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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 18, 2019 20:38:18 GMT
It has been fine today till 4.30 when it started pouring down. I planted the cuttings I got from Blackleach yesterday. After that I have been working under the car port most of the time. I have emptied the flower pouches and some more hanging baskets that were past their best and potted up some plants from them that I want to overwinter to take cuttings from in the spring-surfinias, calibracoas,bacopas and verbenas. We are going away on Sunday so it will mean less for Alan to water while we are away .Some baskets are still at their best so I may leave these as it seems a shame to empty them and I won't have time to replant them before we go away.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 19, 2019 20:27:25 GMT
Took some Dobies catalogues to the hut this morning and left them on the bench for anyone who wants them. Went on the allotment this afternoon and just carried on with the weeding. This is my last gardening for a week because we are going to our daughter Heather's in Wales tomorrow. On Monday she is taking us to Devon till Thursday then back to her house and we are coming home on Friday.I am not taking my computer so you won't hear any more from me till we come home Friday evening.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 21, 2019 21:59:03 GMT
I said on Saturday that you wouldn't hear from me till Friday but I am on Heathers computer.We are staying in a village in North Devon called Kings Nympton with Heather.She drove us here today and we arrived about 4.30.We will be going somewhere tomorrow but I don't know where yet. Heather has been wanting a bird table in her garden for a while. There was one at Blackleach that hasn't been used for years because we have enough feeders without it. It has just been stood in a corner and was in the way where the art club wanted to put a new cupboard so last week I asked Richard, the ranger if Heather could have it and he said she could. It was in two halves bolted together so I had to take it apart to fit it in the car. So we took it to Heathers yesterday and me and Alex, my eldest grandson bolted it together and fixed it up. Jake, my other grandson who works in Wilkinsons is going to get some bird food from there to put on it.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 25, 2019 20:10:04 GMT
We have had a very enjoyable holiday. We were lucky with the weather . It has been nice all the time till today. Heather took us to Devon last Monday, Kings Nympton .It was Rosemarys birthday on Tuesday and we went to Lynton and Lynmouth which was a nice ay out.We went to Cornwall on Wednesday to see a lady who Rosemary used to work with. She lives in a lovely place. We went back to Porthmadog yesterday . We were hoping to go another walk round the lake but it was pouring down so we didn't go anywhere only Tesco .Rosemary and me set off for home about 1.40 but we had a nightmare of a journey. We were held up both on the M56 and the M6 and it took us 5 hours to get home where it usually only takes half that time.It poured with rain till we got half way home but carried on all the way home but not as heavy. So we were glad to get home this evening and it's back to normal tomorrow.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 26, 2019 20:51:45 GMT
It was pouring down all morning while we were at the hut . I thought it would be an afternoon in the greenhouse but it dried up so I was able to do some jobs outside. The tops of the greenhouses were covered in leaves from the surrounding trees . I removed them from the nearest side of both greenhouses but I know there are more to fall. The other two sides don't matter as much because they are more shaded. I will wait till all the leaves have fallen before I remove them all. I noticed that three of the top panes of glass in the larger greenhouse had slipped down about half an inch leaving a gap. I got my stepladder out and pushed up the panes and repositioned the clips to hold them in place. I then removed the polythene sheets from over the chrysanth beds because all the chrysanths are cut now. There are two sheets and they roll up and are put behind the shed till they are needed again.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 27, 2019 21:50:48 GMT
No gardening today even though it was fine . We went out for lunch with Martyn for Rosemary's birthday and didn't get home till 2.00. We had to go out again later this afternoon so there wasn't much time but I went to Blackleach and walked round .I can do it quicker if Rosemary isn't with me.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 28, 2019 19:47:03 GMT
It was a bit frosty this morning but not enough to blacken the dahlias. No gardening again today as I have been at Blackleach all day.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 29, 2019 21:39:20 GMT
I am showing at Whitefield on Saturday. This is my last show of the year. Today I collected all the veg I needed. From the allotment I got some sprouts ,a marrow, a squash some carrots, sweet corn and swedes. At home I got carrots and a parsnip that I have grown in tubes.I emptied all the tubes after. While on the allotment I pulled up the runner beans . The few beans that were left weren't much good .I then began taking down the cane structure on which they had been growing. I hardly get any time on Thursdays as I am at Blackleach till 3.00 so tomorrow I will have to wash and sort out all this veg for the show.I still have potatoes, shallots and onions that I showed in September but these need sorting out again. There is a class for mixed garden flowers so I will cut these on Friday. Many of the annuals have finished but I think I have enough left to do two vases.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 30, 2019 21:15:00 GMT
This morning I removed the remaining bedding plants from the front garden including those in tubs near the front door and along the path. Rosemary had been removing some for the last week or so. I then finished washing the veg I might be showing at Whitefield then decided which I need for some of the classes. Went to Martyn's this afternoon and removed his bedding plants then started weeding his border round his lawn but only had time to do half of it. It was full of bittercress. I wish he would do some weeding himself but he never does.
