Plants for Pounds

Finally I am going to have some time to start writing my blog a bit more regularly. I have spent so much time outdoors for the past few weeks I already have the start of a nice summer tan. 

The reason is obviously my plant sale. I have been growing and tending hundreds of plants for a couple of months to raise fund for Oakhaven Hospice  . I spent last week glued to the weather forecast every day praying for warm sunny days. And my prayers were pretty much answered. The tiny plants suddenly had a growth spurt and looked very impressive. The watering was a marathon task each evening as the pots dried out quickly but I enjoyed it immensely. Earlier last week, the weather people started mentioning the "F" word. Now for gardeners, that doesn't mean the swear word, but something even worse FROST. 

My greenhouse was bursting at the seams and I had loads of plants outside so this was not something I wanted to hear. 

On Thursday they were even more insistent , so drastic action was required I managed to shoe horn some into the summer house 

And the rest were wrapped in several layers of fleece

So Friday morning arrived bright and sunny and I got outside pretty promptly to find that all my efforts had been wasted. No hint of frost, in fact it was a lovely warm morning. I suppose if I hadn't taken the time to protect them, the opposite would have happened.

Friday and Saturday flew by as every plant was priced and labelled, pictures were printed, so people knew what they were buying and we started to get things set up on the front lawn. And then it was Sunday. I made myself feel a bit ill early in the morning when I blew up all the balloons. 

After a restorative cup of tea, my helpers arrived and it was just a matter of putting out the plants. I had allowed an hour to do this. That was a bit of an underestimate. In all the rushing about I misjudged the corner of the garage door whilst ducking under it and managed to gouge a lump out of the top of my head .. OUCH.. that wasn't really part of the plan but I managed to carry on although I was seeing stars for a while. We got all the plants out just in time.

Suddenly people appeared from all directions and the sale was underway. 

It was only two hours but it flew by and there were lots of questions to answer and people to help. Then it was all over... After months of work all that remained was to clear up and have another cup of tea and cake. 

I took a lot of money on the day but since then every day people have been calling asking for more plants and I also took some to the shop where they were bought up in an afternoon. I don't have the final total yet but it is on its way towards about £240 which I am delighted with. 

There are still plants left and they have grown really well this week in the post sale sunshine, so they are all off to Somerset tomorrow. Georgie over at Common Farm Flowers  is having a sale on Saturday 10th May at Charlton Musgrove Village Hall to raise funds for the charity Headsmart and the village hall fund. If you live in the area pop over between 9.30am and 12.30 am and help raise even more money. 

Thats about all. I have alongside this, continued to grow and plant out my own veg patch so next blog I will show you some of things I have been up too.. 

We are off to the first big classic car event of the summer on Sunday at Memorial Park in Basingstoke where the Basingstoke Festival of Transport is taking place. Freda will be taking her place amongst a load of other TR's from our club, should be a brilliant day .