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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 28, 2014 21:52:40 GMT
Been at Blackleach all day but didn't do any gardening. I am leaving that for Billy tomorrow. I told him last week that I just want him to carry on forking over the border alongside the visitor centre because I have got some plants ready to go in. If I do all the gardening myself it is difficult to find him something to do. He has learning difficulties so he can only do simple jobs. He can do weeding provided I tell him which are weeds and which are plants that I want.
This evening I have potted all the brassica plants from 3 inch pots into 5 inch. There were 18 sprouts (Brilliant), and 5 each of cauliflower (Cornell), Calabrese (Marathon ) and 3 varieties of cabbage(Brigadeer, Kilaxy, and primo). I pot them into bigger pots before planting because it helps to combat club root. The idea is that plants will be bigger at planting time and the roots have more compost to fill before they finally reach the soil. They had been in a frame but after potting I left them outside. I then sowed 5 more 3 inch pots of each of these varieties, except the sprouts. I sow them a few at a time like this to spread the cropping. You don't want 20 caulis or cabbages to be ready at the same time, do you ?
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 29, 2014 22:04:32 GMT
Went on the allotment this morning and finished emptying the compost bay that was ready to use. It has all gone on the two dahlia beds and the chrysanth beds and I raked it into the soil.
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Post by derekbrooks on Apr 30, 2014 22:27:22 GMT
Went to my son's this morning and weeded his garden. It took me all morning because it was full of bittercress as usual.
On the allotment this afternoon I have planted the onion sets. They had been planted in drinking cups a month or so ago and were all growing.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 1, 2014 21:05:39 GMT
This afternoon I went to my local garden centre and got 6 basket plants, 2 surfinias, 2 calibracoas and 2 diascias. When I got home I took 60 odd cuttings off them. Also took some more cuttings from my own over wintered basket plants.
Potted 20odd tomato plants that were still in drinking cups into 4 inch pots. Sowed some more antirrhinums and stocks.
Finished potting all the rooted dahlia cuttings.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 2, 2014 21:29:56 GMT
Had the morning on the allotment. At the end of the front herbaceous border is a large patch of Golden Rod. You can see it on the picture I showed you a week or so ago. It is getting too big and spreading along the border so I dug a lot of it up and took it home and put it in the bin. I do like it but I don't want it spreading any more. I use it a lot in my mixed vases of flowers at shows.
I then hoed and raked the ground where the sweet peas and runner beans are going. Then got all the long canes out of the shed and sorted them out. I need 72, 8 foot canes and there were only 43 so I will have to get some more from the hut tomorrow. I fixed up those that I have , 9 inches apart in two rows. I grow sweet peas and runner beans up the same structure of canes. The runner beans will not be planted for a few weeks yet but the sweet peas are ready to be planted.
This evening I have finished all the pricking out that is ready for doing. I have done the "love lies bleeding" and some more calendulas and rudbeckias.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 4, 2014 21:18:24 GMT
Had the afternoon and evening in the garden. This afternoon I weeded the back rose beds and Rosemary hoed them. Also weeded the terrace. I then put all my tomato plants under the carport and sorted them out. Three people have asked me for some so I sorted these out and decided which I wanted myself. I also provide 24 plants for the children at school to grow in the polytunnel. I have no room to grow any in my greenhouses at home but I grow 8 plants for myself in the school polytunnel and 6 in a polytunnel on the allotment on someone else's plot (the same one where I grow carnations).
This evening I have washed all the buckets that we grow tomatoes in at school and the pots for my own plants. I wash large pots like this in my wheelbarrow filled with water under the car port.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 5, 2014 20:47:31 GMT
No gardening today because we have had a day out with our family, Martyn and Heather. We have been to Beaumaris (Anglesey). Heather and our youngest grandson met us there (our other grandson was working).It was a nice day and it was nice all being together.
Not much time for gardening tomorrow either, except for school in the afternoon. I am at Blackleach in the morning looking after Billy and it is the veg meeting at night. The veg meeting is a plant sale and when I got home this evening I just went in the greenhouse and sorted out 20 dahlias to take.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 6, 2014 21:41:36 GMT
All my dahlias sold at the veg plant sale and all I bought were 6 leeks .
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Post by derekbrooks on May 7, 2014 21:28:05 GMT
A full day and evenings gardening today. It started raining at 10.30 and has been showery the rest of the day. Before it started raining I put the bird table away for the summer as it is not needed any more and I needed the space where it was to put a frame. There was still food on the bird table left from yesterday which shows that there is enough natural food for them now so they don't need what we give them.
