ME AND MY MOTOR- MARIE BROWN

(Click on the title for a link to Foyle Womans aid)

This week Marie Brown steps into the motoring spotlight. Marie is the area co-ordinator for Foyle Womens Aid. This organisation covers a range of services for women and children suffering from domestic violence.

Name : Marie Brown
Car: 2005 Ford Tdi Zetec Fiesta

How long have you had the car?
I bought it new two years ago.

Any plans to change?
Maybe next year.

Is it reliable?
Yes, very. I need a reliable car because I drive to meetings around the country. It is one of the main reasons that I buy new and change them before any problems start.

Best thing about the car?
Very good fuel economy with the diesel engine with no loss of power from the lively Zetec engine.

How often do you wash it?
My children are both away studying but when they come home at the end of term I get them to do it. So it’s at least fout times a year! I do keep the insides clean though as loose items can be a distraction.

If you were the minister for finance what would you sdo to help motorists?
I experience a lot of parking problems in towns and cities, sometines it is easier to catch a taxi. I would like to see more public transport .

What would you really like to be driving around in?
My friend has a 5 series BMW which has the comforts and refinement I would like in a car. I find parking a bit of an issue though so I like the thought of all of the big car refinements such as sat nav and remote sensor parking to be put into a small sports car. It would have to be brightly coloured and with global warming having an effect, I wouldn’t say no to a convertible!

Motoring.

MORE ABOUT HANGING BASKETS

Photo: Pelargonuims are a safe bet for the centre of a hanging basket.

I have a few articles about hanging baskets. I do repeat myself a bit but they are all slightly different!

With the threat of frosts gone, the annual hanging basket frenzy is well under way. With my basket liners arriving earlier in the week I have taken a break from the monotony of potting and the heavy work of my outside jobs to concentrate on the pleasurable and creative past-time of making up the hanging baskets. The tunnel is full of them and every time I walk past them (or walk into them –ouch) I have to resist the temptation to put more plants in the gaps. If I were to keep filling them then there would be no room for the plants already in there to grow. After saying that I still manage to sneak the odd extra Petunia in somewhere.

Planting up hanging baskets

What you need: Your basket, basket liner or moss, plants, slow release fertilizer granules (you can buy a box of Osmocote from the Co-op).

First rest the basket onto a bucket or pot for a good base when working. Make sure the plants have been well watered before starting too. Line the basket. I am using coco fibre liners this year, they have holes already in the sides which saves me having to use my brain to get the plants evenly spaced. If you are using moss, then line the basket to halfway up the sides. There are no fixed rules on plants to use, but you won’t go far wrong putting three or six plants (or clumps if you use Lobelia) through the side of the basket. Trailing plants also look effective. Then line the moss to the top of the basket and fill with compost. Add slow release fertilizer granules. There are also water-retaining crystals on the market that can help prevent the basket from drying out.

Plant a tall plant in the centre and lower growing plants around it .If using trailing plants on the top of the basket, put them 6cm (2in) from the edge. They will fill out nicely by the time they trail over the edge of the basket.

Once planted, water thoroughly, allow to soak, and then water again. Protect from strong sunlight for a few days and take them in if there is a frost. Deadhead regularly, water frequently (They will need watering even if the weather is cloudy and wet in summer) and liquid feed when the plants look as though they need perking up.

Tip- if the basket does dry out, no amount of watering will wet the inside of the soil. Take down the basket and place it in a large container full of water, leave it until it is just about to sink, then pull it out. This sounds drastic, but it will save the basket!

I have seen a few hanging baskets supported on poles in the lawn to add colour. These are a good idea if you’re fed up with hanging baskets banging against your house walls when it’s windy.

Horticulture.

IN THE VEGGIE PATCH

Photo: Comfrey juice is an ideal plant food.

I’ve just recovered from a rather unpleasant cold. I haven’t had one as bad for years and to make matters worse the rest of the family were down with it too. For some reason though I seemed to come down with this illness far more severely than everyone else. I needed more attention, more medication and of course more time to get up onto my feet again. It’s funny how men seem to get these things worse than women and children!

