Allotments 4 All

Yes I  know im early but i want to be organised thise year!

For ideas i can vouch for Crabtree * Evelyn Gardeners Hand Therapy and Hand Recovery!

But I am looking for a gardening diary for my allotment neighbour... something suitable for him to record when he sowed, harvested and planted etc... but in gardening style... I know he has lots of gardening books but i wanted to get him a proper diary!  Anyone seen one?

Hi Oliveoil.
  I Know Letts do a Gardner's diary, maybe worth checking out on the net.
Hope that helps
Bob

Yeah, you can get it, put when Christmas is in it and wait until a bit nearer the time before mentioning it ::) ;)

Quote from: rdm51 on September 16, 2006, 20:14:12
Hi Oliveoil.
  I Know Letts do a Gardner's diary, maybe worth checking out on the net.
Hope that helps
Bob

I found a great one on http://www.thecuttinggarden.com/html/GiftCard.asp?cat=20&type=bulbs&Product=836&prevnext=no

I want one - a real change from boring academic year ones.

Theres enough time for you all to club together to buy me the cockerel watering can from the garden factory for my birthday.  Thanks in advance lol!

I have an older version of this........it's very good

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Five-Year-Gardener-Record-Book/dp/0711215936

These tools are a DELIGHT to use. The Apprentice set being perfect for the ladies.

http://www.josephbentley.co.uk/ChildrensGardenTools1.html

a set of louvre windows and auto openers is on my xmas list.

(i'm definitely going to look closer at those year books thought).

I would like a days time with a handyman so he can weed the allotment for me early spring :-) if anyone is paying!

Cambourne, I asked for something similar last year from OH - a book of vouchers with this voucher entitles the  bearer to 'half days labouring', 'water butts filling', 'ratty shed burning', 'hedge trimming' etc ... still hopeful that I might get this year !

I bookmarked this from an earlier in the year talk about the best soap for gardeners' hands & this is what I'll be buying my friends....be a b. to wrap up tho :P

http://www.airandwater.co.uk/product_details.asp?pid=4507

aww! this is a nice thread.

come to think of it...i have a friend who's always moving. she never stick in to once place...even during the week and doesn't have a permanent home. what sort of plant would you get for a person like that? it has to be something with great flowers that requires little or no care...and can be grown in pots so she can take it with her to places.

What about one of these wahaj - she can take her tree with her wherever she goes!

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/CACTUS-HEAVEN_Pet-Trees_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ19QQftidZ2QQtZkm

Quote from: EJ - Emma Jane on September 20, 2006, 17:59:07
What about one of these wahaj - she can take her tree with her wherever she goes!

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/CACTUS-HEAVEN_Pet-Trees_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ19QQftidZ2QQtZkm

oh. it doesn't seem to be loading. but by the name of the page...is it like those tiny little cactus things inside a little glass globe attached to a keychain?

it is wahaj.

Quote from: EJ - Emma Jane on September 21, 2006, 11:11:55
it is wahaj.

ooh! i used to have one in the past! and i lost it.....and i cried for the like 5 minutes and then i shruged it off. i'm sure it's probably smashed out of the little casing and is growing under my bed and rooting through the floorboards.

How about a 'planting by the moon' diary for next year?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MOON-PLANTING-PERFECT-YULE-GIFT-FOR-ORGANIC-GARDENERS_W0QQitemZ140031234640QQihZ004QQcategoryZ11112QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem



Or one of these notebooks would be great for keeping sowing/planting notes!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=016&item=260034170229&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Regarding gardening diaries/journals, my dad had a lovely gardening logbook which I think is still in a box somewhere from moving house 6 years ago. I haven't been able to find it or anything like it since - it had square paper for plans, had colour coding for veg, fruit, herbs, flowers... and on the veg/fruit pages, there was a space for sowing/transplanting dates then harvesting dates & yields.
I do have a selection of journals I have located in charity shops -

Alan Titchmarsh's The Gardener's Logbook dates from 1985 (including picture of him!). It has grids for planning, pages for lawn/rose/flowers/veg/fruit/houseplant/herb.. records.

I have Gardener's Journal from 1988. Intro by Stan Seymour. 2 A4 pages per month, very basic but has some nice illustrations and pictures of ancient seed packets. What happened to Sutton's Magnum Bonum - the best and heaviest cropping potato?

I have Almanac & Pest-control primer. This is a Rodale book from 2000. It has monthly sections with a checklist & advice from other gardeners, plus at the back, is room for your journal to record details for month & year. It is an American book and the checklist is organised by USDA hardiness zones. There are sections - guides on how to extend the season, attracting the good insects, mulches... I like it but won't write in it. I think I got it from one of the clearance bookshops.

I would like a planned babysitter one weekend a month just so that me and my darling Ava could go to the plot together.  So often I could do with his help, strimming, mowing, building, and company.  That would be my perfect gardeners Christmas gift.  ;D