REPLANTING THE FLOWER BED / ALLOTMENT GARDENING UK

[Music] [Music] 23.9 Wow. 23.9 23.9 Let's get some air in here, guys. Everybody needs some air. I need some blooming air. Who wants some air? Oh, yeah. I think they do, actually. I think they do. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for tuning into my a lotment diaries. My name's Emma. These are the a lotment diaries. Um, I just vlog all about my a lotment plot here in South London, showing you what I'm up to dayto-day. And um, yeah, it was a funny vlog last time. If you tuned in last time on Wednesday, it was a really weird day and it took me a couple of days after it to kind of process what had happened. I got down here, I was very, very excited cuz we got a strimmer and my husband went around and strimmed all the grass down and cut everything back and it was looking amazing. And then I noticed that a lot of my stuff had just been thrown around and smashed and someone had clearly been onto my plot and basically trashed a lot of it. And it's funny cuz I just didn't notice. I wasn't looking for it. And actually that is that made me laugh after cuz I was watching the vlog back and I was like the fact that I didn't notice might make it sound like my plot is a complete mess. It's not the neatest plot in the world, but like things are things do work. like the structures are usually upright and you know I don't let glass get smashed everywhere and stuff. So yeah, I noticed that someone had been on it. Later on that day I was speaking to a couple of other a lotment holders and basically a group of kids have been coming back pretty much all of last weekend and coming onto the plot and then basically just running around like idiots and breaking stuff. A couple of people saw them and reported them to the police and spoke to them themselves and asked them to leave and stuff, but you know what kids are like, especially here in London. You don't really want to intervene too much. Do you know what I mean? You kind of want the police to come and do it. But the police did not come. But anyway, a lot of us have had damage. So, we've given all of the pictures to the a lotment committee and to the people who run the run the a lotment plots. And we'll just have to see what happens and if they put in more security or if we have, you know, some community support officers walk around or something. I mean, I don't know what they can do to be honest. It's just one of those things. So, I don't want to get too hung up on it because, you know, it's annoying. It happens and it could have been a lot worse. Anyway, just one of those things. Today, I've come down. I'm in Oh gosh, falling over. I'm in a better mood today. Uh the sun is poking through a couple of times. It's quite warm in here. But yeah, the weather's looking up. It's looking like it's going to get up again, which does mean, firstly, it means I can get more plants out, which is great. And secondly, it means the slugs might stay away for a bit, which is double great. Fantastic news. So, the big job that I want to do today is the flower bed because it is looking messy. And those ders that I put out, well, let me show you what happened to those poor ders. So, I risked it um about a week ago and I planted out my three biggest ders. This is my biggest one. As you can see, he's been completely eaten down to the ground. There's another one here. He was eaten, but he's actually sprouted again and uh not been eaten immediately. So, this is good news. And with the weather changing over the next few days, I might get lucky with the ders. I might This one might potentially come back. It might potentially come back. We'll have to see. I think they prefer some daily varieties to others. I really think that's the case. Um, I'm going to try and protect him a little bit better today. See if we can bring him back. And then there was another one, but I actually don't know where it is. Oh, is that it? I don't even know what to say about this one. He's got curly leaves. I don't even know what to say about him. But, you know, we'll try and protect him. We'll do our best with you. I mean, I don't even know what you are. What is that? All in all, the flower bed looking a little bit sorry for itself. So, we're going to clear it up today. And then I've got some zenyas to plant, some cosmos, and we'll do a bit of protecting as well. These are the last of the tulips hanging on. And they are glorious. I absolutely love them. They're actually my favorite tulips out of all of them, and they are lasting the longest. And they are just fabulous. [Music] So, I've planted a lot of wild flower seeds in here. So when I'm weeding, I have to be really careful not to pull them up. Unfortunately, I don't quite know what all of the wild flower seedlings look like. So I'm just taking out the weeds where I definitely know what they are. Like bindweed. Gosh, really putting my gardening knowledge to the