2020 - Tell us what you did today

Weeded my veg beds and removed a couple of sunflowers that have finished.

Defoliated the CFBs as the wind was buffeting the canes and they were leaning. With more high winds on the way I didn't want to lose the lot.

Weeded my veg beds and removed a couple of sunflowers that have finished.

My sunflowers heads are now dead but the seem to be producing seeds, do I leave them for the birds or what ?

I’m having my yard resurfaced 69m2, it’s bigggggg. So this evening myself and the wife had to move the turf and logs.
We moved 3 x 1 ton bags of turf, 3 x mini skip bags of turf, approx. 1.5 - 2 ton, and 2 min in skip bags of logs, in 2.5 hrs, 

   


Both of us exhausted, so relaxing with a few ciders.

Picked some dwarf french beans for drying and a few raspberries. Went for a walk and then checked how the quinoa was coming along, should be ready for harvesting in 2 to 5 weeks I should think.

   

To make up for the seed tray debacle yesterday lunchtime and to let off some steam, when I finished work for the day I went out in to the garden and:

• Put down a double layer of cardboard in the far corner of the garden (next to the shed)
  
• Covered it with a layer of bark
  
• Re-stacked some of the mini logs in the corner, as a wildlife habitat
  
• Unpacked my new water butt and put it in the corner ready to set up
  

I had half-planned to go back out later and apply some wood preservative to the shed, but it was forecast to rain and did so 

I also ordered a bottle of wildlife-friendly ink, so I can set up a "footprint tunnel" and find out whether my hedgehog food is being taken by hedgehogs or rodents. I'm pretty sure it's not cats, as I added an external tunnel to the hedgehog house to make it even harder for cats to get in, but we used to have mice stealing the chicken feed and I've seen a rat once or twice in the hedgerows over the road.

Weeded my veg beds and removed a couple of sunflowers that have finished.

My sunflowers heads are now dead but the seem to be producing seeds, do I leave them for the birds or what ?

Not sure why but the birds ignore the sunflower heads in my garden, so I  save the  seeds and put them in feeders and on the table.   
Plus saving a few seeds to plant next year.

Just nipped out in the garden to take some module grown lettuce into the GH they're going to get waterlogged other wise.

After Francis's visit yesterday there was a bit of clearing up to do.
The bean frames are toppled - fortunately, they've come to rest on another frame so they're not completely flat to the ground. 
Lots of small branches, with leaves, scattered around and the squirrels were having a field day with all the acorns. There's a hefty hanging branch on an oak tree, far too high to reach with a ladder, which will have to wait for a tree man. They've told me before that oak branches will dangle for years whilst ash branches snap off, but a dangling branch over a main path worries me a bit.

A small side fence and gate also blew down. It was a bit rickety, made from pallets, but it kept the dogs confined near the house if there was work going on beyond. The area either side of the fence was overrun with mint. My morning job was to pull up the mint roots - and it was such a pleasure - a bit like being coated in toothpaste. Still lots more to remove - my treat for tomorrow, weather permitting.

Gathered a basket of fallen apples and cooked some for the freezer. Lots more to do.

Blight has hit my self seeded tomatoes so pulled em out and composted em.
Looking at green chutney recipes now.
Greenpolytunnelhouse toms are doing fine though so meh.. and they were self seeded so doublemeh. Did have a lot of fruit on em though.

bugger

Cleared more blown down branches, twigs and leaves and chopped them up onto muddy bits of "paths" - pseudo wood chippings ...............!!
Cut back some wandering grape vine and found ripening grapes.
The usual GH watering and dead-leafing of tomatoes and aubergines.

Nothing worth writing about - sorry to bore you.