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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 17, 2014 22:01:59 GMT
Can't remember if I have ever shown you pictures of my whole allotment . as you can see it is divided into two halves by a path so this is the left hand side. In the foreground is the herbaceous border that I have been weeding this afternoon. I hope you can see the other beds divided by canes. behing the herbaceous border is the spray chrysanth bed then the main dahlia bed, then three annual beds then the runner bean/sweet pea bed, then a row of floribunda roses, then the other herbaceous border.
It's a pity that this has come on a different page than the picture
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 17, 2014 22:07:08 GMT
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 17, 2014 22:19:01 GMT
This is the other half. At the front where you can see all the grass is the main path between the allotments . Along the front of my allotment is the onion bed. Behind this you should be able to see the four veg beds that I rotate. They are marked out with canes. In the top right hand one of these beds you can see some sprouting broccoli .Going up the right hand side is the shed ,in front of which is the rhubarb.You can see the two drums in which I grow long carrots and the tubs and buckets in which I grow potatoes. To the left of the shed is the gladioli bed, behind which there are two more annual beds then a narrow bed where I grow more dahlias, then a row of H.T.roses.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 18, 2014 21:26:32 GMT
Done a lot of walking this morning and was tired when I got home at 1.30.so didn't feel like digging on the allotment even though it was a nice day. After I had had a rest I did what Moses does ( Moses lawn )then went in the greenhouse.. Sowed some show stocks then sowed the zinnias. Because these don't like root disturbance I sow them in inverted bottomless drinking cups on trays with a layer of potting compost in them. I then potted 20odd tomatoes from yoghurt pots into 4 inch pots
Pricked out the rest of the brachycome this evening. There is not much pricking out to do at present as the bulk of it has been done. There are just a few types that are not ready yet.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 18, 2014 21:35:37 GMT
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 18, 2014 21:41:52 GMT
This is a picture taken a few years ago. I have put it on again to show you how I grow zinnias in inverted bottomless pots. When planting the pot is just lifted up over the plant.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 19, 2014 21:47:08 GMT
Had an evening in the greenhouse . This is the only gardening time I have had today. She wanted to go a ride this afternoon (I have to keep her happy, don't I ?),and you know where I go on Saturday mornings don't you ?
I finished potting the tomato plants that were ready into 4 inch pots then potted 20 odd more dahlias and also some begonias from trays into 4 inch pots.
I then sowed 46 runner beans into 4 inch pots. Put 28 on a propagator in the kitchen and the rest on propagators in the greenhouse.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 20, 2014 20:01:10 GMT
Went on the allotment this afternoon and did some more weeding on the herbaceous border.
In the greenhouse this evening I have done some tidying up of the pot plants .Stopped a lot of fuchsias and pelargoniums to make them form bushy plants.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 21, 2014 21:50:26 GMT
Went on the allotment again this morning. I still have some weeding to do but I decided to plant the shallots. There were 21 and they were in 5 inch pots. I planted them 15 inches apart and they went right along the front of the onion bed. The bed had been weeded before and I had put growmore on a week or so ago so I only needed to hoe it and rake it level.
When I have pricked out seedlings or potted on rooted cuttings , the seed/cutting compost left in the trays I use to grow carrots. It doesn't need sieving so I just rub it between my hands to break it up then mix in some Q4 .This evening I made 2 batches -34 gallons altogether and filled some of my containers.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 22, 2014 21:09:56 GMT
Not much gardening time today , just a bit after school and this evening. I planted potatoes in six bags in the compost I made a week or so ago. I potted the celery from drinking cups into 4 inch pots . They were on a warming bench but now that they have been potted on there is no room for them there now. I am always short of room I want to sow the other tender vegetables as soon as possible but I can't till I have made some room.
I still need some more compost for growing carrots . I still have the tubes made from builders damp proof to fill and some more containers. I have no more seed compost that I can use yet so I decided to sieve a bag of Sinclairs potting compost. I did intend mixing some sand with it but it will only make more work and I am busy enough so I will probably use it as it is.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 23, 2014 21:00:19 GMT
I have planted all the potatoes on the allotment today. There are 8 rows of 11 tubers, 2 rows of Winston, 2 of Kestrel and 2 of Maxine then 2 mixed roes with what I had left .I put some lawn mowings in the trenches which helps to combat scab. Also planted potatoes in the buckets and tubs. Managed to stay fine while I did them but it rained this evening.