test. Harding knowledge, eh? Limited gardening knowledge. Weed. Oh, this is a weed. It's fell onto my bottom then. Shame you didn't see that. That would have been rather amusing. What's this? That's got to be a weird. He's turned up. Einstein following me through the uh through the flower bed, aren't you? Oh, I see. I see how it is. You're interrupting me, are you? You know what, guys? He can wait. He can wait. I don't need to jump to attention every time he turns up. All right. He's not starving. He can wait. Old Blooming Echo. Right. Come on. Let's go feed him. Oh god. Einstein. Is he even there anymore? Where are you? Come on then. Come on. Come on. Come on. You go. You've interrupted me and you you you've disappeared on me. Where are you, Einstein? That is unbelievable. That is that is typical robin behavior. That is I'll just get back to it then, shall I? [Music] I've just fed you. Go and have a [Music] look. I've just fed you over [Music] [Music] there. Looked me square in the eyes and did a big poo. What does that mean then? [Music] Right. I'm trying to decide if these uh cosmos plants are too small to go outside. I think they are. The roots are coming through the bottom though. So, they've got really good root system, but they're not getting much bigger. I think I'm going to leave them a while longer. Right. I've brought two packs of zenyas with me. I've got the Sprite mix, which I'm sure I've planted before and has done really well. And I've also got this one which is Zineia Jazz from Mr. Father Girl. This is Mr. Fatherills and this is Johnson seeds. I just picked them up on Amazon. Um, which is the only place I can really get my seeds now that everything around me is closed down. I did sort of want to plant these in pots and then transplant them. But actually, it says on the packet to sew them directly outdoors. So, I'm just sort of going to do that. I'm going to I'm going to risk it. Oh, the crows are back. Great. Um, also all the ders in here have started to sprout. So I'm wondering about whether I should just get them all out and then try and protect them outside. These ones, this one has very, very small. But because the weather's, like I said, the weather's picking up. Might be worth just getting them outside. Should I just do it? The worst that's going to happen is that they die. But then if I grow them on forever and then plant them out and they die, I'll probably be equally disappointed. So yeah. No, stuff it. Let's do it. Right. Cardigan's coming off for this. Right. Zineia and Dia. So, we'll plant Das first. Uh, no Cosmos. No. Are we thinking no Cosmos? Should I just get out? Should I just plant a couple of them out and see how they go? I've got so many. Yeah, let's do it. Let's just plant a couple of cosmos. See if I can protect them. See how they go. And because I've got hundreds, I don't need this many cosmos. Yeah. Okay, cool. Let's do that. We've made a plan. Excellent. You know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking there might be safety in numbers. So, like the more plants I get out, the less chance they'll all be eaten. You know, we can only try, guys. We can only try. Right out you go, mate. Good luck. Look at this cosmos here. He's going to be so hidden. There's no way they'll be able to find it. They just won't be able to find him. It's like plant camouflage. Right. There you go. Well, it's too late now, mate. You're out. So, good luck. Best of luck. Go on. You can do it. [Music] Now, for our zenas, because I'm going to sprinkle these directly onto the flower bed, what I'm going to do is fill a pot with some soil. Right, just grabbing it from from the bed. Right, I got all sorts of marvelous things in here. Right, so I'll grab some soil. What I'll do, let's get my zenas, open them up, pour them all into this pot. All of them. All of them. All of them. Come on. Right. That's all of them. So, they're in my pot. And then I'll mix them up like this. And then we will scatter this whole pot all over the bed. And the seeds will hopefully be covered. That is a genius idea, isn't it? I don't know if it works because I've never sort of successfully done it before. That doesn't mean it doesn't work. That could just mean that I haven't done it right or that the slugs got there first. [Music] [Music] I fear I may have lost the whole sea packet then. I don't know. That sort of didn't feel right. You know what, guys? That really has the potential to work in theory, but whether it works practically, I'm undecided at the moment. I feel like I just threw all the seeds away and now they've disappeared. Will they be I I don't know. Will they grow? I don't know. Hopefully. I mean, they're on the soil somewhere, so it's better than nowhere. Ah. Right. Let's give it a good water. It's looking good, though. [Music] [Music] Right. So, to protect the ders now and all the plants I put in, I'm going to make another trap for slugs. It's like a