Kitchen Garden Forum

The Parkland at work is looking more like the scorched heatwave look of August...not like last August I add...!! Lawns are heading that way too...


Clive.

Clive

I have been noticing brown fields round here for a couple of weeks now. Driving to Bangor yesterday through what should be green lowland fields I used almost your exact words to my wife: "Looks like the aftermath of a late summer drought". Pity the poor sheep and lambs trying to eat it. I usually cut our field in mid April. Not much sign of that this year unless the rain we are promised for Thursday has an immediate effect.

yes, I think the recent lack of rain and the strong winds have had a really bad scorching effect. We noticed last week end how damaged everything looked. I suppose one good thing about the cold weather is that our daffodils have lasted much longer than normal. Last spring the sunshine killed them off pretty quickly.

It is good to see a bit of green even though the lawns look a bit traumatised. I'm still waiting for the daffodils to open it shouldn't be long now if the weather stays above freezing for a few days.

Almost time to say goodbye to the last snowdrift in the veg garden



23rd March



9th April

The wall is just over 4 feet high.

Also planted Broad Beans and built Sweet Pea frame in the meantime.

The tips of chives and new shoots on a climbing rose which dared to show in early March have been badly 'scorched' by the northeasterly winds.

It rained all morning here, so it was indoor jobs for me

I forked over one of our "not so young" members polytunnel plot for her. She has no excuse not to pay her subs now

Bagged up various fertilizers in the seedstore , just in case there is a rush on this week

You will all be pleased to know, i will be a little quiet on here over the next few weeks. The field job has just come in, and that's on top of my normal work, plus i'm a little behing with my three allotments, oh, and there's also a little matter of 2000 plants that arrived last week.

I just love a challenge......

Well that takes you up to about next Tuesday OH, so what's the problem

Well done OH! I'm sure you'll still find the odd minute to ensure we are all kept on the straight & narrow though!

Westi

Don't be too quiet OH

Bargain of the year for the School Garden. I went into town today and as I was passing the RSPCA shop I spotted a box of around 100 plant pots, in all different sizes.

It wasn't priced up and so I popped my head in and inquired as to the price and the ever so helpful shop assistant said "What about £2.50?"

Hardly believing my luck, I was momentarily lost for words (it does happen occasionally you know ) and the assistant, obviously thinking I thought that was too much, said "£2 but that's my best offer!"

So I paid over the money (50p is a lot when the available budget is virtually non-existent) and brought the box home. In total there were some 136 pots, of which 4 were too badly cracked to use. They range in size from 3.5 inch diameter shallow pots, to 5 inch diameter deeper pots.

Most of the 5 inch pots are made by Richard Sankey and Sons which is a company I haven't heard of but the pots appear to be good quality and there are 38 of those type and some of that size from other producers.

This discovery is the answer to my prayers as I had come up with the idea of sowing lots of chilli seeds (which we did and they are coming through thick and fast) and then selling them to parents when they start producing chillis, thereby generating additional funds for the Gardening Club I also planned to do the same with any surplus tomato plants, flowers etc. These 5 inch, deep pots will be ideal for potting the chillis into for flowering and fruit production.

Parents/carers will be asked to return the pots when they are finished with the plant but where to get the pots was the main sticking point and now we have plenty

Very, very happy today

VPM
xxx

Hi VPM,
If you need pots I have many thousands left over from my nursery days and you are welcome to as many as you need TOTALLY FREE!
Especially 8cm half pots, about 132000 and 9cm full pots, about 100000
so you can see I can spare considerably more than you would need.
This applies to anybody else should they have the need for pots.
JB.

Thanks JB

If you were nearer I'd be there like a shot - although I don't think I need quite as many as 1/4 of a million

VPM
x

Quite excited this morning, got a digger coming to dig the hard standing out, and put a new entrance in for the paddocks.

OK, who ordered all this rain then? Come on own up! Was it you? Yes you boy sitting at the back. Stop flicking paper at the girl in front, I saw you! Which one of you said it was scorched? Nobody is going out to play until the culprit owns up. I have all day you know.