Early Winter Bits and Bobs.

[retropants]

thankyou OH, I am feeling a bit under the weather today, up to my eyeballs in receipts for the VAT return, and 3 more craft fairs looming this week/weekend!

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Retropants, you will get there, sometimes just a ten minute walk round the garden can be enough to get ones head back on track. I'm afraid that's all the help i can offer.

[retropants]

that's Ok OH, thankyou. I'm sure I'll get through it! there are people worse off in the world, I should just pull my socks up and get on with it!

[Primrose]

Isn,t it strange how the need to prepare VAT returns or complete self assessment tax returns can bring on the most dreadful fits of procrastination? I t,s nightmare time every year in our house and no matter how careful you think you are collecting paperwork you always find something is missing! People have been grumbling about it ever since Caesar's time !

[donedigging]

Wow, where has this week gone...so many jobs achieved
Christmas nearly sorted ...
But my biggest job this week and a sad one was to clear my first allotment, now that I have a whole one.
I have moved the shed, finished emptying the huge compost bin and lifted the rhubarb and raspberries and replanted them in their new home, leaving some parsnips to be lifted for Christmas dinner, always a good excuse to have a few minutes peace and quiet, while Grandad puts something together
Looking forward to going back to work now, even with the mayhem customers bring

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Donedigging, glad you have had such a good week, and mybe all the customers will be polite and not moan at all.

[donedigging]

Dear Donedigging, mybe all the customers will be polite and not moan at all.

I live in hope OH

[donedigging]

I was shopping this afternoon with my OH at our local B&Q, looking to renew our outdoor Christmas lights....
At the entrance were bags and bags of seed potatoes...
Surely this is a bit early

[Motherwoman]

O I don't know, I sorted out the last of my pink fir apple potatoes and laid all the seed-sized ones out in a cardboard box this week....

MW

[PLUMPUDDING]

I was so pleased with my early planting experiment last year that I've done it again this year and got them planted by mid November. I plant them quite deep - a good spade depth and earth them up. They stay dormant until conditions are suitable for growth and you don't have to worry about them starting to sprout too early or deteriorate in store if you can't keep them cool enough. Must add that they are my own saved seed potatoes and not bought ones, but I don't see why you can't plant them early if the ground isn't frozen. I put slug pellets in with them too just in case.

[oldherbaceous]

You've got to smile....don't you!

I came across a kubota deisel tractor mower on ebay, just before i went to the Church Carol Service this afternoon. It was a classified ad, but a very good price. Anyway, through the service i made my mind up to buy the tractor. But when i got back, got ebay up, and yes you have guessed it, it had been sold.

So maybe i should have stayed a sinner...

It was a nice service though, even if the Vicar still doesn't quite know what to make of me.

[Primrose]

I've been give some naturalising cyclamen bulbs for Christmas so got busy planting them this morning. I suspect they will have been planted too late to flower this winter but hopefully they will start to spread once they are established .

[Monika]

What cyclamen are they, Primrose? Cyclamen hederifolium flowers in autumn and into early winter, followed by the foliage, but Cyclamen coum flowers from early in the year into spring. Both are hardy, usually take some time to settle but once they have settled and like the site, each plant will grow and they will also spread by seed.

If you have the latter, you might get some flowers early in the year!

[Primrose]

They are cyclamen coum Monika so I might be lucky and see the odd flower later this winter but some the corms were already sprouting some tiny whiskery shoots which snapped off during the planting which makes me think I'll have very few flowers this winter.

I have some of the other outdoor cyclamen in containers which I bought as pot plants which have already mostly finished flowering. I'm wondering if I can also plant these out in borders in Spring as I'll want the containers for my bush tomatoes and geraniums As I'll want them for the containers again next autumn I' m wondering how best to care for them long term and if they will sulk if they keep being moved around?

[oldherbaceous]

Been for a lovely stroll across the fields this morning, and very enjoyable it was too. The wind has dropped, and the low sunlight looked just perfect on all the bare trees and bushes.

Lots of little jobs to do today, so i think a list is in order.