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Post by Scrubb on Jun 5, 2023 23:31:53 GMT 2
Today i planted broccoli seedlings - better late than never. And put cages up around my tomatoes. Unfortunately, i was careless and damaged two plants - tore a small "branch" off my very favourite tomato (Oaxacan Jewel) and am just hoping it doesn't cause too much damage; and bent over the top of the main stalk of the tomato that is reliably the first to produce and prolific, to where it just flopped over. I put in a stick right beside it, and tied it to the stick, and have some hope that it will continue to grow, but I'm very annoyed with myself.
I also put in stakes (bamboo sticks) for the peas and weeded the whole thing. The spaces are big enough, and the plants small enough, that I could do it all by hoe and not on my hands and knees. Yay!
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Post by Scrubb on Jun 7, 2023 23:53:09 GMT 2
Mostly, having a community garden plot is great. But aside from passers-by stealing produce, sometimes fellow gardeners can be annoying too.
We have a water connection that has 2 different valves - one in-ground, where we are connected to the city water, and then one directly at the base of our hose system. We've all been told multiple times to make sure we close BOTH valves when we finish watering. And yet, I often find one or the other left open. People are often incapable of rolling up the hose properly, too, leaving it kinked.
And then yesterday morning when I stopped to water my plot, I found the in-ground valve jammed, wide open. So tight I couldn't budge it. Two visits, one with a wrench, and 2 trips to the hardware store later, we have got it closed and a new handle put on (someone broke off the old handle, trying to get it closed) and I've emailed the entire garden group to remind them to be gentle with the valve. But the handle we finally found doesn't fit perfectly and isn't far enough down the valve stem for the nut to fit on top. So I'm willing to bet that someone will over-tighten it again, either open or closed, and the handle won't have the necessary purchase.
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Post by Scrubb on Jun 7, 2023 23:53:53 GMT 2
On the plus side, the zinnias I planted along the outer edge of my plot are starting to bloom!
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Post by auntieannie on Jun 21, 2023 11:27:48 GMT 2
When the neighbours left three weeks ago, they said the figs should be ready in about 10 days. The neighbours have come back and the figs are still green and rather hard.
the weather this spring has been a bit more similar to the kind of climate we had decades ago, when we didn't have fig trees growing outside at 500m a.s.l. that might explain the situation.
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Post by Scrubb on Jun 22, 2023 1:26:29 GMT 2
I spent a while weeding this afternoon - not just my plot, which wasn't too bad, but the walkways on 3 sides of it. Apprarently none of my neighbours have been maintaining them, so I did the whole works. And at the end of the garden there's a space between the last plot, and the garden "boxes" where things are grown for whoever wants them - gardeners, passers by, etc. That space was absolutely full of weeds, so I got the hoe out and got rid of all of them.
A few of my tomato plants have small greed tomatoes! There are a couple of little jalapenos already, too, but not many considering I have 8 plants! No habaneros yet (3 plants).
I've been eating arugula for a couple weeks already; the kale is finally getting going and I think it'll be ready to eat next week. Peas are still fairly small. Broccoli plants coming along, but still small.
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Post by Baz Faz on Jun 22, 2023 20:07:31 GMT 2
Harvested the first courgettes. Apres nous le déluge
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Post by Baz Faz on Jun 22, 2023 23:35:22 GMT 2
Also Mrs Faz picked the first raspberries of the summer.
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Post by Baz Faz on Jun 30, 2023 11:16:44 GMT 2
We are eating raspberries every day.
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Post by Voy on Jun 30, 2023 13:09:30 GMT 2
My wild ones will be pickable in a few days... given we ever get some sunshine
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Post by Scrubb on Jul 4, 2023 6:32:54 GMT 2
I have arugula/rocket coming out my ears. Lots of kale too.
Tomatoes and hot peppers are coming along nicely. Broccoli plants growing well.
The peas seem slightly slow.
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Post by Baz Faz on Jul 4, 2023 10:56:38 GMT 2
We harvested our first aubergine/eggplant/brinjal yesterday. It was big. We had slices topped with tomato baked in the oven as a veg last night; some left over for lunch today. And tonight we'll be having pasta Norma.
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Post by Baz Faz on Jul 8, 2023 17:19:12 GMT 2
Mrs Faz has picked more raspberries. There'll soon be blackberries. And then the autumn raspberries start.
