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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 22, 2023 20:47:11 GMT
It rained most of the morning, not hard ,but too wet to work outside so I had another morning in. It dried up this afternoon so I went out for a bit and pulled up the rest of the plants from the border round the back lawn.I then dug up the dahlias from the row along the fence and prepared the tubers for storage. I still have those on the main bed to do and those on the allotment.Dahlia growers have their own way of storing tubers but this is how I do it. I cut the stems down to about two inches, scrape most of the soil off the tubers with a screwdriver then knock the screwdriver down the hollow stem and out at the bottom.This gets rid of any water trapped in the stem and helps them to drain. I tie the labels onto the tubers with strong string right round the tubers and not just round the stem because the stems shrink as they dry and the label would come off. I stand the tubers upside down in boxes to drain and put them under the greenhouse staging.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 23, 2023 20:43:43 GMT
A dull day but it remained fine till this evening but very windy .I had to leave Rosemary on her own all morning while I went to Blackleach to do the walk.Martyn normally comes on Thursdays to look after her but he is away.Her hairdresser comes on Thursdays but she is away too.I normally stay at Blackleach till 3.00 but I came home at 12.00 for lunch.I had to go back at 1.00 to open the visitor centre for the art club then came home. Went back at 3.00 to lock up when the art club had gone. After our lunch we could have gone a walk but the weather didn't look promising so we didn't risk it. I could have gone out and done some jobs but because she had been on her own all morning I felt that I should stay in and keep her company so we did some crosswords.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 24, 2023 20:07:32 GMT
Nice and sunny today but rather cold. This morning I took another 5 sacks of plants from the garden to the allotment and put them on the compost.I then started digging up the dahlias but didn't have time to do many.May be able to finish them tomorrow.I took Rosemary a walk in her wheelchair this afternoon.Heather has just arrived 20 minutes ago for the weekend. It will give me more freedom .She will probably take Rosemary somewhere tomorrow.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 25, 2023 18:51:05 GMT
This morning we had the first frost this winter. Because Heather is here I was able to go to the allotment this morning and afternoon.I thought it may be too frosty to dig up the dahlias but it wasn't too bad so I was able to get them all done .I have also been doing some repairs on my shed.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 26, 2023 20:16:19 GMT
Frosty again this morning but O.K.this afternoon.I dug up all the dahlias from the main bed and put the tubers away in boxes in the greenhouse .Just managed to do them all before it went dark. So,they are all done now both at home and from the allotment.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 27, 2023 20:16:40 GMT
It rained all morning, hard at times.It did dry up this afternoon but the ground was far too wet to do any digging or weeding.Last time I went to school I brought the pots home in which we had grown tomatoes.This afternoon I washed them all,28 altogether,in the wheelbarrow under the carport.This is the only gardening job I have done today.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 28, 2023 20:29:21 GMT
Dry today but cold . Now that all the plants have been removed from the border round the back lawn I put the bird table in position. It goes on the border between the lawn and the path. Had to do some weeding there first.I knock a pole into the ground first then tie the bird table to it to stop it blowing over. I then finished forking over and weeding the border round the front lawn.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 29, 2023 20:14:02 GMT
The ground has been frozen all day so I couldn't carry on with my weeding so I stayed in this morning and carried on with my writing.I have told you before that I am writing "seasonal jobs" for the National Vegetable Society magazine telling people what to do each month. The magazine comes out quarterly so I send three months at a time to the editor.Yesterday I sent him the notes for April, May and June so today I have started them for July.
At 7.00 this evening I have been to a meeting at Blackleach but it didn't last long.
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Post by derekbrooks on Nov 30, 2023 21:17:32 GMT
The ground is still frozen. At 8.00 this morning I had a phone call from Jo Bennett, the lady who is in charge of all the wellbeing walks in the area ,telling me to cancel the walk at Blackleach this morning due to the icy conditions.She said that people could go for a walk themselves if they wished, but at their own risk but told me not to go with them.So I went to Blackleach just before 10.00 to tell the people who turned up what Jo had said.About 12 people turned up which is about half the usual number and some of them did go for a walk but I locked up and came home. I had to go back to Blackleach at 1.00 to open up for the art club then came home again ,but went back at 3.00 to lock up when they had gone. So I have just stayed in the rest of the time reading and writing ,doing crosswords with Rosemary and watching telly.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 1, 2023 19:54:27 GMT
Another day with no garden jobs done.There is nothing I can do outside this weather.I haven't even opened the greenhouse doors for 2 or 3 days.I had to go to the surgery this morning for a blood teast and a friend of ours came to see Rosemary this afternoon.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 2, 2023 21:15:47 GMT
This morning I took the tomato pots from school that I had washed back to school.This is the only garden related job I have been able to do today. I did the bird count at Blackleach this afternoon with Janet
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 3, 2023 19:04:11 GMT
Another day with no gardening. There was a scattering of snow on the ground this morning.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 4, 2023 21:59:56 GMT
It is milder today and the snow has gone.It rained a bit this evening. An important job I do in December every year is to clean my propagating greenhouse and get it ready for next season. The first job is to completely empty it by transfering all the plants to my other greenhouse and that is what I have done today. I had to make room in the other greenhouse first by getting rid of plants that I no longer want and putting the other plants closer together on the shelves. I didn't do this job during the last few days when it was frosty because I couldn't leave both doors open like I have done today. I did a bit of tidying up of the plants while I was transfering them.Both greenhouses have been heated the last few weeks but now that the propagating greenhouse is empty I switched the power off it.Both greenhouses are on seperate switches in my shed. I don't intend switching the power on this greenhouse till next February when I start sowing seeds and taking cuttings.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 5, 2023 21:10:46 GMT
Didn't have time to do any gardening jobs this morning because two occupational therapists came to see Rosemary .I have told you before about a lady called Cindy who comes on Tuesday afternoon to take Rosemary a ride which gives me a bit of freedom.So I went to the allotment this afternoon. I don't think I have told you that I have been doing some repairs to my shed on the allotment and I wanted to get it finished today and I am glad that I managed to do so.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 6, 2023 21:40:03 GMT
After two milder days the ground is frozen again this morning. I therefore carried on tidying my propagating greenhouse.There is no particular urgency for this because I won't be using this greenhouse till next year but I did it because there was nothing I could do outside because of the frozen ground. In summer there are trays on the staging containing grit on which the plants stand which creates a moist atmosphere .I removed the grit and put it in sacks and put the trays outside.I usually take the grit to our supply hut and spread it on the car park because it gets muddy sometimes. I removed the warming cables from the heated benches and removed some of the sand.I put all the sheets of glass that I put over seed trays outside.
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