Diary week six Feb 5th - Feb 11th
2006
Saturday 11th February 2006 Autumn fruiting raspberries are easy to grow and always produce a reliable crop if given a little care and attention at this time of the year. They are the easiest plant in the world to prune as you simply cut them off just above the ground. By doing this you are removing the old wood that had fruit on last year and leaving space for new growth to replace it. To get a good crop it is important to give the plants a generous helping of well rotted manure and to weed them well. It is also a good time to transplant them to a new location. Those that are moved can have foot of stem left as they are established in a new position.
The aconites the earliest snowdrops and the double snowdrops are in full flower now. But there are still a lot of the common snowdrops that are only just above the ground as yet. I have only one or two clumps that have been in the same positition for two years that I will dig up and move to a new site in a few weeks time. This year it is just a matter of weeding and enjoying the look of them.
I dug up last years rooted cuttings of the red gooseberry 'Whinham's Industry' and took them to the allotment shed to see if anyone wants to buy some. There are plenty more cuttings waiting to be taken this year. These variety certainly provides plenty of good strong new growth thats ideal for stiking new plants from.
2005
A gray weekend but not freezing or especially cold - but not warm enough for the bees to come out. Last year the moving of the bee hives out of my apiary and the moving of my bee keeping shed was a major event for me and took up a lot of my time and attention. And it still is is. A few weeks ago the roof to the shed was blowing off in a gale and was removed to the ground by my allotment neighbor Cyril and Bernie from across the way. After putting the roof back on with John's help it was clear that it was no longer waterproof and something had to be done about it. I suppose being an allotment shed it should have a makeshift corrugated tin roof but it has now posh modern 'plastic' corrugated roof. I don't enjoy the hard landscaping and 'structural' side of gardening that much and really only enjoy working with the plants themselves so the chance to move around yet more snowdrops from the old apiary site to the allotment was eagerly seized was the shed was done. Some of the snowdrops that I moved a couple of years ago were now flowering under the blackberries (the shadiest part of my allotment) and I could now sort out the doubles from the singles. It isn't an ideal time to dig them up but I wanted to sort them out and putting a good amount of muck under them in their new planting position I'm sure helps to compensate for the shock of moving and the root disturbance it entails.
2004
Saturday February 7th and Sunday 8th of February 2004 The weather was bitter with strong northerly winds and odd wisps of sleet and snow in the air. The shallots that I had planted a few weeks ago have now rooted and can have the earth around them cleaned away as the birds will no longer disturb them. The lettuce under glass needed watering. I sowed the first 'tall' peas but was told by John that the moon was wrong now and I need to wait two weeks until it wains. The communal greenhouse is finished after John made the staging for it. As the weather was cold it was a good time to get some ground work and earth shifting done down at the end plot once Geoff and I got stuck in the original layout was uncovered and considerable mound of turfs created. Quite what we will do with the mound in the future I don't know - but I guess it will make good loam. The snowdrops I planted under the greengage tree last year seemed to have survived last years long hot summer quite well so I have prepared ground on either side of them to move some more in from the apiary in the next few weeks.
2003
Although the snow has gone, the cold weather continues and the ground is too frozen to dig. However, pruning and general clearing up can still be done.
2002
February 10/11 Pruned grape vine up the side of the allotment shed and one of the smaller apple trees. Prepared ground for Japanese onions to be planted out in - nearly. Obtained load of well rotted leaf mold - will give the gooseberries a good mulch and save some for the asparagus.
2000
February 5th - February 11th Weekend 5/6 Bought and planted more shallots. Began to transplant Japanese onions. The transplanted plants produced much bigger onions last year than those left in situ.
1999
The North wind does blow and we shall have snow.
Saturday 11th February 2006 Autumn fruiting raspberries are easy to grow and always produce a reliable crop if given a little care and attention at this time of the year. They are the easiest plant in the world to prune as you simply cut them off just above the ground. By doing this you are removing the old wood that had fruit on last year and leaving space for new growth to replace it. To get a good crop it is important to give the plants a generous helping of well rotted manure and to weed them well. It is also a good time to transplant them to a new location. Those that are moved can have foot of stem left as they are established in a new position.
The aconites the earliest snowdrops and the double snowdrops are in full flower now. But there are still a lot of the common snowdrops that are only just above the ground as yet. I have only one or two clumps that have been in the same positition for two years that I will dig up and move to a new site in a few weeks time. This year it is just a matter of weeding and enjoying the look of them.
I dug up last years rooted cuttings of the red gooseberry 'Whinham's Industry' and took them to the allotment shed to see if anyone wants to buy some. There are plenty more cuttings waiting to be taken this year. These variety certainly provides plenty of good strong new growth thats ideal for stiking new plants from.
2005
A gray weekend but not freezing or especially cold - but not warm enough for the bees to come out. Last year the moving of the bee hives out of my apiary and the moving of my bee keeping shed was a major event for me and took up a lot of my time and attention. And it still is is. A few weeks ago the roof to the shed was blowing off in a gale and was removed to the ground by my allotment neighbor Cyril and Bernie from across the way. After putting the roof back on with John's help it was clear that it was no longer waterproof and something had to be done about it. I suppose being an allotment shed it should have a makeshift corrugated tin roof but it has now posh modern 'plastic' corrugated roof. I don't enjoy the hard landscaping and 'structural' side of gardening that much and really only enjoy working with the plants themselves so the chance to move around yet more snowdrops from the old apiary site to the allotment was eagerly seized was the shed was done. Some of the snowdrops that I moved a couple of years ago were now flowering under the blackberries (the shadiest part of my allotment) and I could now sort out the doubles from the singles. It isn't an ideal time to dig them up but I wanted to sort them out and putting a good amount of muck under them in their new planting position I'm sure helps to compensate for the shock of moving and the root disturbance it entails.
2004
Saturday February 7th and Sunday 8th of February 2004 The weather was bitter with strong northerly winds and odd wisps of sleet and snow in the air. The shallots that I had planted a few weeks ago have now rooted and can have the earth around them cleaned away as the birds will no longer disturb them. The lettuce under glass needed watering. I sowed the first 'tall' peas but was told by John that the moon was wrong now and I need to wait two weeks until it wains. The communal greenhouse is finished after John made the staging for it. As the weather was cold it was a good time to get some ground work and earth shifting done down at the end plot once Geoff and I got stuck in the original layout was uncovered and considerable mound of turfs created. Quite what we will do with the mound in the future I don't know - but I guess it will make good loam. The snowdrops I planted under the greengage tree last year seemed to have survived last years long hot summer quite well so I have prepared ground on either side of them to move some more in from the apiary in the next few weeks.
2003
Although the snow has gone, the cold weather continues and the ground is too frozen to dig. However, pruning and general clearing up can still be done.
2002
February 10/11 Pruned grape vine up the side of the allotment shed and one of the smaller apple trees. Prepared ground for Japanese onions to be planted out in - nearly. Obtained load of well rotted leaf mold - will give the gooseberries a good mulch and save some for the asparagus.
2000
February 5th - February 11th Weekend 5/6 Bought and planted more shallots. Began to transplant Japanese onions. The transplanted plants produced much bigger onions last year than those left in situ.
1999
The North wind does blow and we shall have snow.
