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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 4, 2021 21:16:54 GMT
Went to the allotment first because Rosemary wanted some veg and I got three cabbages and some sprout tops. I then phoned our local builders merchants to enquire about flags for the base for my new shed. Our garden centre is closed till the 18th so I will have to wait till then to order the shed but I can be preparing the base ready for it. So I went to the builders merchants and got the flags that I needed. I made two journeys because I thought that there would be too much weight in the car to do it in one journey. I need Tristan to help me to lay them now. We went for a walk this afternoon but Martyn started work again today so he won't be able to come with us again till weekends.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 5, 2021 22:27:10 GMT
Apart from going a walk this afternoon I have been in the greenhouse most of the time. I will soon be sowing seeds and taking cuttings and also starting my dahlias into growth .In preparation I have sieved some multipurpose compost which I use for seed sowing and I have mixed some with sand which I use for cuttings. I then trimmed all my dahlia tubers by cutting off all the straggly roots then sorted them into the different varieties and put them in separate boxes. They had been in boxes under the staging up till now but not sorted into varieties.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 6, 2021 21:53:27 GMT
This morning I started laying some of the flags for my shed base .I thought I could do some of it myself but didn't get very far because I could do with Tristan helping me. I also washed the boxes that I use for planting my dahlia tubers. We couldn't go a walk this afternoon because Rosemary had to go to the dentists so I just washed some more pots. One of our neighbours had given me a pile of newspapers so I could put some on the floor then I wouldn't mess it up.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 7, 2021 21:26:18 GMT
I have a lot of ice cream cartons and margarine tubs that I use in the greenhouse and I washed them all this morning. I use the ice cream cartons mainly for dahlia cuttings. I find them a convenient size and they are deeper than seed trays. They hold 12 cuttings. Some were split so needed repairing. I just bind duck tape round them. I use the margarine tubs for small amounts of seeds and for small cuttings such as fuchsias. This afternoon I laid some more flags for my shed base . I then put all the pots that I had washed behind the greenhouse. Had to tidy the area first . They are all in large buckets or drums sorted out in their sizes . I put them on two sheets of polythene but they needed sweeping as they were covered in leaves.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 8, 2021 20:24:35 GMT
We went shopping first this morning but I went in the greenhouse after and sowed my first seeds of the year. I sowed my exhibition onions and aubergines. Used two half seed trays for the onions and two margarine tubs for the aubergines. Both these seeds are large enough to sow individually so I spread them out about an inch apart. I put them on one of my warming benches. Washed some more pots this afternoon and I haven't many more to do now.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 9, 2021 21:17:06 GMT
This morning I finished laying the flags for my shed base. The old shed was 8 ft by 5 ft but I have decided on a 7ft by 4 ft which has made it easier to fit into the space. This afternoon we went on our walk round Blackleach.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 10, 2021 22:16:10 GMT
We couldn't go a walk this afternoon because it was raining .So I decided to go to Blackleach and update the bird charts with what we saw yesterday. I had put part of the charts on the notice board before so I had the rest to finish .There are no wild flowers out yet but the snowdrops won't be long so I decided to make the flower charts out ready. These take a long time to do because I have to rule all the lines on large sheets of cardboard .We always keep the previous years charts on the notice board so I removed the 2019 ones and put the 2020 ones in their place. I then started making the new ones but it was taking too long so I brought them home and finished them this evening. I have done enough to last all year.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 11, 2021 21:05:56 GMT
My daily Bible reading was Ecclesiastes chapter three which says "There is a time for everything. A time to plant and a time to harvest". Nowhere is this more true than in gardening. I say "There is a time to sow seeds and a time to take cuttings " I sowed my first seeds last week and today I went in the greenhouse and took the first 130 chrysanth cuttings. I then washed the rest of my pots. I'm glad they are all done. When washing pots at the kitchen sink I like watching birds on the feeders. Apart from blackbirds, robins, blue tits, great tits , magpies and sparrows which we get every day, at this time of year we get nuthatches, long tailed tits, goldfinches and a woodpecker.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 11, 2021 21:15:11 GMT
Chrysanth cuttings taken today
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 12, 2021 20:32:49 GMT
I took 23 more chrysanth cuttings today, varieties I didn't take yesterday.One of my next jobs will be to box up the dahlia tubers . They go in five boxes and I washed them a few days ago. This afternoon I part filled them with compost ready for the tubers. Two of the boxes go on propagators in the house and one on a propagator which I have fixed up in the larger greenhouse. The other two go on one of my warming benches in the propagating greenhouse.The problem is that my three warming benches are all full of other things, the cuttings I have just taken but mainly eleven boxes of chrysanth stools. So, some of these boxes of stools will have to come off when I plant the dahlias. The other staging in this greenhouse is also full of plants many of which are fuchsias so I moved a lot of these into the other greenhouse to make room for the chrysanths.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 13, 2021 20:19:31 GMT
Raining all day today so I have been in the greenhouse boxing up my dahlia tubers. Not much room in my smaller greenhouse but I made room to work by putting some things temporarily in the shed. My other greenhouse is cluttered up with things that were in the shed that I have taken down. As I said yesterday the dahlias are in five boxes. Two are now in what I call my utility room next to the kitchen. There is a propagator on the windowsill and a warming mat on the bench. One is on a propagator in my larger greenhouse and I made room on one of the warming benches in the propagating greenhouse for the other two by removing some boxes of chrysanth stools. I have been waiting for Parkers catalogue to come to order my gladioli . It arrived today so I made out my order. I get sweet peas from Unwins but I hadn't had their catalogue. I phoned Unwins and got through to Marshalls. I did know that the two firms were connected. They said that they were not producing an Unwins catalogue and that Unwins sweet peas were in their catalogue. I had sent an order to Marshalls for my onion sets earlier so I made another order out for sweet peas. I will post it and my Parkers order tomorrow. Two boxes of dahlia tubers in my utility room
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 13, 2021 20:22:36 GMT
The other three boxes of dahlias , one of which is now in the other greenhouse and the other two on a warming bench.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 14, 2021 21:10:12 GMT
It did 1.35 inches of rain yesterday and overnight and it was still raining this morning and carried on till mid afternoon. Now that the chrysanth cuttings have been taken and the dahlias boxed up I had nothing particular to do in the greenhouse. I had a lot of typing to do so I decided to carry on with that. Last evening I finished another article for the National Vegetable Society magazine which needed typing up. It is over 1100 words and it takes me a long time to type all that with one finger and it took me nearly all morning. These articles are "Seasonal jobs" for each month telling people the jobs they should be doing. I have already sent them to the editor up to September. This one was for October so I still have November and December to write. I know that these last ones don't need doing so early but I want to get them done while I have time. When it gets to spring I don't have any time for writing.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 17, 2021 21:01:37 GMT
What has happened to the post I made yesterday? It has disappeared. Yesterday and today I have been doing the annual jobs on the lawns. Yesterday I scarified the back lawn and spiked about two thirds of it. I push the fork in about 6 inches deep and about 6 inches apart . Today I finished spiking it and brushed some sand all over it. This goes into the holes to assist the drainage so the back lawn is finished. I then scarified and forked the front lawn but didn't have time to put the sand on.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 18, 2021 16:44:39 GMT
It was raining a bit first thing but the garden centre opened today for the first time so I went and ordered my new shed. They told me to phone the shed manufacturers when I got home for a delivery date and they said it will be next Monday. It had stopped raining when I got home so I put the sand on the front lawn and brushed it in so both lawns are finished now.
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