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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 27, 2017 20:01:04 GMT
I had to take the car for a service this morning so I couldn't go anywhere else. So I did some tidying up in the garden ,pulling up annuals that had finished and weeding the beds where they had been. When I got the car back in the afternoon we decided to do our walk round Blackleach counting the birds and writing down the wild flowers, as we do every two weeks. We won't do flowers again though till spring. There were only 14 kinds of flowers today. This year we have seen a total of 142 different wild flowers at Blackleach (144 last year ).More often than not we go on a Saturday but we decided to do it today because tomorrow afternoon we have to go to the allotments to clean the toilet , as it is my turn. Rosemary will do it for me while I carry on with other jobs. When we got home from Blackleach I went to the allotment for an hour and carried on cutting down the spray chrysanths.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 28, 2017 19:52:11 GMT
Opposite the hut where I go on Saturday mornings there is a builders merchants . This morning I called for some wood, some to repair my chrysanth frame, some for a shelf on the side of the shed and some to make a gate for one of my compost bins on the allotment. It had been fine this morning but it started raining a bit this afternoon. We went to the allotments so that Rosemary could clean the toilet. I just sat reading in the cabin. It only took her half an hour so we came straight home. I put all the wood I had got this morning under the carport and painted it with the fence paint we sell at the hut. Gave it two coats because it soon dries. In between and again after I went in the greenhouse. Potted some Streptocarpus saxorum into 5 inch pots then spent the rest of the time tidying up more of the plants , cutting them back if needed. I had some peppers that had grown O.K.but there were only 2 small fruits which wouldn't ripen so I got rid of them.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 29, 2017 21:05:42 GMT
Nice today so I had the afternoon on the allotment. Forking over and weeding ground where crops had been cleared. The sweet corn had finished so I dug them up and put them on the compost.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 30, 2017 23:01:42 GMT
Been at Blackleach all day. Did no gardening but I took 6 more bags of old compost for Billy to put on the nursery beds tomorrow. I have left a note for him about them. Last Tuesday he cut down the clump of golden rod but he has not tidied up very well. He has left some on the path so I have asked him on the note to sweep it up.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 31, 2017 20:47:16 GMT
Rosemary needed the car this morning so I stayed at home and decided to do some of my woodwork jobs. I put the new shelf on the side of the shed. Had to cut about three inches off it first. Then did the repairs needed on my chrysanth frame. Two of the lengths of wood that support the polythene cover needed replacing. Had an hour or so on the allotment this afternoon after shopping and carried on forking over and weeding the runner bean/sweet pea bed that I started on Sunday.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 1, 2017 22:01:15 GMT
It was dry today and this morning I painted one of my sheds with wood preservative then started doing the wooden structure over the chrysanth bed which supports the polythene sheets but only had time to do just over half of it. I have another show to go to on Saturday. I don't have time to do anything on Thursdays now. I am at Blackleach every Thursday for the health walk and art club till 3.00. Tomorrow the garden club at school starts again after half term so I will be there till 4.30. I therefore went to the allotment this afternoon to get the veg for the show. I picked sprouts, beetroot, carrots, 3 marrows, 2 swedes and a squash. When I had got these I finished weeding the runner bean/sweet pea bed that I as doing yesterday. This evening I have washed the beetroot, carrots, swedes, marrows and the squash. The carrots have got carrot fly so I can't show those but I sorted three beetroots which I can show. Only 2 swedes are needed and these are O.K. I will also be showing potatoes and onions which I have kept from the September shows. The onions have been kept in the shed. The potatoes have been in the disused coal shed where it is dark, wrapped in kitchen paper and aluminium foil. I brought these into the kitchen and sorted them into sets for showing. There are two classes for vases of flowers. I will cut these on Friday. Naturally, I haven't as many flowers as in summer but I should have enough for a vase, maybe two. I still have a few dahlias and spray chrysanths and annuals such as rudbeckia and love lies bleeding. I also have pot plants to sort out on Friday for showing.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 2, 2017 22:14:42 GMT
This evening I sorted the sprouts out for the show. This is all the gardening I have done except for school which I have just told you about.I have a full day tomorrow so I will be cutting flowers and sorting out the rest of the veg and the pot plants. You know that I send a bulk order to Dobies from people on the allotments and people in our horticultural society. I posted the first batch of orders today including my own and seeds for school. I can't wait till I get all the orders because some people take a long time.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 3, 2017 19:59:11 GMT
Spent most of the day preparing my exhibits for Whitefield show where I am going tomorrow. This morning I cut the flowers from the allotment and the garden. A few days ago I had a few decent dahlias but they are no good now so I will have to make do with annuals and perennials.This afternoon I had more sorting out of the veg to do and decide which pot plants I am taking. When I had done all this I cut the wood and made a new front for one of my compost bays on the allotment (I told you bout this the other day). This evening I have loaded the car up ready for morning. Martyn is calling at our house in the morning (I will have gone by then) to take my computer home to do something with it. I won't get it back till Sunday so I won't be able to tell you how I went on at the show till then.
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Post by Cat on Nov 3, 2017 21:24:31 GMT
Good luck for tomorrow derekbrooks - hear all about it sunday
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 5, 2017 21:09:16 GMT
Thanks, Cat This afternoon I went on the allotment and cut down the remaining spray chrysanths and tied all the labels on the stools. I can have a full day tomorrow, weather permitting, so I will dig them up and bring them home and perhaps box them up. I'll tell you about Whitefield show yesterday now. There were a lot of entries in most of the classes so when I saw them all on Saturday morning I didn't think I had much chance. Thought I may get a few thirds. Anyway, I did much better than I imagined and won most points in the veg classes. I got 4 firsts, 7 seconds and 3 thirds in the veg classes. I was the only person who had any sprouts or swedes but there were at least six entries in all the other classes. I got first and second with white potatoes from 6 entries, first and second with marrows out of 7 entries and first and second with small onions out of 8 entries. There were 11 entries in the class for one onion. I had no large onions so I put a small one in and got second. The large one that beat me was judged the best exhibit in the veg classes .Apart from the veg classes I did two vases of mixed garden flowers which I thought were very good for this time of year. I also got the trophy for the most points in both shows combined. The other show was in September. I will show you six pictures now.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 5, 2017 21:12:41 GMT
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 5, 2017 21:16:41 GMT
First and second with white potatoes.I thought those that came third would have won . They were cleaner than mine but on examination , they had just a bit of blight.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 5, 2017 21:20:42 GMT
First and second out of 7 entries with marrows. The one in the centre is mine too. The variety is Badger Cross.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 5, 2017 21:23:59 GMT
First and second out of 8 entries with small onions. The variety is Fen Early from Marshalls
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 5, 2017 21:29:16 GMT
The class for one onion. My small one at the front came second because it was perfect.
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