Late Winter Bits and Bobs.

[Primrose]

We've had two sleepless nights from gales here, expecting to lose roof slates or fence panels but only minor incidents. Various trees down locally though. Do you think the combination of drought followed by heavy rainfall weakens their wind resistance over time?
Hopefully everybody is safe.

[oldherbaceous]

I think the amount of trees coming down, is more likely to be the amount of storms we are getting now, combined with the flooded soil be a lot softer.

[Geoff]

The sad thing is how few trees are being replaced. There's lots of effort put into creating woods and wildlife corridors but I think the specimen trees in old parkland or fields and odd trees left to develop in hedgerows are what make the landscape. The hedge flails that block drains and puncture tyres have got a lot to answer for.

[Westi]

Hoping to go down to the plot tomorrow as only light rain showers but % is low for these & wind speed looks like it will ease by the time I get down there as well. I need to bring some more pots home as I'm experimenting with early sown toms.

I started everything off in the little propagator at home with the aim of moving them to larger pots in the large propagator & planting them deep so more root development & the large one's height should be fine to do this twice. Thanks to the 'named storms' I haven't been able to do this yet but they need it. This will be my first job when down or I will forget when caught up with clearing, mending & collecting netting etc.

[Westi]

Well today didn't go as planned as it rained, the afternoon was better but we had visitors so tomorrow it is. Sunrise is about 8am so that is the start time, well fingers crossed anyway!

[Cider Boys]

I spent time today chopping down an over grown Laurel bush, it was huge and I have plenty more Laurel bushes to clear. The grass on my lawns have grown extremely long and I have moved some sheep on them to eat it down. It is not going very well, although they are eating the grass they keep getting their heads stuck through the old sheep's netting I put up to stop them eating the garden plants and bushes. I have to keep going out to wrestle them free and in a matter of minutes they have got their heads stuck again.

Barney

[retropants]

Visited West Dean gardens today. My niece volunteers there, and she showed us what she’s been up to! Must go back in the spring.

[Westi]

Well autumn raspberries cut down & branches cut up in the bag for the neighbour to take to the tip for me. The bed was given a huge compost mulch as well which I'm sure they will love. Even fitted in clearing the muddy mess I created on the paths stepping into the bed to reach the canes!

Only got to weed under the fruit trees & give them a mulch & that's the majority of the outside jobs done so then I can get on with painting the shed. Plum Beauty is in bud & the little bees were in attendance but the buds not open yet so gave them some of my Yum Yum I took down as the sugar pot was empty. They did not complain! I don't know what variety they are but very little & their wings are translucent & they are not aggressive. If they do their job when the buds break I expect a good plum harvest as every branch was full.

[Clive.]

I got another 5ft strip of digging done today whilst yesterday I weeded the two narrow strips of border by the front gateway. These are home to pink hyacinth on one side and a red species tulip on the other..my dear old mum would despair if she knew the state I had let these run to...but I caught them just in time as the hyacinth are just popping through..

We had some mighty wind gusts on Friday morning, woke me up at 4am with such a blow on the front windows. it seemed very localised as E. Lincs weather stations only reported 33mph for that hour. RAF Coningsby listed a 51mph for 5am and Wainfleet a 71mph for 6am.

C.

[Westi]

We had one of those thick misty damp days, which just stayed around all day. Just clearing some bits from the garden for the first green waste collection for the year & my fleece was soaking, but not from any obvious drizzle or recent rain. Tomorrow is going to be cloudy but OK so I should be able to catch up on some chores.

I have finally found some 8' thick canes to rebuild the net tunnel frame, after giving up on metal replacement poles, mainly due to the extortionate price & flimsy thickness & reviews. I have a plan for what might work so would appreciate your opinions. I am thinking I will do a square frame on the bottom as well as the uprights & top frame. I plan to paint the bottom frame & a foot or so of the uprights & bury these secured with thick marquee hooks. I am unsure of what type of paint but do have Ronseal, white gloss or some dirty oil in a canister I found when clearing up the back. Also advice on how to secure the uprights to the base as those plastic connectors get brittle quickly, so thinking those hose things that have the little screw that you can tighten which I have mentioned before; or just use lots of cable ties in figures of 8's? The cage will house the leeks this year to keep the pesky moths out so have flexibility to plant away from the edges so whatever used should not contaminate them as I will just create an outside path.

[Cider Boys]

Well I was a little disappointed today, I went into town and on course my old favourite Wilko is no more. I used to buy nets of many onion bulbs for next to nothing and they all grew into super onions that kept well and have loads left from last year's planting. I bought 100 bulbs from a local agricultural store and paid more that the hundreds I used to get from good old Wilko. I also foolishly picked up three 3Kg bags of early potatoes and since I am determined to scale back this year I don't know where I am going to plant them. They may have to go where they went last year, not a good idea I know. Let's hope the weather remains dry for some time and perhaps we can make an early start this year.

Best wishes

Barney

[Westi]

Hi Barney,

Wilko is still online, (www.wilko.com). Still the same things to buy but without them paying the extortionate rentals. Best you don't compare the prices you already paid, but if you want assurance of a crop might be worth a peek to see if they still have left.

[oldherbaceous]

I see the Blackbirds are nesting early again this year!
Going to try and make the most of the next few days, and carry on getting the allotments ready for Spring……next week looks very wet again.
I have ordered my seed potatoes, (Swift, Kestrel, Charlotte and going to save my own Pink Fir Apple), but still haven’t ordered my seeds yet…..

[AdrienneRobinson]

I’ve also been cutting down my autumn raspberries, and then moving them to a new position. The extra ones that always appear I’ve dug out and I’m actually cutting up the roots bit by bit and adding them to the compost heap and Hotbin.
I’ve still got my tall brassica cage to finish erecting and my caulis (in pots) will soon be big enough to plant out so I need to finish it! My sister gave me some good advice - she suggested putting the netting over the top before putting the top of the structure on, otherwise I won’t be able to reach once it’s up!

[AdrienneRobinson]

I’ve also cleaned up and sharpened my secateurs - I found a good YouTube video which I followed - what a difference!