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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 3, 2017 19:25:03 GMT
Cat, you have spotted the only two flowers in my pictures that I didn't grow. Somebody else put those in. Had the morning on the allotment and about an hour and a half this afternoon after shopping. I picked the last broad beans and courgettes and put the plants on the compost and also the peas. These finished a few weeks ago. Then finished weeding the root crop bed and there were some turnips that needed thinning. Staked some sweet corn that needed doing then started weeding where the broad beans, peas and courgettes had been.
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Post by Cat on Oct 3, 2017 20:19:55 GMT
pretty is pretty
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 4, 2017 20:52:01 GMT
Had about 2 hours on the allotment this morning (Had to go somewhere else first ). I finished weeding the bed I was doing yesterday. I cover the brassica bed with nets in summer to keep the butterflies off but decided it was no longer needed . So I removed it and the framework of canes on which it was supported. I have a bit of weeding to do on that bed and some more plants to put in so it will be easier now the net has gone. It was showery this afternoon so I didn't go back. I replaced a shelf bracket in my larger greenhouse I then went in the other greenhouse and potted all the rooted fuchsia cuttings into small yoghurt pots, 106 altogether.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 6, 2017 21:32:57 GMT
Had the afternoon on the allotment. I weeded an area on the brassica bed where crops had been harvested, and planted the purple sprouting broccoli that I had grown in pots. I intended raking some growmore into the soil before I planted them. I thought I had some in the shed but there wasn't any. I decided to plant them though and I will get some growmore from the hut tomorrow and next time I go to the allotment I will sprinkle some round the plants and hoe it in. Did some weeding on the sweet pea bed after.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 7, 2017 19:55:23 GMT
It was raining most of the afternoon. I had to go somewhere first but got home about 3.00. Went in the greenhouse and finished potting all the rooted cuttings that were taken in August into small pots. There were some geraniums, regal and angel pelargoniums, coleus and streptocarpus. I took cuttings from about 5 varieties of streptocarpus but the only variety that rooted was "falling stars". I had taken some more geranium cuttings in September but they are not rooted well enough yet to pot up.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 8, 2017 21:11:00 GMT
We have had apple day on the allotments this afternoon. We had several barrows of apples off peoples plots. We had borrowed some apple presses. People were cutting them up and they then went through a press to break them up and then another one which squeezes the juice out. I took my turn at turning the wheel on the first press and we all took bottles to put the juice in. We then had a hog roast and some people had brought some nice cakes. It managed to stay fine for us and it was nice for all the allotment people being together. Got home about 3.45 and I then went to Blackleach to do my walk round.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 9, 2017 22:17:15 GMT
Both morning and afternoon on the allotment today. Every time Rosemary goes to the allotment ,as she did yesterday for the apple day , she always tells me that my shed needs painting. So I decided to do it this morning. I had a tub of the paint . It is autumn gold . We sell these paints at the hut. I was able to give it two coats because it soon dries. I did it first then carried on with other jobs then did it again. I sprinkled growmore round the broccoli plants , as I told you I would do, and hoed it in. I also raked some growmore into a space where crops had been harvested on the brassica bed and planted some winter onion sets. I plant the sprouting broccoli and winter onions on this bed because it doesn't get manured in the winter as next year it will be the root crop bed. The gladioli had finished so I pulled them up. I don't keep the corms , as I buy fresh each year , so I give them to somebody else on the allotments. I then started weeding this bed and did about half of it.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 10, 2017 21:39:27 GMT
I have several bags of old compost that I have used this year for growing things in like potatoes and carrots. I took 6 bags to Blackleach this morning and asked Billy, my helper, to put them on the nursery beds and rake them level. The other volunteers had weeded the beds. I will take some more up next week. I am there Monday next week, though , so I will have to take them then and leave a note for him for Tuesday telling him where I want him to put them. After shopping this afternoon I just had an hour and a half on the allotment carrying on with the weeding.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 11, 2017 20:55:30 GMT
I decided to remove the coolglass off my greenhouses this morning as it is not needed now and plants now need more light. It rubs off easily when dry. I did the sides of both greenhouses but about 11.00 it started drizzling so I didn't do the tops.It rained harder this afternoon . My next job at home is to box up the chrysanth stools . I use mushroom boxes for these and I got them from behind the greenhouse and washed them in the wheelbarrow under the car port. I put some armillatox and washing up liquid in the water. Some of them needed repairing so I did that after. I just put some wide cellotape round them. When I had finished this it was still raining so I couldn't start boxing them up so I went in the greenhouse and cut down some more plants that needed doing.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 13, 2017 21:33:15 GMT
It was showery this morning but dry the rest of the day. It was too showery to go on the allotment so I decided to stay at home and box up the chrysanths between showers and when it was raining I could go in the greenhouse and cut down some more plants. I did manage to finish the chrysanths. I have to take the labels from the top of the canes and tie them onto the stools. Most of the plants had been cut down before, There were just three flowers left so I cut them and put them in a vase . They are in 7 mushroom boxes which hold 12 stools. Kept a maximum of 6 stools from each variety and most boxes have 6 stools each of 2 varieties. With some varieties I have less than 6 and there are 3 varieties that I only have one of each so some boxes have more than 2 varieties. Cut all the growth down on each stool. I will put all the boxes in the greenhouse tomorrow but not on the warming bench till next January.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 13, 2017 21:40:59 GMT
Chrysanth stools boxed up into 7 mushroom boxes
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 14, 2017 20:04:09 GMT
Had the afternoon on the allotment just carrying on with the weeding. Brought home two cabbages which I will cut up and give some to our neighbours and also a marrow .This evening I removed the polythene from over the chrysanth bed. It was all torn but strong winds have been forecast and I thought it might blow off completely.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 15, 2017 21:33:59 GMT
Dry today so I removed the rest of the coolglass from the greenhouses then went to the allotment and did some more weeding. I always save my own seeds from the runner beans but I decided to do the same with the climbing French beans so I picked all the ones containing large beans.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 16, 2017 21:21:34 GMT
Been at Blackleach all day and I spent about 2 hours this afternoon weeding the border alongside the visitor centre.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 17, 2017 18:36:12 GMT
been on the allotment this morning and again this afternoon after shopping. Before carrying on with the weeding I decided to get rid of the runner beans and climbing French beans. The structure of canes on which they were growing had partly collapsed weeks ago due to the wind and I have kept trying to repair them. With the wind last night part of the runner bean frame had gone worse and was over the path. The beans themselves were no longer usable . I had picked some of the climbing French beans last weekend to save the seeds so I did the same today with the runner beans and put all the plants on the compost. I then dismantled the cane structures and put the canes away in the shed. It is a work of art trying to get 8 foot canes in my small shed but they are all in now. Did some more weeding after.
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