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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 28, 2021 21:27:57 GMT
Wood pigeon in my chrysanth frame
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 28, 2021 21:29:50 GMT
Another picture of the wood pigeon
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 29, 2021 21:07:58 GMT
This morning I put the sweet peas in a frame to make more room in the greenhouse. I also transferred 16 sunflowers from cell trays into 4 inch pots and put these in a frame. We went to Blackleach this afternoon and when we got home I did some weeding on the dahlia bed. There were a lot of seedlings from the hawthorn hedge which runs along the bottom of the garden.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 30, 2021 21:21:57 GMT
Went to the allotment after going shopping this morning and again after a walk this afternoon . Spent most of the time weeding but I sowed some radishes on the runner bean/sweet pea bed between where the rows will be. The weeds are only small but I want to get them out before they grow any bigger.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 1, 2021 21:47:51 GMT
A few days ago, Gina , who I run the garden club at school with, phoned my to say that we couldn't have a garden club till after the next holiday .This probably means that it won't be till June. Apart from the tender veg, all other things should have been sown and planted by now and it is time to sow these so I will have to do them myself. So, after a walk this afternoon I went to school and took 2 bags of compost and some growbags which I got from the hut this morning for the tomatoes. I planted the potatoes which had been chitting in my greenhouse since February. I then planted the onion sets. These had also been in my greenhouse growing in pots. I also sowed some long carrots in the tubes.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 2, 2021 20:00:54 GMT
We had an afternoon out with Martyn, our son, today. He took us to Haigh Hall and gardens near Wigan and it managed to stay fine. I had a bit of time this morning and when we got home this afternoon in the greenhouse. I sowed some more runner beans, courgettes and sweet corn. When telling you about dahlia tubers earlier in the year I said that those on the propagator in the house were growing quicker than those in the greenhouse because they were a higher temperature and I kept swapping the boxes over. The same thing is happening with these tender veg that I have been sowing. The runner beans that were in the house were growing well so I took them off the propagator and just left them on a greenhouse shelf .So I put some of the boxes from the warming benches in the greenhouse that weren't growing onto the propagator in the kitchen and there was room on the benches for those I have sown today.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 3, 2021 21:06:37 GMT
It was drizzly till mid morning but it rained harder the rest of the day and very hard at times this evening. So I have been in the greenhouse most of the day. I sowed some more lettuce in cell trays and more climbing French beans and sweet corn in pots. These are mostly to grow at school. I also pricked out the remaining stocks and some nicotiana "domino" and took some more cuttings of basket plants.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 4, 2021 21:05:09 GMT
A day of heavy showers. After shopping this morning I went in the greenhouse and took some more cuttings from the basket plants. I went to school this afternoon to work in the polytunnel. I put all the pots for tomatoes in position. There are 26 and they stand in two rows down the centre on trays. I filled most of them with compost but hadn't enough for them all. Apart from these I grow 8 plants in there for my own use. They are planted in bottomless pots stood on growbags, two on each and I filled these with compost. There are some seeds there which were for the children to sow but I brought some of them home to sow myself and I sowed 30 3 inch pots with "Greenshaft" peas this evening.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 4, 2021 21:16:52 GMT
This is a picture taken a few years ago to show you how I grow tomatoes at school with bottomless pots on top of growbags. You can also see some of the pots that the children plant
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Post by derekbrooks on May 5, 2021 20:22:08 GMT
One of the next things I will be planting are the chrysanths. They are not as tender as dahlias or the tender veg which can't be planted till there is no risk of frost so they can be planted earlier and I normally do them about the middle of May. I grow spray chrysanths on the allotment and the disbud varieties at home. I went to the allotment this morning and put fish, blood and bone on the chrysanth bed and raked it in. I had weeded the bed before. I then fixed all the canes in position 15 inches apart in three rows and there are 55 altogether. This afternoon I did the same with the chrysanth beds at home. The difference at home is that the canes are supported by straining wires and attached to the wires with "V clips". So I had to fix the wires up first. They are tied along the fence when not in use so I had to untie them and fasten them to T posts at the end of each row. I probably won't put the plants in for a week or so but both beds are ready for planting. I have also mowed the lawns.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 6, 2021 20:37:13 GMT