beer trap, but it's not a beer trap. It's going to be a veggomite trap. So, somebody said that this works because it's the yeast in beer that slugs are attracted to. They like the yeast in it. So, I'm going to give it a go with some veggomite. Same concept. They like it. They go in, they fall in, they die. Um, and then they don't eat my plant. Or they just have a nice drink, have a little swim, go back home, tuck it into bed, full tummy. I don't know. I don't know what the answer is, but we're going to try it. Got another little shallow dish. So, we'll just fill it with water. Put the Vegemite in. Right. So, we got our shallow dish. Oh, I didn't bring a spoon. Do I need a spoon to get this out? How do I get this out? A stick, I'm guessing. Stick, right? We have to use a stick. Nine times out of 10, guys, if you don't know what the answer is, it can be a stick. The answer is a stick. How does this stuff get out? It's breaking my stick. What's wrong with this stuff? Oh my god, it's rock solid. Is it supposed to be? Oh my god, it's snapping on my sticks. Is this gone off or something? It smells like it's gone off. But you know what? I don't like it. So, it always smells like it's gone off. I don't know how to get this out. How do I put it in there with water? There's so many questions and I've invented this so I can't ask anyone. Have I invented it, though? I haven't invented it. Surely not. Oh, scissors. When the answer's not a stick, it's scissors. Right. Should I just sort of smear it at the bottom then? I don't know how much it needs. Should I spread it? What should I do? How do I Can you have too much Vegemite in this? Like, would it just be unpleasant for them? Two bit. Oh, I've just made a hole in it. I've just made a hole in it. I'm an idiot. I am an idiot. Right. Can't find duct tape. got a new container instead. Okay, so we'll just smear [Music] it. That was an absolute disaster that was. But hopefully, I mean, look, the water is going yellowy now. So, I'm guessing that's sort of a yeast. Okay, brilliant. So, let's put it over by the ders. Sort of in the middle of them, I think. There. There's the dia we want to protect. And there is our trap. Well, I will let you know how the Vegemite slug trap goes. You're a fan of Vegemite? I'm not. I can't stand it. I mean, I don't mind the smell, but the taste, no, it's not for me. But hopefully the slugs like it [Music] Right. So, the other pack of my ders are going to go in the front of this bed here, which is where my tulips were. Unfortunately, I didn't really have a plan for this bit of the bed. Um, and behind it, I've got corn flowers coming up, which is excellent. So, corn flowers and zenas. Lovely. [Music] Right, back in the greenhouse again. It's actually getting quite chilly out there again now. I've got my cardigan back on. Right, two lots of zenyas planted in two different areas. Hopefully the slugs will stay away, but we will have to protect them at some point. Uh, and yeah, and the weather, like I said, the I keep saying, the weather is looking up in the next few days, and I think it's going to really help. God, that's why my duct tape went. Sorry about that. I found my scissors the other day as well, and I've immediately lost them again. I was just using them on the tulips, and I put them down and I can't find them. Anyway, yeah, with the weather looking up, I think hopefully slugs will stay away for a bit and give things a chance to grow again, which is excellent news. I'm going to weed in here quickly because uh we are getting a lot of bind weed and stuff and I think it needs a bit of looking after. So, we're going to do that now. Keep telling myself I'm going to do this and every time I get here I end up not not doing it and not weeding and it just gets worse and worse every time I come in. So, finally I'm getting round to actually weeding in the greenhouse. Hallelujah. Right up my chair. Cheeky cheeky bindweed. Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I just kicked all the seeds. It's all right. They won't notice. I'm not too surprised to see the weeds in here because underneath this greenhouse, it was a weedy mess and it was very difficult to clear over the winter. So, I will just have to deal with them coming up now and pick them as soon as they do, especially the bindweed. I'm going to go around and feed everything again. Um, I've seen the sunflowers looking a little bit yellow, so we're going to give them a feed. It seems to have perked everything else up. [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] Right, guys. Well, that's it from me today. I hope you've enjoyed my little vlog in my lotment plot. The sun keeps popping in and out, which is nice, but hopefully it will stay out uh for the next few days. And I will see you again Sunday with a 900 a.m. little garden vlog and then again at the a lotment plot on Monday. So see you Sunday or Monday. Thanks for watching guys. Bye.