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Post by auntieannie on Jul 8, 2023 22:40:09 GMT 2
the figs are all still green and hard... strange. we'll see if they evolve after the days of canicular weather that have started in earnest today.
I have a few handfuls of blackcurrants left to pick, I'm letting them ripen a bit.
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Post by Baz Faz on Jul 11, 2023 16:23:28 GMT 2
Our first tomato is beginning to ripen. The weather which was hot and sunny has turned to cool and drizzly so it will be some time before we have an abundance.
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Post by Baz Faz on Aug 5, 2023 11:21:20 GMT 2
We have beans, courgettes, tomatoes, aubergines, red lettuces. Beetroot are ready (though we haven't had any yet. Sweetcorn in about 10 days.
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Post by Baz Faz on Nov 11, 2023 19:04:45 GMT 2
This afternoon I sowed broad beans. That is always a cheering thing to do. We have the whole winter ahead of us but it is a promise of good days ahead.
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Post by Scrubb on Nov 17, 2023 7:52:11 GMT 2
We just got home from 4 weeks away, and most of the garden tomatoes I'd picked and left to ripen were ready, and not ruined! Yay!
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Post by Baz Faz on Nov 17, 2023 11:55:33 GMT 2
Yesterday Mrs Faz ate the last of our tomatoes.
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Post by Scrubb on Nov 17, 2023 23:44:21 GMT 2
I'm making tomato salad with dinner tonight and probably tomorrow too, and I made a batch of marinara sauce with the less-perfect of the rest of them. That'll likely be the end of them for the year, although I still have one plant sitting in my basement where the last few of the green "black cherry" tomatoes may ripen.
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Post by Baz Faz on Dec 22, 2023 19:00:42 GMT 2
We dug up parsnips for Christmas lunch.
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Post by Baz Faz on Dec 26, 2023 12:59:54 GMT 2
The first snowdrops are flowering in our garden.
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Post by Voy on Dec 26, 2023 15:06:30 GMT 2
I planted Morning Glory seeds - hope they will grow to cover my kitchen window...
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Post by Baz Faz on Dec 30, 2023 19:00:50 GMT 2
I thought we had no success with the broad beans I sowed in small pots. Mrs Faz covered them in fleece and left them - and forgot about them - on the terrace. Today I took the fleece off and found half of them have germinated. I think they have simply not flourished in the cold damp autumn weather. We now have heated propagating frames and I have resown.
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Post by Voy on Jan 1, 2024 0:00:12 GMT 2
And a whole lot of my sunflower seeds have sprouted ! so , if they grow quickly, I may yet have privacy in the kitchen !
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Post by sophie on Jan 1, 2024 2:48:33 GMT 2
Our daffodils are starting to come up!
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Post by sophie on Jan 2, 2024 3:23:59 GMT 2
And the weeds are doing their thing.. spend some time weeding today.. easy pulling. Want to get them before they start flowering and seeding.
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Post by Voy on Jan 2, 2024 5:00:05 GMT 2
not sunflower .... oi.... morning glory !
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Post by Baz Faz on Jan 2, 2024 14:02:33 GMT 2
And the weeds are doing their thing.. spend some time weeding today.. easy pulling. Want to get them before they start flowering and seeding. A couple of do-gooders on the council decided they would save the planet by having No Mow May. Then they decided they would save the planet some more by extending No Mow May through June. Hey guys, this is good. Let's really save the planet by carrying on all year. So every grassy area flourished, not just grass but also dandelions and buttercups etc. Result: last year an abundance of weeds appeared on our streets and sidewalks. No one on the council deemed it was his/her personal responsibility to deal with this disastrous policy. Mrs Faz took it on herself. The mayor gave her a silver cup. This made her very unpopular with all the people who had done nothing. C'est la vie.
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Post by Baz Faz on Jan 8, 2024 0:15:17 GMT 2
Tonight we had beetroot from the allotment. It was a big one but not woody. I cut it into small pieces,added chopped red onion and balsamic vinegar and microwaved it. Delicious. Enough left over for tomorrow.
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Post by Baz Faz on Jan 29, 2024 23:33:11 GMT 2
In Lecce the narcissus are in bloom.
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