I then put all my dahlias under the car port and sorted them into varieties. I then potted all those that needed it into 5 inch pots and made a list of how many of each variety I have got in each size. I have potted 97 into 5 inch and there are 84 still in three and a half inch.I discarded some that I didn't think were any good. There are some varieties like Elma E and Don Hill that I have at least twice as many as I need but others that I am a bit short of. I have only one Kenora Challenger which I am disappointed about. I have a plant sale at church in June so any that I don't need will be going there. I have put all the dahlias in my frames.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 8, 2014 22:00:13 GMT
Another full day and evenings gardening today but it was very showery. So I worked outside then went in the greenhouse when it started raining. My main job was to empty and re-fill the frames because I wanted to get most of the bedding plants in. I managed to do most of it between showers. All the chrysanths were still in so taking these out and sorting them out was the first job. When putting them in the varieties had been put in order and those in 5 inch pots were in different frames from those still in 3 inch. When taking them out I put each variety in seperate boxes where possible.I use the large green trays that they use in supermarkets. Some of the more hardy bedding plants like alyssum, pansies and calendulas had been put in before so I took these out. In the greenhouse I potted the celery from 4 inch pots into 5 inch and put the first collars on the leeks, both those I bought at the veg meeting and the others . These and the celery went into one of the frames. I have , I think, 11 frames . Two are full of dahlias that I put in yesterday and I filled the other frames except two with tender bedding plants.
Another job I did in the greenhouse was to sow beetroot and kohl rabi in small peat pots. I do them this way because in the past I have found germination erratic when sown direct and apart from this the bed isn't ready for sowing.
I also sowed some more runner beans because somebody on the allotments wants some.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 9, 2014 20:56:05 GMT
Been at Blackleach all day and had a walk round the reservoir. We have got young coot, mallards, Canada geese and one cygnet up to now.
This evening I have bought two Begonia Rex from Morrisons and potted them into bigger pots when I got home.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 10, 2014 21:45:56 GMT
Another very showery day. I told you that I grow some tomato plants on the allotment in somebody else's polytunnel and some in the polytunnel at school (apart from those I give the children to grow ). I planted all these this afternoon. I potted 6 plants into 9 inch pots and put them in the car along with a bag of potting compost and 8 plants to take to school. When I got to the allotments I took the 6 plants in and put them in the polytunnel and got my wheelbarrow to wheel the compost and plants round to school. At school I grow the plants in bottomless pots on top of growbags. I had taken the growbags to school before and the bottomless pots were on the allotment in my shed so I threw these over the fence onto the school garden near the polytunnel. The plants I am growing at school are all "Shirley" but those on the allotment are a few different varieties. I put a 3foot cane in each pot and tied the plants to it. Longer canes will be put in later of course.
Went in the greenhouse for a bit this evening and put a split cane in all the Kelsae onion plants and tied the leaves loosely to it to keep them upright. The plants are still in drinking cups but they weren't pot bound so I didn't see any poimt in potting them into bigger pots because it is time they were being planted. So I put them in a frame to harden them off ready for planting.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 11, 2014 20:36:14 GMT
Didn't know whether to risk going on the allotment this afternoon because of the showers . She wanted some rhubarb for tomorrow and I had promised a neighbour some broccoli so I did go and it didn't rain very much until this evening when we had a downpour. Also I wanted to finish fixing up the structure of canes for the sweet peas and runner beans and I did manage to do it. I also brought home two lettuces and have given one to my neighbour with the broccoli.
When we went out to go to church this morning we noticed a parcel on the door step. We don't get a post on Sundays so it must have been there since yesterday and we hadn't seen it. It was 6 pepper plants that I had ordered from Thompson and Morgan. This evening I have potted them into 4 inch pots. A few weeks ago I sowed some lettuce in cell trays , a few seeds in each cell. They needed thinning out to one in each cell . I transferred those I took out to other cell trays.
I have not had much success with cuttings of surfinias this year and before they have rooted like weeds. I potted up what few that I had from cuttings taken in March. I just hope that those I have taken later will be more successful.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 12, 2014 20:48:07 GMT
Rained just a bit this morning but otherwise mainly dry. Only had this evening for gardening though. Filled the remaining two frames with bedding plants then sowed the remaining half packet of "show excelsior" stocks. Spent rest of the time getting the chrysanth beds ready for planting. Weeded them first. There weren't many weeds on the beds but the 3 paths between them were rather bad. Then put growmore on and raked it in. I now have to fix up the wires and canes before I can start planting.
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Post by derekbrooks on May 13, 2014 21:27:56 GMT
Only had this morning for gardening , except for school this afternoon. It was mainly dry-just a quick shower. Went on the allotment and planted the sweet peas. The ground had been prepared and the canes put up before. There are 52 plants in 7 varieties. Did some more weeding on the path between the allotments.
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