Dereks Diary Part 2

We went shopping this morning. My half load of manure was delivered on the allotment at 1.00. Spent the rest of the afternoon barrowing it onto the allotment beds. Did 24 barrows, 6 each on three of the veg beds( the potato bed, the brassica bed and the "others" bed, 5 on the dahlia bed and one on the gladioli bed. Will hopefully carry on shifting it tomorrow.

Hi Libralady. Yes I make drainage holes in the margerine tubs. I just cut the corners off with scissors and for seeds I use Clover multipurpose compost that we sell at our hut . When you come to our hut in Harriet Street, please introduce yourself to me.
What I call "the hut" it is the supply hut of Worsley Horticultural Society. It opened again this morning after the winter break .I will be going every Saturday morning except next Saturday. I have to take Rosemary to hospital then for a covid test before her operation the following Tuesday. We have had to put many prices up at the hut . Some of the fertilisers and particularly the canes have increased quite a lot but they will still be cheaper than at garden centres. The price list is on my computer and I will be making the changes then print a new list. When I have made the new list, someone does the photocopying.
I got my potatoes from the hut this morning, 3 kilos each of Casablanca and kestrel and 2 kilos of Charlotte and some Casablanca for school. I stood them all in trays this afternoon and put them on a greenhouse shelf to "chit".
It has rained all day today so I wasn't able to carry on with me manure shovelling. I sorted some more canes I brought from the allotment then washed some more pots in my barrow under the car port.

Hi again, libralady. We just open Saturdays this month then Sundays as well from March. I don't go on Sundays because I go to church so please come on a Saturday. I didn't know you lived locally. I have just made a new price list

Hi libralady
I have finished updating our horticultural society price list and I intended putting it on this forum then everyone could see it . I have just been trying but I can't do it. I clicked on "add image to post", then I found my documents but it only gives me a few of them and not the one I wanted. Anyway if you will please give me your email address I will email it to you.
Another bad day today. It didn't rain all day like yesterday but we had very heavy showers and it was VERY windy so it wasn't worth risking going anywhere. So I have been in my greenhouse this afternoon. My begonias, gloxinias and achimenes from last summer have been still in their pots under the greenhouse staging over winter. I got them all out and took them out of their pots . I planted the begonias and gloxinias in full seed trays and the achimenes tubercles in a half tray and put them in my propagator to start them into growth again.

Thank you Derek, received ok. Just looking through it to see what I need.

I have still more manure to shift on the allotment , then I have to fork it all in .I also have to bring some more home and take some to school. All this will take a few weeks but I can't let all other jobs wait till this is finished . So today I decided to give my lawns their annual treatment. This morning I raked the back lawn then forked it all over. I push the fork in to about half its depth about every 6 inches and waggle it about to make the hole wider.
I then brush sand all over the lawn which goes into the holes to help the drainage. I didn't have time to do this today though.
This afternoon we went shopping and then I raked and forked the front lawn which is only half the size of the back. So, probably tomorrow, I will brush sand over both lawns. Every year, in winter, I put fresh sand on my warming benches in the greenhouse and the sand that I remove is what I use for the lawns.

When I got home from Blackleach about 3.30 I went in the greenhouse and took another 36 chrysanth cuttings.