You know that I am a health walk leader at Blackleach Country Park . I have told you about it before but due to the you know what, there have not been any walks for over a year. However, we started again this morning. It had not been advertised but people found out about it and 22 turned up. The lady who organises all these walks in Salford, Jo Bennett, came . She went through the safety procedures with us and some new rules. Only 30 people are allowed on each walk so if more turn up which they normally do we have to split up into two walks. She gave me some new forms that people have to fill in and new registers. The name has changed to "Wellbeing walks". We can't go into the visitor centre for a drink and a chat after which people like doing but hope we will be able to do so soon. The weather was fine for the walk this morning but the rest of the day has been showery. Me and Rosemary started off for a walk this afternoon but it started raining so we turned back. The rest of the day I have been in the greenhouse during showers and outside in between them. I sowed some more of the seeds I got from school, cabbage, cauliflowers and salad leaves and some sunflowers that came in the Garden News this morning. I also potted up some rooted cuttings of bacopa and calibracoas. I removed the hardy bedding plants from the frames and put some half hardy ones in.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 7, 2021 21:47:08 GMT
We went shopping first this morning. It was fine this morning but we had a heavy shower early afternoon so we didn't risk going a walk this afternoon after getting caught in a shower yesterday. So I have been in the greenhouse the rest of the morning and all afternoon. 18 plug plants of trailing verbenas came from Suttons. I potted them into 3 inch square pots. Spent the rest of the time potting dahlias from three and a half inch pots into bigger pots. Did 88 altogether and I have only room to 76 plants so I will have to decide which to plant when the time comes in a few weeks.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 8, 2021 20:22:45 GMT
It rained all morning while I was at the hut but it dried up this afternoon. Went to school this afternoon to plant the tomatoes in the polytunnel .This, of course has given me more room in my greenhouse. I took a bag of potting compost from the hut . I had put a bag of it in the pots before and when I had put this one in I was still a bit short so I will have to go again with some more compost. Anyway, I had 34 tomatoes to plant and I planted them all except 5.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 9, 2021 20:59:26 GMT
This morning we have been to church for the first time for over a year. Our circuit ministers have been doing services for us on U tube which we have enjoyed watching every week but it is not the same as going to church. It was dry this afternoon so we went for a walk .I then went to school with another bag of compost and finished planting the tomatoes. I then replaced the small cane in each plant with a 2 foot cane. When I came home and again for a bit this evening I went in the greenhouse and potted some more rooted surfinia cuttings into small pots.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 10, 2021 21:37:00 GMT
A full day in the garden. We had a heavy shower early afternoon so we didn't risk going a walk. It didn't last long though so we could have gone. I removed all the chrysanths from the frames and sorted them into varieties and decided which I am growing. I told you that the wood pigeon had destroyed several of them but I managed to find enough decent ones, 90 for home and 54 sprays for the allotment. I put them all in boxes till I am ready to plant them. I have a pile of large boxes behind the greenhouse that I use for jobs like this. I took one box from the top and filled it with chrysanths then lifted the next box off the pile but guess what I found in the third box, a robin's nest with 5 eggs! .I made a robin nest box two years ago and fixed it to the shed but it has not been used . They would rather go in box that I wanted to use to put plants in. Anyway, I managed to find some trays to put them in. I now had 4 empty frames so I put in the dahlias that I had potted into larger pots on Friday and some trays of annuals that were on the floor in the larger greenhouse and also some runner beans. There were still some trays of annuals under the greenhouse staging so I put these in the other greenhouse where the others had been. I also pricked out another two trays of antirrhinum "Mme butterfly" which I think will be the last pricking out. My robin's nest in a box behind my greenhouse
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