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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 24, 2020 21:12:05 GMT
I haven't anything else ready for planting on the allotment yet but I went this morning and started forking over and weeding the rest of the beds ready for when I have. Because I didn't go there for a month I thought there would be more weeds but I was surprised how few there were.The ground is very hard and dry so forking it wasn't easy. I started doing what was the brassica bed last year and will be the root crop bed this year.I planted some broccoli on this bed last autumn but it hasn't grown well so I got rid of it then I will have the ground for other things. Thirty non stop begonias came from Suttons and after our walk this afternoon I potted them into three and a half inch pots. When I have grown these before they have been from corms which I have planted in February but these are large plugs. After that I continued tidying up the area in front of the shed where my frames go.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 25, 2020 21:49:05 GMT
This morning I took a bag and a half of potting compost to school to fill the pots for tomatoes. There are 26 pots but this compost only filled 18. After we had been for a walk this afternoon I went to the hut for another bag of compost for school and 2 for myself. I went to school after and finished filling the pots. I grow 8 tomatoes at school for my own use in bottomless pots on top of 4 growbags . I planted the tomatoes in these, the variety was meccano. This evening I have done some more tidying up in the garden.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 26, 2020 21:02:03 GMT
This afternoon I went to school and planted the other 26 tomato plants. There are 9 Alicante, 9 Sungold, 4 Gardeners delight and 4 Tigrella. There were some lettuces ready for planting so I did these. Did a bit more tidying up this evening. Also, the tubes of parsnips were sown in the greenhouse a few weeks ago and now that they are growing I put them outside. I sowed some more carrot seeds in a bucket and some beetroot in a box.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 27, 2020 21:48:12 GMT
Went on the allotment this morning and finished forking over and weeding the root crop bed that I started last time I went. When shallots grow , the bulb that is planted splits into a clump of several bulbs, one in the centre and at least 5 more round it. Later, I reduce each clump to three of the outer bulbs but today I removed the central one from some of the clumps and we have had them for tea in a salad. On our walk this afternoon we heard the first summer visitor, a blackcap. I still have six "Sungold" tomato plants in 4 inch pots. I only have room for two in my greenhouse, one at each side of the door . I potted two of them into 9 inch pots to put there . There is room at school for another two so I potted two up to take there next time I go. After, I finished clearing the area in front of the shed where the other frames go . I fixed up two more aluminium frames. I still have another to do and also a wooden one.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 28, 2020 20:55:03 GMT
Went on the allotment again this morning. I said yesterday that I had finished forking over the root crop bed but in one corner there are about 30 winter onions growing. Obviously, I couldn't fork over this part of the bed like I did yesterday but I got on my hands and knees and went between the onions with a hand fork ,just loosening the soil and taking out any weeds . After, I started forking over and weeding the annual beds . It started raining a bit at 12.00 as I was ready for going home. Apart from a bit on April 5th,this is the first rain since March 17th.It rained on and off all day but not hard,just drizzle. Because of the rain we didn't go for a walk this afternoon. When it wasn't raining much I fixed up my wooden frame. I haven't done any pricking out for a week or so because there was nothing else ready but this evening I have done the Nicotiana sylvestris,nemesia and some more antirrhinums. All there is left to do are another batch of antirrhinums and one of stocks but they aren't ready yet.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 29, 2020 20:57:50 GMT
Went on the allotment again this morning and carried on forking over the bed I was doing yesterday but still haven't finished it. It started raining about 1.00 and rained quite hard later. I had to go to Elite Greenhouses this afternoon for two pieces of glass for the ends of my frames. I phoned yesterday to order them. I didn't know whether they would be open or not. They were but I had to pay for them over the phone .When I arrived today the gate was shut and I had to phone them to say I was waiting. When I got home it stopped raining and the sun came out. I fixed up the remaining aluminium frame then put 3 aluminium ones and the wooden one in position on the area that I had cleared in front of the shed. I used to have three wooden frames but only one now but I still have eight altogether. Apart from these four, three are on the border alongside the back lawn and one is on the dahlia bed. These are already full of plants. I won't be planting the dahlia bed or the border till late May or June.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 30, 2020 21:33:51 GMT
The weather was similar to yesterday, dry in the morning,showery in the afternoon, but today it was showery this evening as well. Went on the allotment this morning and finished weeding the annual beds. There are hardly any weeds on the other beds so I started weeding the paths between the beds. The rain this afternoon stopped us from going for a walk again. The dahlias were all on the greenhouse staging not in any order so I decided to put them all under the carport and sort them out into their different varieties. I put them all in rows of each variety in alphabetical order. There were about 120 in three and a half inch pots. I then potted 79 of them into five inch pots. They were in 14 varieties . I have only room to grow about 70odd so that is an average of 5 or6 of each variety. I had 8 plants of "Garden friends" and I potted 5 of them on and I am going to send the other 3 to Cat (when the queue at the post office has gone down a bit! ). They have all gone back in the greenhouse now. I am going to show you a picture of them .From the far end they are Ruskin Andrea, Elma E, Garden friends, Hillcrest candy, Hy fashion, Jomanda, L'Ancresse, Mary's Jomanda, Oakwood goldcrest, Sorrento flush, Swanvale, Kenora sunset, Taratahi ruby, and Trouper Dan. David Valentine who used to be on this forum gave me the tubers of Sorrento flush and Swanvale. I have not grown these before. He also gave me Lakeland autumn and another friend gave me Rossendale peach but these were later cuttings and only recently potted into three and a half inch pots so I left these in the greenhouse.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 30, 2020 21:36:48 GMT
