Potting and Plotting

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Norma and Chris working in the potting shed

Dressed for Arctic weather as you can see. We were very warm except for our freezing hands while we worked for about four hours with damp, cold compost. We all bring our favourite gloves but none of them worked today and the only thing we could think of was a glove with a thin layer of cashmere inside and an equally thin waterproof layer outside. They have to be very fine for pricking out and potting on tiny plants. Does anyone have a solution to this?

We re-potted about three hundred plants into larger pots (general compost with an odd handful of Osmacote, a slow release fertilizer). Plants were – Lathyrus vernus, Schizanthus, Linum, Echinacea and Rehmannia elata. Plants were taken out, cleaned up, any dead leaves and moss removed, roots trimmed and the side of the plant opened out slightly to give the roots a better chance. We brought our sandwiches with us to save the fifteen minute walk back to the Bothy, had lunch in Alan’s tiny space and made plans for curtains, cushions and table mats.

Jill