What have you done today in the Garden?

Potted on 20 tomato plants and watered the polyanthus along the side of the path in the front garden.
@Daniel W I hope that you feel better soon.
@Melody Mc. those steps look great.

 

A few days ago but I finally got the new Gruncher Chipper going



Couldn't get it started till I put a bit more oil in it, it's got a sensor to stop it starting if there's not enough in it.

Well pleased with it and it's not bad on petrol either.

A dumpy bag of chippings costs at least £80 and they're heating up/starting to compost already

 

Nothing today but yesterday I planted flowers and mulched much of my flower garden

 

Today I planted the last of the potatoes. This variety is Elba. There were also some Soraya, which has a reputation for growing well in poor soil. I think this works sort of like the tooth fairy, except instead of leaving a tooth under a pillow, you bury potato pieces. Then a few months later, the potato gnome hides bunches of fresh potatoes under the ground where you buried the pieces. Potato gnomes appreciate shade so you have to water and fertilize the plants that grow there.



At last! Now I can move on to other things!

Last winter one of our chickens was murdered by an evil rodent or fox. I buried the corpse where I had grown sweetcorn for two years and potatoes the year before that. I spread nematocidal mustard seeds to grow a groundcover crop. Yesterday I noticed that the mustard over the chicken grave is MUCH more vigorous and lush than the mustard a few inches away. That shows I depleted the soil and need to recharge it this year (for squashes). It also shows that things grow well where chickens are buried.



Sometimes I feel concerned I might over-fertilize. This shows that the soil really does need it.

 

The solo cups were full of starts and its kinda sad that all that promise has been put out for the vagaries of mother nature. I gave a bunch away though, and some even made it to Texas. Not a bad effort In a janked up economy where "feed people" is a rule to live by.

 

I sold my chipper. 8hp self propelled troy-bilt chipper shredder. I have not missed the laborius machine in the least either. Now, whilst I am burning my twigs, I will tip a cup in a northeasterly direction to you sir, as you let the machine do its violent, loud and dusty business.

 

I admire your generosity

 

I am here to wreck markets and behave opposite of what the Ai says I am to do. Some people have hobbies but I am a gardener!

 

Those Elba’s look good in the trench, Daniel. I do not have doubts, do you? After all, you have gnomes working with you.

That was interesting to see, that chicken field of yours. I am not sure that you necessarily need to amend that plot though, unless you plan on growing leafy veg. I think that the enhanced foliage growth above the chook’s resting place reflects an over abundance of nitrogen. Mammal’s bodies are about seventy percent nitrogen, so cell breakdown has released that concentration of N. Obviously other elements have also been released during the process of decomposition; but how much, is difficult to say.
My bottom line here is that perhaps you may not actually have to amend the soil in this plot.

 

More ground elder needed attention.

Is potato. The first spud leaves were above ground three days ago and yesterday there were seventeen.


Remember this foto from a few days ago?


And yesterday:


More time spent in the flower garden, cleaning plots. Everything is growing now.

 

@Sjoerd "Is Potato" - yay! They are growing.

Apple blossoms are always beautiful. I regard my apple and other fruit trees as ornamentals that also nourish me and others.

Not sure about garden yet today. I will inspect and ponder. Might start improvement of a fence row. I bought seeds for buffalo grass, clover, English daisies and violets to see if they would make a low and somewhat weed resistant groundcover. That needs to be started soon.

 

Me too.

 

Just received 3 blueberry plants, 3 for the price of 2 in 2ltr pots. The one is very good with lots of flowers, the other 2 are smaller but they should be ok.

 

Loggie, are they different types?

 

@Doghouse Riley - MS can be cruel, and my heart goes out to you and your wife. Your love and care shows through in everything that you do. You know the saying..."if you build it they will come"? I'm hopeful for you that once those chairs are out in your beautiful garden, the warm invitiation they will send for a sit in the sun and peaceful splendor will be just the incentive needed for a visit to the garden and chairs on a good day.

Congratulations on the tree topping and more sunshine! We dropped some rather huge birch trees two years ago, and flowers showed up that had long been forgotten to the shade. Your garden will floursih I'm sure.

@Daniel W - thanks for the kind words. I'm super excited about the step and have send videos to the kids of me going up and down hahaha Good for you on the shot - hope your energy returns soon. I'm also planning to get my shot for shingles in the near future. My friend is three weeks into shingles and it has been very hard on her. She is a retired nurse, and at 78 is mad at herself for not getting it sooner. I had a verbal chastising to not make the same mistake and to buy the shot. It's quite expensive here, but worth it. Her husband had shingles in his eye about five years ago and still struggles.

Today is our first warm spring day. I'm expecting +17. The clear skies also mean very cold nights, but hopefully that will improve soon. I'm taking a pick axe to the snow pile in the upper vegetable garden once the sun rolls around to it. The ground is too soft for the tractor. The pile is still three feet high, so I'm hoping if I can bust it up and spread it out a bit, the snow will melt sooner so that the soil can warm. The snow is quickly dissapearing with the exception of piles from the plough truck.

I'm washing out pots that had contaminated soil in them last year. ( ugh to that whole experience). Then, because tomatoes are super sensitive - up to two parts per billion of herbicide residue- I'm planning to paint the insides of the large pots. They are 30 gallon pots and are used for extra tomatoes that don't fit in the raised beds. I'll do the same for the flower pots that will be on the deck. I wasn't planning many flowers on the deck this year, as it needs to have some boards replaced, sanded and stained. I'm not sure if that will happen as we still need to run the sawmill to mill the cedar planks - which is difficult for hubby and not something I can do on my own. I'm just going to do a few pots that are small enough to move if we are able to repair the deck.

Once the flower pots are done, I'll take the ones for nasturiums to the greenhouse and plant them. Sunflowers get planted today in red solo cups that can be cut away. I access the big bin of black oil bird seed for some free sunflowers. From winter to spring BAM. Now comes the busy time. And antihistimes