where it may have more chance.

Interesting day today. After boot camp the boxing I went shopping. I new that if I spent £60 at Morries I would get 20% off equaling £12. I got a bit carried away and filled my trolley with things I thought I would like,but had never been prepared to experiment with. Finished up costing me £105 and that was after £26 off for offers. Loads of various meats including lamb,beef,duck.pork and king prawns.

After unloading shopping and playing 'Freezer Jenga' I decided to do somethng I have been meaning to do for a while! Half way up my garden I have two willows growing either side of a narrow part of my lawn. I decided to make a garden arch from some 1/2"steel I have lying around from another project. It is in 10 foot lengths that when bent to shape over my trusty anvil form one half of an 8 foot wide arch. I hammered 2 foot of 3/4" box section into the ground either side leaving 6 inches protruding. The 1/2" bar fits snugly inside.

Once the arch was up I secured the overlapping joint with gaffer tape temporarily (I will cut and butt weld it at some time in the future). I then startd to fasten the willows either side to the arch and will tie in as they grow.

To finish it off I wrapped solar lights around it, so can't wait for it to get dark and see the effect?

A big fat pigeon has taken a liking to perching itself on the centre already!

Weeded then set up A-frames for the beans, two for dry beans, one for french bean pods and runners.
Took the obelisks out of the shed and placed them ready for the pumpkins or cucumbers.

Planted my Beth Alpha cucs 2 on the self watering system and 2 in the GH border. Found space for the rest of the basil plants.