Dahlias sorted into varieties under the carport
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Post by derekbrooks on May 1, 2020 20:44:54 GMT
It did three quarters of an inch of rain overnight but the weather has been dry today up to about an hour ago when it started pouring down. I went on the allotment this morning and again this afternoon after we had been a walk. I just carried on weeding the paths between the veg beds. I brought some more shallots home. I have been in the greenhouse this evening. When I sowed the runner beans in pots I sowed as many as there was room for on the propagating benches .Some things have come off these benches since, giving me more room so today I have sown about another 15 pots. I grow some for someone else on the allotments as well as for myself and I may grow some at school. When I sowed the sweet peas I put them all under the staging. They are all growing now so they need more light so I put them in a frame. I also put the leeks in a frame . I potted 7 begonias from 4 inch pots into 5 inch and about 8 angel pelargoniums from 3 inch to 4 inch pots. Other plants like these are ready to pot into bigger pots but I have no room at present. They will have to wait till I can put other plants in the frames.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 2, 2020 21:13:40 GMT
Went to school this morning and planted the potatoes. The variety is Casablanca and there are 5 rows of 5. Also planted 15 onion sets that the children had planted in drinking cups. Not many of the cabbages that they had sown were growing so I sowed some more and also I sowed some more lettuce in cell trays. We walked round Blackleach Country Park this afternoon to record the birds and wild flowers as we do every two weeks. We have 2 pairs of swans nesting , we normally only have one. Went to the allotment after and finished weeding the paths between the veg beds. Twenty plugs of New Guinea Impatiens came from Suttons . Before we went to Blackleach I decided I had time to pot them up .However, they were badly damaged. The box was dented .They give you a stick to push the plants out of the plugs . They should come out without any root disturbance but they had come out and were all loose in the box with hardly any compost round the roots. I potted 15 of them into small yoghurt pots but don't know if any will survive. I think it is the fault of the Post Office rather than Suttons. This evening I have mowed the lawns and done some weeding on the back rose beds.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 3, 2020 21:38:04 GMT
Not as much time today so I have just been weeding in my own garden. I finished the rose beds and then did the chrysanth and dahlia beds and most of the border round the back lawn. There weren't many weeds though, but a lot of seedlings from the ash tree at the bottom of the garden.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 4, 2020 21:34:31 GMT
This morning I had to go to the hut for some more potting compost but on the way home I went to the post office to post the dahlias to Cat that she wanted. I just had to queue for 10 minutes. This afternoon we couldn't go a walk because we were having a new washing machine delivered and someone else was coming to connect it up. I carried on weeding the garden. I finished the borders round both lawns and did the small herbaceous border. I then started weeding and tidying up the rockery. This is a bigger job. There are only a few plants on it that I want to keep but there is ivy growing over it from the hedge at the back and it is full of buttercups and wood avens. I like wood avens as a wild flower at Blackleach but I don't want it on my rockery. This and the buttercups are difficult to dig out because of all the rocks that they are growing between. I filled up my recycling bin with them and ivy and also one of our neighbours bins as well.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 5, 2020 20:43:59 GMT
This morning I went on the allotment and weeded the veg beds that I hadn't done last week. Not many weeds though. We went for a walk this afternoon and then I did some more weeding on the rockery. I have not got all the weeds out but I think it's the best I can do because as I said yesterday I can't weed between the rocks very well. this evening I have potted about 30 rooted cuttings each of bacopa and calibracoa. Put the peas in a frame to make room for them in the greenhouse. Took a few cuttings of Nepeta.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 6, 2020 21:01:36 GMT
Went on the allotment this morning. Put 3 bags of old compost on the root crop bed and raked it in. Then weeded the spray chrysanth bed and started weeding the path behind it. Got six plants of pink bacopa from a friend on the allotments. I have plenty of white bacopa and a few blue ones but never had any pink. This afternoon I took some cuttings off them .If I don't need them for this years baskets they will do for stock plants for next year. The path up our back garden which leads to the greenhouses is made of bricks. Weeds get between the bricks so I had a go at getting these out this evening.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 7, 2020 20:48:02 GMT
Went on the allotment this morning and carried on weeding the paths between the beds. After our walk this afternoon I planted some Verbena bonariensis and Achillea "Summer berries" in my small border. I then weeded the terrace. Put some of the beans in a frame. The next thing I will probably be planting are chrysanths. I got the beds ready for planting by raking and hoeing. I had already put some growmore on. I began fixing up the wires that support the canes but one of the T posts that these are attached to needs repairing.
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