I have also made up the tubes of builders damp proof material for long carrots and put the sieved potting compost in them but I hadn't enough to fill them all.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 24, 2014 21:27:15 GMT
Had a morning on the allotment. Sowed a row of swedes and some radishes. Planted some Verbena bonariensis on the two herbaceous borders. Got them from Dobies as I usually do as plugs and have grown them on till they were big enough to plant out. There were 18 altogether and I have planted 9 on the allotment.I am planting the rest at Blackleach country park because they are good plants for wildlife. They will have to wait until Billy (my helper) has forked over the border which I have asked him to do next Tuesday. He goes every Tuesday. I only go every other Tuesday and I won't be there next week but he will carry on with it . There is a large patch of poached egg plants (Limnanthes douglasii )on one of the allotments and the person gave me several plants . This is another good plant for wildlife . I am at Blackleach all day tomorrow so I am going to plant them there (weather permitting).
This afternoon I sieved another bag of compost for carrots and finished filling the tubes I started yesterday. On the allotment there are 2 large drums containing old compost in which I grow carrots (you can see them on the picture I showed you last week). I make bore holes in this compost and fill them with fresh compost so I took the rest of the potting compost I had just sieved and made and filled the bore holes. When I got home I sowed carrot seeds in the tubes and also some other containers and I will sow the boreholes on the allotment next time I go.
This evening I have taken some more surfinia cuttings and also some of trailing verbenas.
About an hour ago ,Heather, our daughter from Wales arrived to stay the weekend.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 25, 2014 21:49:21 GMT
As I mentioned yesterday I have been at Blackleach all day. The forecast was for rain later so I carried on with my outside jobs first and didn't go in the visitor centre till 11.30.I even missed my 10 o'clock brew as I wanted to get the jobs done before it rained. I planted the poached egg plants that I was given yesterday. Had to do some weeding first because I didn't want them on the same part of the border that I had asked Billy to do next week. I then cut a large branch off a tree that was overhanging the border.
I then got the nursery beds ready for sowing my wild flower seeds. Forked them over and hoed and raked them removing a few weeds and stones. I was ready for a rest then so I went in. It didn't start raining till 1.30.and it didn't do much. By about 3.30 it was fine again so I went out and sowed the wild flower seeds. There were 6 packets altogether.
It has rained hard this evening so I have been in the greenhouse. I sowed the rest of the tender veg in pots--sweet corn, marrows, courgettes, climbing French beans, butternut squash (I have never grown these before)and fennel. It was a job to find room for then=m all on the propagators . I fixed up the warming mat again in the kitchen to put some of them on. I had originally used it for my dahlia tubers then put it away. Some of the runner beans were growing so I took these off to make room for other things.
I am going to Blackleach again in the morning to lead a bird walk as I do every year so I can't go to the hut as I normally do on Saturdays. The forecast isn't good so I just hope it keeps fine while we do it and we get a good turn out. Heather is coming on it with us and my sister from Bolton is supposed to be coming with her daughter.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 26, 2014 21:12:15 GMT
I mentioned yesterday that the weather forecast was bad for the bird walk at Blackleach today and I was afraid that nobody would turn up if it was a wet day. However, they got it wrong and it has been a nice day and about 24 people came and we had a lovely walk and saw and heard most of the birds which I was hoping for and we all went in the visitor centre for a drink after.it didn't rain till this evening and it didn't do much then. I have probably told you before that Rosemary and me walk round the park every two weeks and write down all the wild flowers and birds that we see. It is our weekend for doing this but we couldn't do it this morning with all those people there so I have been there again this afternoon on my own and walked all round and wrote everything down. When leading a group of people we can't walk as far as we normally do every two weeks when we are on our own.
I was back home for 3.15 so I went in the greenhouse. I potted up another 30odd rooted dahlia cuttings . All those taken up to the end of March are now potted. To make room for them on the staging I potted some sunflowers from 3 inch pots into 5 inch and put them all in a frame. I also made a bit more carrot compost and filled 2 buckets with it. I then sowed these and the ones I filled before with the variety "flyaway" .On the way up to Blackleach I just called at the allotment on sowed the bore holes in the drums with "new red intermediate" I have also sowed some more parsley in cell trays.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 27, 2014 20:56:53 GMT
Our daughter, Heather went home this afternoon back to Wales. She couldn't stay any longer because she has got to work this evening. She is a carer looking after old people. When she had gone I went on the allotment. I began emptying the compost bay which is a year old and well rotted. I barrowed some onto the chrysanth and dahlia beds . Only had time to do half of it.
Went in the greenhouse a bit this evening. Sowed "show perfection" peas in drinking cups and put them in a frame. I use a lot of drinking cups for various jobs and there are several different kinds depending where I got them from. I use the tallest ones for peas and sweet peas. I haven't done any pricking out for a while but this evening I have done some Nicotiana domino. This one only grows about a foot tall and I use it a lot for planting in tubs.
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