Growing in Capel St. Mary
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E-mail info@capelallotments.co.uk
FREE shovel, bag, wheelbarrow or trailer, BYO, of wood chips/mulch for ALL our members during Hut opening times.
Runners, French, Climbers, Courgettes, Sweetcorn, Bedding Plants available from mid-May
Clear weeds with Weedol (sachets are no longer available, it is now in tubes, 3 in a pack £4.90, or ready mixed, 1ltr £3.30) or Bio Glyphosate (100ml £1). Rotovate cleared areas (Rotovator available on site @ £10 for the first two hours). Scatter slug pellets (824g £2.50). Rake in 4oz sq. yd. Growmore (5kg £4.50) prior to sowing or planting. Kill weeds on paths, patios and drives (Path Clear £1.20 a sachet). Set up the barbecue (12kg lump wood charcoal £9). Protect fruit & plants from bird attacks with bird netting from 80p per meter. Check the water softener and top up with salt (25kg £8.50 and 2 x 4kg blocks @ £5). Water plants thoroughly with an open ended watering can, do not waste time & water by indiscriminate spraying by using a rose once seedlings have emerged. Seed potatoes will not need watering until June at the earliest.
VEG PLOT: - Plant cauliflower, cabbage, sprouts, calabrese, kale, main crop potatoes & celery. Sow or plant runner beans to grow up 8' canes (50p) set in two rows 2 ½ to 3 feet apart, cross canes as low as 3 feet from the ground to allow the maximum number of beans to hang outwards and grow straight for easy picking and for the show bench. Tie in other canes at 45o and through the cross over point to strengthen the structure. Sow salad crops, French beans, marrow, pumpkin, courgette, squashes, cucumbers, sweet corn, turnip, swede & carrots. Cover potatoes if frost is forecast or water early in the morning before the sun damages the frozen leaves. Sow fennel, basil & dill. Harvest broad beans, spouting broccoli, cauliflowers, radish, lettuce & asparagus. We carry a limited range of vegetable seed @ £1 & £1.40 a packet to supplement our autumn seed scheme. Thin seeds sown in April. Gloves from £2.50 are available to protect your hands.
FRUIT: - Spray fruit trees which are affected by mildew, scab, aphids or codling moth (codling moth traps £5.50). Check for caterpillars, black fly and red spider mites and spray with Bug Killer rtu (1ltr £3), Bio Sprayday (30ml £5.80) or organic bug killer Agralan 500ml £5. When fruit has set apply a nitrogen feed & water in dry spells. Put straw around strawberries to protect fruit.
GREENHOUSE: - Ventilate, provide shade & increase humidity. Sow melons, cucumber & sweet corn. Prick out half-hardy annuals into 9, 12, 15 or 40 cell tray inners (10p, 15p & 20p) or pots (from 3p). Full size rigid trays (£1.30) & half size flexi's @ 10p are available. Feed established plants weekly with liquid feed (£2.50 per litre), Phostrogen (160 @ half our normal price £4.60 while stocks last) or Miracle-Gro (1kg £4). Support plants with 2' green canes (50p per 15). Pinch out tips of fuchsias after two pairs of leaves. Control insect pests with an rtu. Insect Gun @ £3. Plant tomato, cucumber, pepper & aubergine plants in grow bags @ £2.60. Feed weekly when fruits begin to swell with tomato feed (£2.50 per litre.) Plant melons in cold frames or in pots on greenhouse bench and let trail down, pinch out growing tip at four leaf stage. Keep main stem dry.
FLOWERS: - Move spring bulbs to a temporary site and feed with Growmore or Blood, Fish & Bone. Sow hardy annuals & bi-annuals. Tie in sweet peas to grow up 6' canes (30p each). Cut back flowered heather's & mulch with peat. Plant up containers with summer bedding (75ltr Compost £5, and 50ltr peat free £5) protect from late frosts with fleece from 30p a meter or make sure you water the plants using a rose before the sun touches them, incorporate slow release feed at £4.30 a kilo. Stake tall herbaceous plants (4' canes 30p) or support with twigs or pea and bean netting @ 30p per mtr. Mulch borders with ornamental chipped bark (80ltrs £5.50). Also free mulch see above.
LAWNS: - Mow weekly. Apply a liquid or granular lawn treatment. 5kg of feed for £5.50 to treat 140sq mtrs. 20kg Weed, Feed & Moss Killer at £22.50 When applying a granular treatment remember to water it in if it has not rained within 48 hours of applying. Liquid feed or lawn weed killer available from £2.50 & £3.
All horticultural items are only available to our members from a range of quality products provided to meet basic gardening needs.
TWO DAY OPENING THE HUT is open 10-12 noon Saturdays & Sundays throughout May and June.
JOIN’N’SAVE - Membership is just £5 a year and is open to both plot holders and non-plot holders alike, where ever you live. A visit to ‘THE HUT’ should easily recoup this investment when you take advantage of our special bulk buy prices
ROTOVATOR AND CULTIVATOR HIRE - A rotovator and a cultivator are available for hire for on-site use only. The fee is £10 for the first two hours. Hire time runs from handover and ceases when the machine is returned to the machinery shed. Please give Dennis advance notice to hire this equipment or for any matters relating to the site please email Dennis @ site.manager@capelallotments.co.uk.
SPRING WORK-IN & AGM - Thanks to everyone who helped at the work-in on the 15th April. We cleared a long list of jobs and the site looks great. Also thanks to everyone who joined us for refreshments and a light lunch at our AGM.
POND & WILDLIFE AREA - Daffodils, Singles, Doubles & Dwarfs, Muscari & Tulips have all performed well, The water level in the pond has risen & fallen depending in the rain harvested from the BBQ roof. We now have frog spawn in the shallows & a single Newt has been seen out for a swim. However the visit of the Herron has seen the demise of at least one of our frogs. A pair of Ducks seen paddling around in February finally nested in a pond in The Street & mum & her ducklings have today walked out of the garden to new quarters. The Snakes Head Fritillars look fantastic as do the Pond Buttercups. Wood Anemones & flowering garlic are doing well.
Looks like our pet Muntjac has been over the fence & munching on the Bluebell leaves.
The "PHOTOGRAPHY TROPHY" - Subjects for 2018:- A Bridge, Garden Wildlife, Woodland Scene, A picture to Portray a Song (name of song to be stated), Picture of Your Choice.
All photographs to be colour, minimum size 150x100mm/6" x 4" and maximum size 190 x 130mm/7.5" x 5" and mounted and taken within the last eighteen months.
VEHICLES, CHILDREN & DOGS ON SITE - Please drive slowly when taking your vehicle on site and take care especially when reversing. Be aware that we have a number of families with small children who may be on the tractor paths or the green areas. Parents please supervise your children at all times so as not to cause inconvenience to others. Most of the small North / South paths are for plot holder use only and form part of their allotment plot & as such are not for general use. Owners are most welcome to bring their dogs with them to the allotments site but please keep them under close control on your plot so as not to inconvenience others. Thank you
‘THE BONFIRE’ - Plot holders please compost as much material as possible including annual weeds, soil, grass cuttings, brassica tops, rhubarb leaves and waste crops. Once again the bonfire site will be closed from mid-June to the end of July.
SITE VISITS - If any groups would like to visit the site and the wild life area please contact Philippa Brandon on info@capelallotments.co.uk to discuss what is available to you.
AND FINALLY……the first round of judging for the annual Best Kept Allotment competition & Best Kept Polytunnel competition will take place towards the end of May. Subsequent judging will take place in June and July.
