February 2014

Jobs to do:
Water Butts to sort
Onions to plant
Garlic to plant
Final bit of digging to get done pronto.
Spuds a-chitting.
Fencing round the plot to keep bloomin rabits out.
Autumn bearing raspberries need pruning to ground

Sunday 3rd February 2014
Another flying visit.  Bought some more spuds from B&M, this time.  Two packs of First Early Rocket - which are supposed to be a real fast first early (hence the name, you'd presume) and a pack of Estima which are a second early - probably got more spuds than I actually need so probably going to put half a dozen in a little square I've got at home that's got nowt in it.

IBC is full to brim - silicone round pipe didn't work.

Did some jiggery pokey with the water butts and re-directed the drainpipe off the shed roof as there's no point it feeding the IBC if it's already overflowing.

Had a look at John Scott's plot which is fenced off to get an idea of how many little posts required.  Looks like it needs 19 so if I can get 20 that'd work out best as could have two gates then I reckon.

John Scott's plot to get an idea of how many stakes needed.

Monday 10th February 2014
Have bought a heated propogator for the princely sum of £33.  It looks a bit like:

The trays are pretty small but could have three little pots in each.  It uses non-thermostat controlled carbon fibre heating elements for even heat distribution apparently.   My cunning plan is to get some stuff going at the end of the month to go into the mini-greenhouse on the plot when we get to end of March. When propogator is clear again in will go tomatoes and so on and so on....


Friday 14th February 2014
Had half an hour to spare so went down to prune the autumn bearing raspberries down to the ground.  This scares me big style but it is the standard advice and I checked it out with the chap that had the plot previous to us:

From http://www.thompson-morgan.com/how-to-grow-raspberries

Pruning Raspberries

Knowing when to prune raspberries can seem complicated but it is really very simple! All you need is a good pair of secateurs and some gardening gloves to protect against thorns.

• - Pruning autumn-fruiting raspberries these are the simplest to prune. In late winter (February) prune all the canes to ground level before growth commences. The plants will fruit on new growth.

This is the raspberry 'enclosure' - going to dig up any that fall outside it!

Another angle - check the raised beds next door

These were the canes that came off - down to the garden waste at the recycling centre they went

Another problem to fix - IBC is full and dripping - needs a bit of a run off or the base will be rotten in no time.

About a fortnight ago this water butt was near as damnit empty!  Not so bothered that I've not done the overflow pipes now - they'll all be overflowing soon!

Tuesday 18th February 2014
Couple of hours but didn't get enough pictures! Used my Uncle Peter's old saw to cut some wood up and made a cloche from a sheet of clear corrugated plastic sheet and wood.  Have banged some Garlic in at the bottom of the plot - forgot to take a picture of it.   The Garlic was from 99p shop and was called Alium Sativum.

Still got to get some posts and get a bean trench done pronto!