Yet More Compost!

Val decided to fill more of the pots that adorn our patio yesterday and at five o’clock we were out of compost. Being as our favourite supplier would be shut we shot up to Focus and bought 100 ltrs of their compost. for £6.59 7/10 would be our verdict.

So this morning, knowing she’s still a fair bit to do as have I we went to Taylors who specialise in garden sundries and composts where we got 4 75 ltr bags of their own label, which I suspect is Humax, for £10.00 10/10 is our verdict.

2 for home and 2 for potting up on the allotment. I potted on some tomatoes for my daughter, a Sungold, a Harbinger and a Garden Pearl so she won’t be short of tomatoes assuming she remembers to feed and water them. Perhaps three tomato plants is a little much for one person, but maybe she’ll make a load of friends by giving them away. I think they know about tomatoes in Yorkshire.

I loaded up brassicas from the coldframe and peppers from the home greehouse into the car and through away the rest of the tomatoes, except for a Sungold and a Harbinger which I potted up to grow on in the home greenhouse.

A load of the cut flower bucket pots and some fertiliser and bits completed the load so drove around to the plot. It’s only a couple of hundred yards but the car does make it easy when you have a lot of stuff to get round.

Once unloaded it started to spit with rain. Typical! Not enough to do any good, just enough to make it unpleasant. Still, there’s plenty to do in the greenhouses. In the big greenhouse some of the tomatoes are looking a little yellow so I sprayed them with Epsom salts and then gave them a feed made up with commercial fertiliser plus Epsom salts plus a little prilled urea to up the nitrogen level. The Epsom salts are a cure for magnesium defficiency that prevents the plant from utilising the nitrogen. Quite a common problem with tomatoes.

Planted a few more lettuce in there and some marigolds to deter whitefly. Gave it a good watering and then back to the small greenhouse.

Next I moved on some cauliflowers from modules into 5″ pots. Bit small to plant out but too big for the modules. Popped those with the other brassicas into the tent cloche. Did feel a bit daft standing in the rain filling watering cans. That’s gardening for you.

Planted up an Ailsa Craig and another Big Boy into large pots and then noticed the rain had stopped. The rest of the lettuce went into the salad bed outside. I figure that the ones in the greenhouse will come on faster so giving some spread to the crop.

The peas started in some guttering in the greenhouse went into the ground. I think you’re as well off starting peas directly in the ground under cloche if not better. But if you don’t try these things you never know.

I realised one of the deep beds with onions in was being swamped by weeds. Some in the bed and some coming over from next door’s plot. Weeded them and hoed some of the neighbours weeds to keep my bed clear. He’s got horsetail and a couple of shoots had appeared in the bed. Pulled out as much root as I could get to.

One tip when on the allotment – don’t sing along to your MP3 player. Glastonbury Pete told me he was headed home as the discordant wails were setting his teeth on edge. I don’t think I sing that badly. In fact I’ve noticed that cats really appreciate my singing. Often tom cats will join in with me.

The broad beans are looking good, as are the potatoes and the Jerusalem artichokes are really shooting up now. I’ll be back on the plot on Monday assuming I’ve not been lynched by irate Yorkists reading this diary. Even if it is pouring with rain as the weatherman is promising, there’s lots more to do in the greenhouse.