This little skipper flew into my kitchen today (25th Feb 2016)
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There's Always Tomorrow!!
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Friday, February 5, 2016
Rooko's February Top 10 Tips & Tryouts
1. If like me you haven't visited your plot for a while during the Winter it may be prudent to check things out there, to ensure this Winters weather hasn't caused any damage.
2. If you have any large perennial plants in your flower garden this month is a good time to divide/split and replant them, weather permitting.
3. Start chitting your seed potatoes this month.
4. Snip side shoots back to 1 or 2 buds and remove the tips of mature red and white currants this month, but beware if frost is likely.
5. Keep feeding the birds and in cold areas make sure they have un-frozen water to drink.
6. Check over your garden tools and repair any damaged ones. Ensure cutting tools are correctly sharpened. Any petrol left in petrol driven machinery is likely to have gone "stale" over Winter, making starting the machinery difficult or impossible.
7. Ventilate greenhouses on warm February days?
8. Put cloches/fleece over strawberry plants to aid earlier fruiting?
9. Grapevines can be pruned in February.
10.
2. If you have any large perennial plants in your flower garden this month is a good time to divide/split and replant them, weather permitting.
3. Start chitting your seed potatoes this month.
4. Snip side shoots back to 1 or 2 buds and remove the tips of mature red and white currants this month, but beware if frost is likely.
5. Keep feeding the birds and in cold areas make sure they have un-frozen water to drink.
6. Check over your garden tools and repair any damaged ones. Ensure cutting tools are correctly sharpened. Any petrol left in petrol driven machinery is likely to have gone "stale" over Winter, making starting the machinery difficult or impossible.
7. Ventilate greenhouses on warm February days?
8. Put cloches/fleece over strawberry plants to aid earlier fruiting?
9. Grapevines can be pruned in February.
10.
SOWING/PLANTING IN FEBRUARY
1. Sow winter greens (under cloches or tunnels).
2. Sow round seeded peas (probably best in pots or trays).
3. Sow tomatoes seeds early Feb (heated greenhouse) late Feb (unheated greenhouse).
4. Depending on conditions, sow broadbeans, early peas for harvesting in May/June.
5. Parsnips can be sown in Feb but sowing in March may give better germination.
6. Try planting shallots under cloches.
7. Lettuce, radish and rocket can be started early under cloches or in the greenhouse.
8. Spinach, turnips and Summer cabbbage can be sown under cover.
9. Sow onion seeds indoors (15degC).
10. Cane fruits can still be planted in Feb.
1. Sow winter greens (under cloches or tunnels).
2. Sow round seeded peas (probably best in pots or trays).
3. Sow tomatoes seeds early Feb (heated greenhouse) late Feb (unheated greenhouse).
4. Depending on conditions, sow broadbeans, early peas for harvesting in May/June.
5. Parsnips can be sown in Feb but sowing in March may give better germination.
6. Try planting shallots under cloches.
7. Lettuce, radish and rocket can be started early under cloches or in the greenhouse.
8. Spinach, turnips and Summer cabbbage can be sown under cover.
9. Sow onion seeds indoors (15degC).
10. Cane fruits can still be planted in Feb.
OTHER JOBS TO DO IN FEBRUARY
1. Cover over unused areas of the plot with cloches or black plastic sheeting to warm the soil earlier.
2. Clean out pots and trays.
3. Repair or replace any broken/damaged tools.
4. Feed the birds.
1. Cover over unused areas of the plot with cloches or black plastic sheeting to warm the soil earlier.
2. Clean out pots and trays.
3. Repair or replace any broken/damaged tools.
4. Feed the birds.
Deserted
I made the first visit to my plot this morning for about the past 2 months expecting it to be in a derelict state, after the wet and windy Winter weather conditions since November last. Surprisingly my plot was relatively tidy, mostly weed free and showing no signs of damage from the continuing high winds we've been experiencing here for many weeks now. Although the grass lawns around my bungalow have continued to grow considerably, over the Winter, due to the mainly mild temperatures, the grass paths & borders around my plot appeared to have died back, saving me the job of mowing them, which I had expected to have to do today.
My old runner bean plants were still entwined around their supporting canes on the L-shaped-bed so I set about removing the dead foliage from the canes, dispatching it onto my nearby compost heap. Despite the deluges of rain since last Autumn, No 1 bed was relatively dry with little stickiness of the soil. No 2 bed was wetter and the soil/clay sticky to walk on.
After I had finished removing the runner bean plants, I lifted a few parsnips and carrots from No 1 bed. I expected these to be rotting down by now, due to the very wet Winter weather but they were still in good condition, ideal for freezing.
I then removed a few weeds from various areas of the plot, the usual ones making a head start at this time of year, like creeping buttercups, shepherd's purse and clover, when the drizzly rain returned, drifting in across the allotments, so I loaded a few items of gardening equipment into my trusty old Astra and spuddled off home, mid-afternoon. With no other allotment holders to be seen around the plots it was a quiet, drab afternoon. The only real highlight being the masses of bluebells, currently well-established along the lower end of my plot on top of the drainage ditch bank.
There's Always Tomorrow!!
My old runner bean plants were still entwined around their supporting canes on the L-shaped-bed so I set about removing the dead foliage from the canes, dispatching it onto my nearby compost heap. Despite the deluges of rain since last Autumn, No 1 bed was relatively dry with little stickiness of the soil. No 2 bed was wetter and the soil/clay sticky to walk on.
After I had finished removing the runner bean plants, I lifted a few parsnips and carrots from No 1 bed. I expected these to be rotting down by now, due to the very wet Winter weather but they were still in good condition, ideal for freezing.
I then removed a few weeds from various areas of the plot, the usual ones making a head start at this time of year, like creeping buttercups, shepherd's purse and clover, when the drizzly rain returned, drifting in across the allotments, so I loaded a few items of gardening equipment into my trusty old Astra and spuddled off home, mid-afternoon. With no other allotment holders to be seen around the plots it was a quiet, drab afternoon. The only real highlight being the masses of bluebells, currently well-established along the lower end of my plot on top of the drainage ditch bank.
There's Always Tomorrow!!
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