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Post by derekbrooks on Oct 31, 2019 20:47:55 GMT
Not much gardening time today after Blackleach. 15 more Dobies catalogues that I had ordered arrived yesterday and I took them to the hut on my way home because I can't go on Saturday. While at Blackleach I cut some penstemons and some love lies bleeding which were still nice from my border for the show on Saturday. All I had time to do when I got home was to sort out the sprouts for showing.
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Post by lesley on Nov 1, 2019 18:51:22 GMT
Good luck with the show Derek on Saturday
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 1, 2019 21:06:07 GMT
Thanks very much, Leslie The dry weather we have had this week has gone. It rained overnight and has been drizzly most of the day but not as cold. I have been getting my exhibits ready for Whitefield show much of the day. first, I sorted my small onions into sets for showing .I line them all out on the kitchen table . You need three for an entry. I had about twenty odd . You have to try and find three that match as near as possible for size, shape and colour. I managed to get two sets that were reasonably matched. There is a class for one specimen onion and I had one that I intended showing. However, I noticed that the skin was split a bit so I removed it. The skin underneath was green , not brown as I had hoped. So I cut it in half and put it in a pan and we are having it for supper, as we often do . We just boil them for half an hour or so the cut them up in dishes .I then went in the greenhouse and decided which pot plants I am taking and tidied them up Went to the allotment this afternoon and cut some flowers .Many of the dahlias have been spoiled by the rain but there were some decent ones .Rudbeckia"Indian summer" was still going strong so I cut a lot of these and there were still some nice antirrhinums and love lies bleeding. This evening I put all the veg into boxes and loaded up the car ready for morning. I have 20 entries altogether for tomorrow compared with about 60 that I show in summer.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 2, 2019 22:01:01 GMT
Didn't do quite as well as usual at Whitefield show but there was a lot of competition , a pot of entries in most of the classes. I just got three firsts, one second and one third. What pleased me most was winning the Brussel sprouts out of ten entries. I was the only one with vases of mixed garden flowers so I got first and second.I was very pleased with them though. I thought they were good for November. My other first was swedes. These weren't very good but there weren't many in this class so they still won. I will show you two pictures now. First out of ten entries with Brussel sprouts
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 2, 2019 22:03:25 GMT
My two vases of mixed garden flowers which I thought were good for November
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 3, 2019 22:17:41 GMT
Went on the allotment this afternoon. We just had a shower about 3.00 so I sat in the car. It didn't last long so I carried on again after. I finished taking down the structure of canes on which the runner beans and sweet peas had been growing. I then removed the climbing French beans and the canes on which they had been growing. Put all these canes in the shed. It's a work of art getting 8 foot canes into a 6ft by 4ft shad!. I also removed the dwarf French beans and the canes and took these canes home. I had left the runner bean plants in a pile last time I went . There were still a few pods on them with large seeds in them so I brought them home. I think the pods will be too tough and stringy to eat so we will just eat the beans from them. There were also a few dwarf French beans that I thought were still usable so I brought these home too. Put all the plants on the compost. I won't need the hosepipe again this year so I coiled it up and put it away. It hangs up on a hook on the side of the shed.
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