What did you do in your garden today?

[Meadowlark]

Harvested the usual suspects today cabbage, broccoli, turnips, and radishes.

The radish is "Daikon" and I primarily use it in cover crop mixture but these ae very tasty even at maturity. They don't get that strong radish taste and stay solid throughout.

 

[Sean Regan]

Too wet to do any gardening not that there's much to do.
So I found myself a job after I did a load of washing..well..not me..the washing machine and tumble dryer.

I bought this small TV for my wife when she was for a month in the "half way house" for more physio after she left hospital before she came home.
Since she's been home, we haven't really a use for it. So I stuck it in my "office," (box bedroom) upstairs. I'd my old VHS recorder/player and a spare
CD/DVD player, so I connected them both up. There was already an aerial feed and I've an internet connection via an adapter connected to the mains supply. I needed a scart to USB lead for both the old machines as they have no USB sockets.
So they are all up and running.

Not that I'm ever likely to use them much, any more than the spare tuner/amp that's up there too. (I've another on a shelf)

But I have several VHS tapes of film noir that have not yet come round again on TV.

 

[Sean Regan]

Too wet again today.

But if it's dry tomorrow I'll tie down a few of these trailing wisteria branches which are trying to do their own thing. In the spring I'll level them up as if they get below the balustrade rail they will be touching the roses.
I don't like them to spread too far from the pergola as this patio is only 9ft wide.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Just for a second I thought, 'no those are lights ... oh, touching the roses, that one over there.'

 

[Sean Regan]

The air was damp and the ground wet, but dry enough to do some wisteria pruning.
This was the one that need the most work.

Over time, the heads get too many branches on them.

I thinned them out, removing some of the older wood and branches that were growing towards the fence.


These three needed quite a bit of pruning, particular those branches that wanted to grow "skywards." I also tied down some of the "cascading" branches to a wire I strung between the pergola posts. I'll remove the wires in the spring once there's a fair bit of growth on the trailing ones.

This didn't need much work, but I did require a ladder.

This is the last one I did today, just the two over the pergola on the back of the house yet to be done.

Got my garden vac. out and had a good clear up of more leaves. I started at 1.00pm but by 3.00pm it was starting to get dark, so I called it a day.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Done a couple of odd jobs , cleared up round the pots at the North of the greenhouse, it was all saturated leaves. Stood the pots on trays turned upside down for a bit of extra frost protection, just in case. I took all the plants out , swept and put the trash, some more obvious weeds, accumulated dirt that needed the shovel. That joined a heap of similar bags that I hope will provide the means to grow potatoes in bags. I still need to weed the pots properly, but put them back for now bar a couple that had failed, some will probably get planted out soon.
Finally got my furthest water butt connected, I had emptied it to move it and took the opportunity to put a tap between it and the one before in case I ever want to do that again.

 

[Sean Regan]

No gardening today, just a bit of shopping and recovering from the "fridge/freezer crisis" last night.
I'll tidy the shed and garage tomorrow, whilst I "turn over" my jukeboxes, they haven't been played for a week and "they won't have liked it."

 

[Sean Regan]

I got done today what I said I would do, including "turning over the jukeboxes."
They do have on their thermal "winter coats" and heaters, but they don't like inactivity. Lots of leaf switches open to the air. Hopefully, they will continue to function as and when during the winter, before they get more use in the warmer months.

We've always said there isn't enough room for one in my den...the front room. We wouldn't want one in the lounge. But my wife has recently suggested it might be possible. I think she's concerned about me going down there at my age, when it's really cold.

It could go just inside the door where I presently have my piano.

I could always move the piano and put it under my jukebox wall boxes on the back wall. My only concern is that it would be in front of the radiator. But the wall boxes have come to no harm, being above it for 15 years.

It'd be the small one that I would bring in.
It's a major job, as it weighs around 300lb.
I have still got the ramp I made to get it up the tea-house steps when I bought it.
But it will be a case of negotiating it past this acer palmatum.

