Dereks Diary Part 2

[derekbrooks]

Thank you,Balc2
This morning was dull and didn't look promising and I didn't know if I should risk going to the allotment but I did go and it didn't rain.I put the final blanching collars on the leeks .The weather brightened up this afternoon so we went a walk.I mowed the lawns after.

[derekbrooks]

A nice sunny day and I have been on the allotment this morning and afternoon and then this evening to water the communal containers which I do every day unless it has rained.I have been digging up the potatoes but the bed is full of weeds so I have been weeding the bed as I went along and filled five bags with them.I didn't have time to do the whole bed.I know they should have been done weeks ago but I have been weeding other beds where I have had plants ready for planting .

[derekbrooks]

Another nice day.Went on the allotment this morning and finished forking over and weeding the potato bed but didn't find any more potatoes.I told you before that all the potatoes I planted didn't grow.I will go over the bed again which I always do to see if I have missed any.
Our horticultural society is in a group scheme with Dobies and Suttons which I organise.We get 50% discount on seeds and 20% on other items like plants,bulbs and equipment. I get my seeds from both of these companies.The catalogues arrived last week so I am going to take some to the hut on Saturday and put them on the counter.I will also take some to the allotments and leave them in the toilet block.I tell all allotment holders that they should be members of the horticultural society to get the discount.I posted an order to Suttons yesterday for some plug plants for my winter bedding,polyanthus,primulas, bellis and winter pansies.Yesterday evening I began sorting my seeds out and I am going to carry on with it today.I make a list of the seeds I have left from this year,part packets and also free seeds that have come from Garden News.I will then decide what seeds I still need and make a list and decide which I am getting from which company.I have also got catalogues from Browns and Robinsons and I order a few from them if they have any that I want that Dobies and Suttons don't sell.

[derekbrooks]

Nice agin today.Went on the allotment this morning.The bed where I had planted sweet corn ,broad beans and marrows was full of mainly shaggy soldier.It is easy to pull out so I just carried on doing so and filled 4 sacks with it.

[derekbrooks]

Another dry day so I went to the allotment again this morning and pulled up a lot more shaggy soldier from the bed I was doing yesterday and in the frames where I had sown carrots.It didn't look promising this afternoon so we didm't go a walk.I went in the greenhouse and took cuttings of Regal pelargoniums of which I have three varieties ,a few more geraniums and salvia Cerro Toposi.Also got a few more apples off the tree.

[derekbrooks]

Martyn took us to Edenfield show this afternoon.This is a show that I used to enter every year but I told you in August when they had their last show that they had changed the venue and I didn't know how to get there on my own and I still don't.Last year I was the only exhibitor in the chrysanth classes and this year there were no entries in them at all.The other classes were well supported, though.

[derekbrooks]

It rained all afternoon and is still raining now.So I stayed in this afternoon studying Dobies and Suttons catalogues and referring to the list of seeds left from last year,made a list of those I needed to order both for myself and for school.

[derekbrooks]

No gardening jobs today.It was raining this morning so I stayed in doing what I was doing yesterday.It dried up this afternoon and I did my walk round Blackleach with Janet recording the birds and wild flowers.

[derekbrooks]

It was dull this morning but brightened up later.Went on the allotment this morning and afternoon .I planted some lettuce from a cell tray in the area between the rows of runner beans and sweet peas. I finished weeding a strip on the root crop bed to plant beetroot but I didn't take them to plant. When I plant dahlias and chrysanths I leave the label in the soil at the bottom of the plant and tie it to the top of the cane later and I have been doing that this afternoon. They could,of course have been done two months ago but other jobs have always had priority.
I took a pile of Dobie's catalogues to the allotments and put them in the toilet block.I am now going to send an email to the secretary asking her to send it round to everyone on the allotments.

[derekbrooks]

It has been dry today but it is raining this evening.Went on the allotment this morning. Planted a row of beetroot from cell trays on the strip that I have just weeded.Tied most of the chrysanth labels to the top of the canes then did some weeding on the "others"bed where I had planted sweet corn, marrows and broad beans. 24 plugs of polyanthus arrived from Suttons this morning. We went a walk this afternoon and I called at the garden centre for some new gardening gloves on the way home.When we got home I went in the greenhouse and transferred the polyanthus plugs into cell trays.

[balc2]

I also received some plug plants yesterday morning. In my case they were Pansies which I potted up and put on the balcony.

[derekbrooks]

Hi,Balc2 .I ordered some pansy plug plants from Suttons but they can't supply them and they sent me a cheque as a refund.
As you probably know, Martyn,our son,comes on Thursdays to look after Rosemary then I can go to Blackleach and school but he is away this week. This meant that I couldn't go to school .I just had to go to Blackleach for 1.00 to open the visitor centre for the art club.I normally stay while the art club are in and do some writing or take my magazines to read but I had to go straight home today then go back at 3.00 to lock up. I called at the bank on my way home to bank the Sutton's cheque. I was hoping to take Rosemary a walk in between but it was raining most of the afternoon.
I forgot to mention yesterday that I brought home from the allotment all the onions that I had grown from sets.They are not as big as I would have liked but big enough to use.If I had left them they wouldn't have grown any bigger. I have dressed them all up today by removing the loose skins and washing them and left them to dry.

[balc2]

Sorry to hear that you weren't able to get the pansy plugs from Suttons, Derek. At least they returned your money. You will now be able to order some from another company.

I grew lots of onions on the allotment my friend Gerry shared with me. I grew them on my own plot as well. I've grown them both from seed as well as from sets. Sets, as you know, are much more convenient than seeds but I got good results either way.

[derekbrooks]

Hi Balc2. I will probably get some pansies from my local garden centre.
It has been dry today.This morning I fed my tomatoes, cucumbers,baskets and tubs. I then went to the allotment.Because I couldn't go to school yesterday I called there to feed the tomatoes (the school is next to the allotments).I tidied them up too by cutting off a lot of long shoots that would not give any tomatoes.On the allotment I did more weeding on the bed I was doing last time. 20 catalogues came from Suttons and I took some of them to the allotments and put them in the toilet block along with Dobies.The discount is the same as Dobies,50% on seeds and 20% on other items.Previously,Dobies have given customers 40% and 10% to the horticultural society. I think the society should get some discount so I have only given out Dobies catalogues before and just had a suttons for myself but now that the discounts are the same I want more people to use Suttons and if we don't sell enough we will lose the discount.For myself,I get roughly the same quantities of seeds from both places.

[balc2]

I've stopped feeding my tomatoes & have begun to harvest them from the balcony. I started about a week ago but due to the colder days lately & the shortening hours of daylight they are slowing down. I'm picking them while they are yellow/orangish so as to give the rest a chance at ripening. As it seems this year the autumn will be colder I don't expect the plants to last more than another couple of weeks then I'll pull them up.