Autumn bits and bobs

[oldherbaceous]

A bit of luck....I have been thinking about getting another 9 foot section of aluminium greenhouse staging. So I was looking at prices of new ones but, thought I would have a look on a auction site.....so to cut a long story short, there was one on there, an hour to go and only 3 miles away....won the aution and payed less than a quarter of the price and it looks like brand new....very happy indeed

[Diane]

Brilliant - good stroke of luck for you.

[robo]

I use to buy of eBay a lot , I paid every thing with PayPal I'm talking over 400 purchases ,I opened my online bank to find PayPal had paid £6 to Google I asked PayPal why and had a curt email back saying it was a charge due to Google every month but not what the charge was for, I asked them not to pay it they refused so I closed my PayPal account and very rarely use ebay anymore if I do I pay by bank transfer or cash if it's local

[Primrose]

Your lucky day OH. Am sure it will get plenty of use and very convenient that you don,t have to drive far to collect it either.

[Westi]

I have been rewarded by my optimism & not digging everything in preparation for winter - but why would I as I am still getting crops. Today however the chickpeas & some of the salad crops were past their best with powdery mildew developing. Got them out & weeded & fed the beds & went down to get some horse manure to mulch & the cherry on the cake was everyone had been down there before me & taken all the fresh stuff from the top, leaving me the well rotted dark stuff underneath.

I am now suffering the consequences of moving as much as possible back to the plot. It will still be a mulch but I will be able to dig it in in Spring, rather than rake it off & put it on the compost for another year. If we don't get another delivery before I am down again on Wednesday I will take some more - & visit the chiropractor!

[Primrose]

Take the easy route and just ask your Chiropractor to move it !

[oldherbaceous]

That was very wrong of them, Robo, that's where my eldest son Jed is brilliant, he jut won't let something go if he thinks someone is getting injustice.....not sure where he gets that from...

I always normally take my time before buying large items and something normally turns up near buy....just got very lucky with the staging....although I am a lucky person, well, I'm a member of this forum.

[oldherbaceous]

You always make me smile, Primrose....

[Primrose]

I'm wondering how much lower the temperature has to drop before it kills off all the whitefly on my kale and Cavalo Nero. I only have to knock the plants lightly and massive clouds of the blighters fly up from everywhere. Am finding I have to pick the leaves and give them several soakinga in cold water before they're fit to cook. Is anybody else having the same problem and does anybody have a solution which doesn't involve spraying?.

[tigerburnie]

Had trip over the hills into Aberdeenshire, three garden centres and it was very much like Santa's Grotto in all of them, barely any garden stuff on sale. Managed to find some half price heavy duty green fleece and some half trays for seed sowing, ten for 99p, do love a bargain.

[Monika]

I had the same problem with whitefly, Primrose, when I took off the last Cavolo Nero leaves before we gave up the allotment at the end of October. I shook them first, then ran the hose over them in a large colander and cooked them. No doubt, a bit of livestock was still there, but nobody complained .... Even if/when we get hard frost, the whitefly will still be clinging on, dead or alive.

[Pa Snip]

After a lack of visiting the plot I managed to raise some energy to get there yesterday. All I managed to do (with assistance from Mrs S) was dig up 6 Calabrese "Typhoon" plants to plant 24 Longor shallot sets in their place.

That litle job finished me off and we returned home.

When digging out the Calabrese a whitefly carpet appeared on the ground plus a lot that was still alive and flying.


Lots of low lying weed to be dealt with. I am afraid that as I can no longer dig over the plot it is going to be a case of weedkiller on a suitable day before winter sets in

[PLUMPUDDING]

It's good to know you're out and about Pa. There are a lot of pests still about aren't there. I've been trying to rub the brassica aphids off some of the curly kale. I've not grown so many varieties this year but have had a very good crop from the calabrese. My main jobs at the moment are rat proofing the hen food hut and pruning, chainsawing and tidying up. I'm trying to have an active day and a rest day so it's taking ages. My partner has been tasked with digging, emptying the leafmold bins and the compost heaps. The next job will be gathering some more leaves to fill the bins again and hopefully there aren't many still to fall.

[tigerburnie]

I prefer not to spray if I can, a couple of years ago I resorted to spraying my apple tree as the scab was so bad, I really don't like the idea of eating the fruit after chemicals have been on it, so I've stopped spraying. Some folk use soapy water as a spray to hinder/deter white fly and greenfly, not tried it myself though.

[Pa Snip]

It's good to know you're out and about Pa. . I've not grown so many varieties this year but have had a very good crop from the calabrese. My main jobs at the moment are rat proofing the hen food hut. I'm trying to have an active day and a rest day so it's taking ages.

Thank you Plum.
Good move alternating days of work & rest,
Some of our Calabrese is still producing, not bad considering it has been all this season

We are also getting the occasional rodent visitor during late afternoon when the layer pellets in the hen coop are tempting them, damn things.