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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 13, 2014 20:56:40 GMT
It has been very cold and frosty all day today. The ground is frozen so I couldn't do any digging or weeding. I still have some plants to transfer from one greenhouse to the other. For this , of course, I need both doors wide open and I didn't think this was a good idea so the doors have been shut all day to keep the heat in. So I decided to wash my seed trays of which I have quite a lot, both half trays and full trays. I do these under the car port. I fill the wheelbarrow with hot water and put some washing -up liquid and armillatox in and use an old washing up brush. Didn't get time to do them all though. Can't do any more gardening jobs till Tuesday now.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 16, 2014 23:22:27 GMT
I said on Saturday that I couldn't do any more gardening jobs till today. I haven't had much time today either. This morning we have been to a concert at school. All my garden club children were in it, I think. I have just had part of this afternoon after shopping but I have washed the rest of my seed trays and also the tomato pots I brought from school. I can have a full day tomorrow, as I am not going anywhere but the weather forecast isn't very good.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 17, 2014 17:06:39 GMT
A drizzly morning -a bit too wet to work outside. So I decided to start washing all my plant pots , as I do every year. I have hundreds including drinking cups and yoghurt pots which I use a lot of. I wash them all in the kitchen and I like watching the birds on the feeders as I am doing it.
It dried up a bit this afternoon so I did some tidying up in the garden but then it started raining again so I went in the greenhouse and did some tidying up of the pot plants.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 18, 2014 22:51:40 GMT
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 18, 2014 23:13:12 GMT
This is my bird table. It has sheets of Perspex down the sides that I put on a few years ago. This is to stop squirrels climbing up the pole and onto the table. They can climb up the pole part way but can't get any further. However , twice recently we have seen a squirrel on the roof on top of the table. As you can see there is a rhododendron at the back and an apple tree further along . I think they must have climbed up the rhododendron and jumped onto the table from there. So this afternoon I moved it farther away from the rhododendron and also nearer to the lawn. Couldn't move it any farther along or it would be too near the apple tree . I drive a strong stake into the ground and tie the table to it to stop it blowing over.
It has been another showery day today so I had another pot washing session the rest of the afternoon.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 19, 2014 20:14:13 GMT
Another windy and showery day. When am I going to be able to do anything on my allotment?. Between showers this morning , did some more tidying up. I told you a few weeks ago about getting the fallen leaves from between one of my greenhouses and the fence. Today I cleared the leaves from the area behind the greenhouse where there is a high hawthorn hedge .When it was raining I went in the greenhouse and tidied up some more plants .
Washed some more pots this afternoon.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 20, 2014 22:41:01 GMT
Dry today but still windy . Only had about an hour and a half this afternoon but I decided to go to the allotment and start pruning the roses.(I had already done those at home). Didn't have time to do them all.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 22, 2014 22:37:36 GMT
It was dry this morning so I went to the allotment and finished pruning the H.T.roses. I still have the floribundas to do and some for a friend.
Rosemary needed the car in the afternoon and rain had been forecast and I didn't risk walking there this afternoon. I did some more tidying up round the greenhouses, collecting more leaves. It started raining at 2.30 so I went in and washed some more pots.
This evening I have done the pH tests on my soil samples. I used to do a full analysis on them but now I haven't got all the chemicals and I'm not sure if I can get them now .I use an electronic pH tester that I bought with the money they gave me at work when I retired.
The readings were
ALLOTMENT BEDS
Potatoes 6.6
Root crops 6.5
Brassicas 6.5
Other veg
apart from
onions and
runner beans 6.6
Onions 6.8
Runner beans
and sweet peas 7.0
Dahlias 7.1
Spray chrysanths 6.4
Gladioli 6.9
Annual beds 6.3
BEDS AT HOME
Chrysanths 6.5
Front border 5.9
Back border 6.8
The brassica bed could do with raising by one unit to about 7.5 and, the annual beds by half a unit. Can't understand why my front border is so low . This needs raising by one unit. On my soil 12 ounces of limestone per square yard raises the pH by about one unit. The only bed that needs manuring as well as liming is the brassica bed . I will have to put on the limestone at least a month before the manure.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 23, 2014 22:31:55 GMT
Been at Blackleach this morning. Our horticultural hut is on my way home from there so I called for two large bales of peat. I sieved them this afternoon ready for making my seed compost. I use 12 gallons of sieved peat, 4 gals of coarse sand and a Chempak seed base. I have enough peat here for two batches but I didn't have time to mix any.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 24, 2014 20:28:27 GMT
It has been mostly dry today apart from a brief shower this afternoon. Went to the allotment this morning and pruned the floribunda roses. Another reason for going was to get some sprouts for our Christmas dinner. I took the limestone to put on the brassica bed. When I set out it wasn't windy but it was when I got there so I didn't bother. The limestone would have finished up on somebody else's plot!!
This afternoon I have planted the shallots in three and a half inch pots and put them on a greenhouse shelf. They don't need any extra heat.
I have also potted the leeks from cell trays into 3 inch square pots. Put these on the kitchen windowsill. I emptied both water butts near the greenhouse to clean them out but it went dark before I could clean them. They are both covered but leaves still get in.
Christmas day is the only day that I never do any gardening. We go to church in the morning then Martyn, our son comes for his dinner then we open our present and play games and watch telly the rest of the time .We go to his house on Boxing day and he cooks a meal for us.I am having a rest tonight as well ,just reading and writing and watching telly .So, Happy Christmas to you all!
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 26, 2014 17:02:39 GMT
Back to doing jobs today after a day of rest. This morning I finished cleaning out my water butts and put them back in position. I then mixed the two batches of seed compost which I sieved the peat for on Tuesday. I need to sow the onions but I have to leave this compost a few days before I can use it . I have put some in the greenhouse to warm up.
There is no wind today so I went to the allotment this afternoon and put limestone on the brassica bed. Did some weeding after. I thought it would be too wet but it wasn't too bad.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 26, 2014 17:11:51 GMT
 Mixing seed compost. 12 gals sieved peat. 4 gals coarse sand and a Chempak seed base. |
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 28, 2014 21:34:16 GMT
Didn't do any gardening jobs at all yesterday. In the morning we had to do our supermarket shopping that we normally do Friday night. This was because Martyn our son was cooking a meal for us on Friday night. In the afternoon we went shopping at Bolton because Rosemary had some M&S tokens to spend that she got for Christmas. We only go to Bolton about twice a year even though it is only 4 miles away.
On Friday night while we were at Martyns we had a bit of snow, only about half an inch but it is still on the ground today and the ground is frozen. So I couldn't do any jobs outside and I hadn't anything particular to do in the greenhouse so all I could do this afternoon was wash some more pots.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 29, 2014 22:38:51 GMT
The ground is still covered with snow so I couldn't do anything outside. I just went to the allotment to get some swedes that she wanted. Went in the greenhouse after and sowed my Kelsae onions. Onion seed is large enough to sow individually so I spaced them about an inch apart and got 30 in a half tray, 5 rows of 6. Fixed up a small propagator in the greenhouse to put them on.
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Post by derekbrooks on Dec 30, 2014 22:44:00 GMT
No gardening today and no more till next Monday because we are going to Heathers (our daughter)'s at Porthmadog till Sunday. So as we usually do we have Christmas with Martyn, our son and New Year with our daughter. As usual I will keep in touch with the forum on my grandson's computer.
So a "Happy New Year" to you all when it comes and I hope everything grows well for you.
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