All the records would have to come out, the turntable lifted off and the tone arm taped down. It'll be easy to move on my sack truck. I can use the ramp to get it through our front door. I'd need a couple of big squares of hardboard on the floor, to stop its castors ruining the carpet as it was rolled in. Then a square of plywood to sit in on to stop the castors from digging into the carpet.
But it's a job for the warmer months. If I decide to do it, I'll get my son to give me a lift. He helped me get it into the tea-house over fifteen years ago. It's not a decision I need to make now.
I've still the wisterias on the back of the hose to prune, but that needs a dryer day.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I got done today what I said I would do, including "turning over the jukeboxes."
They do have on their thermal "winter coats" and heaters, but they don't like inactivity. Lots of leaf switches open to the air. Hopefully, they will continue to function as and when during the winter, before they get more use in the warmer months.

View attachment 106419


We've always said there isn't enough room for one in my den...the front room. We wouldn't want one in the lounge. But my wife has recently suggested it might be possible. I think she's concerned about me going down there at my age, when it's really cold.

It could go just inside the door where I presently have my piano.

View attachment 106420

I could always move the piano and put it under my jukebox wall boxes on the back wall. My only concern is that it would be in front of the radiator. But the wall boxes have come to no harm, being above it for 15 years.

View attachment 106421

It'd be the small one that I would bring in.
It's a major job, as it weighs around 300lb.
I have still got the ramp I made to get it up the tea-house steps when I bought it.
But it will be a case of negotiating it past this acer palmatum.

View attachment 106422

View attachment 106423

All the records would have to come out, the turntable lifted off and the tone arm taped down. It'll be easy to move on my sack truck. I can use the ramp to get it through our front door. I'd need a couple of big squares of hardboard on the floor, to stop its castors ruining the carpet as it was rolled in. Then a square of plywood to sit in on to stop the castors from digging into the carpet.
But it's a job for the warmer months. If I decide to do it, I'll get my son to give me a lift. He helped me get it into the tea-house over fifteen years ago. It's not a decision I need to make now.
I've still the wisterias on the back of the hose to prune, but that needs a dryer day.

Sounds like something that needs careful planning, and possible a bit of younger helpful muscle with the patience to listen and go along with the plan, don't knock yourself out.

 

[Sean Regan]

Sounds like something that needs careful planning, and possible a bit of younger helpful muscle with the patience to listen and go along with the plan, don't knock yourself out.

Thanks for that, if it happens I'll rely on our son who's a big lad, (played "tight end" for a British amateur American Football team for ten years). But it may not happen.
The two machines are ideal "gardening music," they are just a bit of a pain during the winter months. The fact that the move would be "allowed," may well be enough for me in the summer.

Happy New Year everyone!

No gardening today, there was too much rain.

But I've removed all the Christmas cards, there was no tree or decorations to take down and as for Christmas lights, we had none just the many available around the garden all year round. I just won't turn them on tonight.
So we're ready for 2025, whatever that may bring.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

So we're ready for 2025, whatever that may bring.

High winds with mist and rain so far. The cat has the right idea, she has found my propagator is switched on with just a couple of trays of first tomatoes in. She was lying in the other half, "Nice and warm in here".
We didn't do decorations this year, just the tree, except the missus decided the first one was too small and bought another, so now we have one in the front room and one in the sun room. I always used to get the tree on Christmas eve and keep it 'til the 6th of Jan, twelfth night, but the missus likes to get it in well before Christmas, and will probably take it down today.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

nothing . waiting for a good dry out to do more leaf raking.

 

[Meadowlark]

nothing . waiting for a good dry out to do more leaf raking.

How was the leaf "crop" this year?

 

[Oliver Buckle]

How was the leaf "crop" this year?

The lady does not crop them, but returns them to the wood from whence they came.
I have a reasonable collection, and have turned a lot into the ground directly, but this morning I noticed the pots I had cleaned leaves from had more leaves between them. Country folk round here refer to newcomers of the last 30 years or so as "Blow ins". Unfortunately the gale had blown a panel out of the roof of the smaller plastic greenhouse and I had a nasty time stood in the rain coaxing it back in. The rain, of course, rain straight down the panel and on to me, I was very wet and cold by the time I got away, and I still need to get back on a fine day with the steps to 'fettle' the last six inches, and maybe go round with a bit of silicone to hold it all down?

 

[Meadowlark]

The lady does not crop them, but returns them to the wood from whence they came.

Very aware of that from our discussions...and always envious of all that organic matter @Esther Knapicius has.