Because of this affliction, I have been on light duties in the garden. I have been in the tunnel doing a few bits and bobs. One thing that I have to do in there is to tread carefully. This is because the frogs are now jumping around merrily and keeping the slugs down. They are only the size of your little fingernail but they can jump pretty well. I have also found an ant’s nest under one of the tomato plants. I find their comings and goings most interesting, as do my two lads. They have been tunnelling into the nest over the past few days to try and capture the queen, that way they can control the colony- then of course after that they can take over the world. The ants have got fed up with the constant barrage of attacks and have packed their bags and moved six feet to a safer area under some black polythene, taking all their eggs with them. Will the invaders find this new haven? I’ll keep you posted.

Tomatoes.
The tomato plants in the tunnel are getting to be too tall to stand on their own. I will be supporting them with thin hazel rods; care is needed to put these in as they could easily push their way through the plastic. I was trying to secure them with string but there aren’t enough places to tie it to. The tomatoes are also producing a lot of side shoots too. If we were living in the South of France we could let them all grow and have bumper crops of small tomatoes, but our growing season is shorter so we have to concentrate the growing into a shorter time. Therefore the side shoots need nipping out when they are about 2 inches long. They can be pushed into the soil to make new plants if you like. I’ve under planted the tomatoes with courgettes and lettuce to make good use of the space.

Lettuce.
The lettuce, although producing a bumper crop, is falling more and more into the clutches of the attack of the greenfly. I am picking them off but it’s proving to be too little too late. Instead of spraying them with a soapy solution I am pulling up the whole plant and throwing them out for the rabbits. Apparently, you shouldn’t give rabbits too much lettuce, as there is a chemical in the plant that makes the rabbits go hopping mad! It’ll make a welcome break from their diet of spinach at the moment. I have been throwing in the whole plants into the run, stalks and roots included; they can hardly move for the stuff and are now refusing to eat it. I had to pull up a fish box of spuds as well, as the leaves were also alive with greenfly. I thought it was time to harvest the crop as they were originally intended for use on Christmas day, but the frost killed the tops off. They came back and have produced a lovely crop of earlies that taste delicious.

Beans.
Most of my beans and peas have been planted outside this week. I couldn’t really put the planting off any longer. The plants were fully hardened off in their packs. The only reservation I had was the fact that my soil is so wet. So to overcome this I built small ridges and planted them into those. By the time the roots delve deeper into the ground, hopefully the ground will have drained a bit. I have put in dwarf French beans, mange tout, peas, runner beans and broad beans, all of which require well-drained soil. I put the broad beans in a row supported by hazel rods stretching up to about ten feet tall. I might be being a bit over enthusiastic here as on the packet it says they grow up to only four feet. I’ll be feeding them lots of comfrey juice!

Leeks. Leeks are less demanding than onions when it comes to soil. They will grow in any soil as long as it isn’t too wet or compacted. They will grow better if there is a bit of well-rotted compost added though. I grew my seeds in the plug containers. They were ready this week as well to put out as they had reached about 8 inches high. When I put them out I planted them in at around 6inches deep. I made a hole with a dibber then dropped the plug into it, the hole has been left as it was and not filled up with soil. This will help the plants expand throughout the growing season. As the plants grow I will be drawing dry soil up the stem, this will give the familiar white base to the leek. The great thing about leeks is that they will stay in the soil all winter and if you start lifting the plants when they are quite small then the harvesting season can last up to six months.

Horticultural.

CEANOTHUS

MYSTERY SHRUB

Q My neighbour has a beautiful shrub in her garden. It is in flower now and has dark green waxy leaves and lovely blue flowers, what is it and can I take a cutting? A. L. Gleneely.

A The shrub is called a Ceanothus. It is early yet for them to be in flower but if the plant is in a well drained, sunny, sheltered spot it is possible to see them in their full glory now. You can get ground cover types and ones that grow to 8 feet tall. Propagate from cuttings taken from lateral shoots in midsummer. There’s a white variety as well called “Gloire de Versailles” which grows up to 6 feet tall.

Horticultural.