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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 6, 2024 19:39:31 GMT
It is not raining now but it has rained most of the day and hard for a time this morning.I have been in the greenhouse most of the day sorting out the dahlia tubers. I sorted them into their varieties on the greenhouse floor then tidied them up by removing the straggly roots.I tied the labels onto the stems then they are visible.I got the boxes ready and half filled them with compost and started putting in the tubers but didn't have time to finish them.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 7, 2024 19:57:34 GMT
It has been dry today but I have been in the greenhouses most of the day.I finished boxing up the dahlia tubers.They are in five boxes.I have a propagator and a warming mat in my utility room in the house so I put two boxes on there.Put one box on a propagatoer in the larger greenhouse and I switced the power on the third warming bench in the propagating greenhouse and put the other two on there .I then took the first 86 chrysanth cuttings.
There was room for these on the warming bench I have just switched on with the dahlia tubers. They were all disbud varieties,not sprays.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 8, 2024 19:13:11 GMT
Jo Bennett who is the organiser of all the wellbeing walks in Salford sent an email round yesterday telling us to cancel all the walks today because of the snow that was forecast. We haven't had any snow, though.It has rained all day but there was some sleet mixed with it this afternoon. We could, therefore,have done a walk without any risk of danger but I thought I had better obey her instructions so I went to Blackleach to tell about 12 people who turned up the news. I had to go back to Blackleach this afternoon till 3.30 for the art club. When I got home this morning I went in the greenhouse and took 40 spray chrysanth cuttings  The first chrysanth cuttings taken yesterday |
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 9, 2024 19:46:50 GMT
Today I have sown the first ten packets of seeds,4 varieties of lobelia,2 bedding and 2 trailing, Petunia "carpet", aster "Duchess", and 4 perennials some of which I hope will flower this year,echinacea, rudbeckia "Goldsturm", penstemon "Esprit",and achillea "Summer berries". Before I started,I washed all the pieces of glass that go on top of the trays.They are all in my large propagator.The rays are stood on top of each other to save room.They can,of course,only stay like this till the seeds germinate when they will have to be taken out .After three or four days I will have to look at them every day to see if they have germinated.
We did think of going a walk this afternoon.I put the wheelchair in the car and got in.It then started drizzling a bit so we decided not to risk going. So I went back in the greenhouse and carried on sowing the seeds. It's a good job we didn't go because it started raining harder about 2.15.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 10, 2024 19:42:07 GMT
Went to the hut at 10.30. Several prices have increased this year ,particularly fertilisers .We went through the price list making the necessary alterations. The price list is on my computer so this evening I am going to make the alterations and do a print out and take it to the hut next Saturday.Someone else photocopies all the sheets to give to members.
We went for a walk this afternoon and then I went in the greenhouse and sowed some more seeds,4 packets of flowers,Salvia "Mojave", Helenium "Red gold", Aster "Lazy daisy" and Rudbeckia fulgida ,and three varieties of tomatoes, Alicante, Shirley and Sungold.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 11, 2024 19:46:58 GMT
Went to the allotment this afternoon.I told you before about putting my weed surpressing mat over two beds that I had weeded to prevent weeds coming back. I had never used one of these mats before.the man on the allotments who sugested to me that I got this mat uses them regularly and he told me where to get one from. He told me a few days ago that it would be better if I put it somewhere where I had not weeded to kill the weeds so I decided to take his advice.I put it on some beds at the bottom of the allotment that I didn't cultivate at all last year. I did some more weeding after on the bed I was doing last time I went.Brought 4 bags of weeds home and put them in the re-cycling bin.Also brought some sprouts home which we have had for our tea at Martyn's house.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 12, 2024 20:05:26 GMT
Took Rosemary a walk at Blackleach this afternoon.This morning and the rest of the afternoon I have been boxing up my begonia corms and achimenes tubercles to start them into growth.They were all left over winter in the pots in which they grew last year.I emptied the begonia pots
and boxed the corms up in fresh compost.Depending on the size of the corms they either went into seed trays,two in ice cream boxes or if they were too big they went into 5 or 6 inch pots.The achimenes tubercles went into margerine tubs 9 or 10 in each.They all went either in my large propagator ,on other proapagators or on a warming bench,wherever there was room.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 13, 2024 18:49:30 GMT
Been in the greenhouse most of the day re-potting my pot plants in 5 inch pots and over.I knock the plants out of their pots,remove some of the compost and put them back in the pots with fresh compost.Most plants go back into the same pots but if I think the root ball is too small I put them in a smaller pot. Only had time to do about half of them.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 14, 2024 20:32:44 GMT
It rained most of the morning but not hard and dried up this afternoon.Been in the greenhouse most of the day re-potting my pot plants and managed to get them finished.Discarded several that were no longer any good.Most plants were in the larger greenhouse so I transfered some to the propagating greenhouse.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 15, 2024 19:11:03 GMT
It was dry for our walk at Blackleach this morning but it has rained this afternoon.Not ha time to do any gardening jobs today except that when I got home this afternoon I just went to the greenhouse to see if any seeds in the propagator were germinating.The tomatoes had just started.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 16, 2024 19:28:56 GMT
It was raining this afternoon,not hard but I couldn't do anything outside so I decided to wash some more pots. It dried up this afternoon but I decided to carry on washing pots.I wanted to finish doing all the square ones then I could put them all away together. When re-potting my pot plants I discarded quite a lot which were no longer any good so when I had finished washing the pots I emptied all those pots of plants I had discarded.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 17, 2024 20:33:28 GMT
Forgot to mention yesterday that Heather arrived again for the weekend which gives me more freedom. I was able to go to the hut this morning at normal time,10.00. I went late last week then I could make Rosemary a drink .The potatoes had arrived at the hut so I got 3 kilos each of Cassablanca and Kestrel and 2 kiols of Charlotte which I grow in bags and tubs and 3 kilos of Casablanca for school..I took the new price list that I had made.
This afternoon I went to Blackleach with Janet to do the bird count.Went to the allotment after. I picked some sprouts then carried on with the weeading. I only had about 45 minutes because it started pouring down. I just sat in the car for a while listening to the radio and having my flask of coffee then came home. Went in the greenhouse after and stood the potatoes in trays to chit and put them on a shelf.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 18, 2024 19:25:53 GMT
We have been to R.H.S.Bridgewater this afternoon with Martyn.Not been for a while and I think we should go more often because it is only three and a half miles from where we live. Martyn and Heather wheeled Rosemary round the gardens in her wheelchair.We have been out for a meal this evening which we often do when Heather is here.Heather went back home to Porthmadog after. She will phone me when she gets home.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 19, 2024 21:29:17 GMT
Couldn't go anywhere this morning because we had to stay in waiting for a mental health doctor to come and see Rosemary and she stayed over an hour.I just had time to go and look at my seeds in the propagator .Not many have germinated yet but the tomatoes all have so I took them out of the propagator. We went for a walk this afternoon.Went in the larger greenhouse after and shifted the plants about to empty each side in turn and cleaned the floor.This evening I have been to a meeting on the allotments that lasted an hour and a half.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 20, 2024 19:04:04 GMT
It didn't rain yesterday and it was dry this morning so I went to the allotment to do some more weeding.I carried on weeding the bed which I have been doing the last few times I have been and nearly finished it. I went back this afternoon to finish it but as soon as I arrived it started raining so I came straight home and went in the greenhouse and took 50 chrysanth cuttings.
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