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A challenge!!!!!!

Why don’t you join in by making a scarecrow, for your front garden, to thank one of these “key workers,” or others you can think of!
Let’s see them brighten up our village, from 18 April
Won’t that make walks more fun?

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Garden Notes for April 2020.

Clematis are popular.  They are members of the Ranunculae, which are named after ‘Rana’ (the frog) and demand a cool moist root run.  When planting remember that they need shade at the base so it is a good idea to put a piece of stone or paving over the top after you have planted them out.

Plant late flowering herbaceous plants in April, such as kniphofias and michelmas daisies (Aster novi-belgii).  Old clumps of taller rudbekias, helianthuses, monardas and heleniums will benefit from being split up in April since this will revitalise them, especially if they have been producing smaller flowers and losing their lower leaves in the previous season.

Plant onion sets and keep up a succession of salad crop sowings.  April is the time to sow late summer cauliflower.  If frost is forecast, cover up any potato foliage that might be showing.  Make sowings of winter cabbage, purple-sprouting and spring-heading broccoli.

Don’t forget herbs.  You can sow dill, fennel, hyssop, marjoram, rue and thyme.  Parsley should be sown, allow time for it to germinate.  Old fashioned gardeners used to keep a little bit of seed in a waistcoat pocket with a hole so it fell out as they gardened!  (So they tell me).

If you have sweet peas they should be planted out now.  If you are going to try and grow the larger specimens as cordons, start restricting growth by removing all tendrils and side shoots and remember to support them otherwise the slugs and snails will have a feast.

Towards the end of the month, if we have had dry weather, start to thin out salad crops like carrot.  One tip is to water the row the night before so that it is easier to pull the roots out the next day.

Camellias will benefit from a top dressing of leaf mould.  Remember to prune early flowering shrubs like berberis, forsythia, and spiraea immediately after flowering.

Do remember that early morning frosts are a real danger all through April and May, it is not until June, (and even then it can be a bit dicey for the first week!) that it is safe to put out any vulnerable plants – unless you can protect them at night.

Chris Coke

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Can you grow the heaviest single potato?
Or the heaviest crop of potatoes in a sack?

Capel Horticultural Society will be running its “Potato in a Sack” competition again this year.

Growing potatoes is easy and lots of fun for all the family, and a great introduction to producing your very own vegetables. The winner of the 2019 competition produced a crop of potatoes weighing just under 3 kilos. Can you beat that?

You can collect your free potato with hints and tips on how to grow and look after your potato from outside the front door of Chestnut House, 93 The Street, Capel, RH5 5JX (next to the school), on Saturday April 4 and Sunday April 5.

In the interests of reducing plastic usage we are not giving out sacks this year. We suggest you recycle last year’s bag, if you have it, or use an old plastic compost sack to grow your potatoes in. We do have a small number of sacks and compost bags if needed.

The Potato in a Sack Competition will be judged on Saturday August 15 at the Capel Show. Just bring your full potato sack to the marquee in the morning where your sack will be emptied and your potatoes weighed.

So we can contact you before the Capel Show with the arrangements for entering the competition, please email the Show Secretary – CHS_ShowSec@btinternet.com – to let us know you have collected a potato.

The winner of the heaviest crop of potatoes and the winner of the heaviest single potato will be presented with a certificate and, of course, their prize money.

Good Luck!
Capel Horticultural Society

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Capel Horticultural Society committee have reluctantly decided to postpone the Quiz Night and Supper planned for Saturday 21 March.  This popular event has been rescheduled for Saturday 3rd October in Capel Memorial Hall.

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Garden notes for March

March is the time when your garden will really start motoring, providing we have seasonal weather. So it is a busy time preparing for the coming months. Be warned though, don’t get too far ahead or your plants will pay the penalty.

Many vegetable crops can be sown this month. It is a good idea, if you can, to warm the ground up by using garden fleece or cloches. Other, more tender plants like tomatoes, sweet peppers, cucumbers, aubergines, and globe artichokes may be sown in a frost-free greenhouse. In addition all the useful herbs like parsley, chives, fennel and marjoram can be sown outdoors.

Early spring is the ideal time to plant and/or to divide herbaceous plants. In so doing you will help the older plant to rejuvenate itself and to give you a much better plant for the summer, as well as pleasing friends and neighbours with the spare plants you don’t want.

Start to water house plants, but only sparingly until they come into growth. Then start them with a weak soluble fertiliser.

Make sure you have had your garden machinery serviced and ready for use. When the weather is appropriate, start to mow the lawn. Set the blades on ‘high’ for the first few cuts. There will probably be excess moss in the lawn, so it is beneficial to get rid of it by using a scarifier as it will allow the grass to grow more vigorously.

Start leeks under glass for pricking out and transplanting at the end of the month
Salad crops such as lettuce can be started for transplanting once they have established themselves. Put them into the soil that you have warmed up under cloches or fleece.

Pansies and violas can be sown now for a show later in the summer.

You should get your seed potatoes ‘chitted’, by putting them in egg trays in a frost free place and exposing them to light to get the first shoots greened up. If you are daring, plant early varieties of potato but be sure to keep an eye out for frost warnings and cover any leaf shoots before the frost comes down.

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Saturday March 9^th2019
Capel Village Memorial Hall. 7.00 for 7.30pm

No sooner the Christmas decorations are put away we start on our annual programme of activities.  The menu for our hugely popular quiz night has been decided and now we would like to take your bookings.

Choices this year are:

• Beef & Ale Stew with Horseradish Spiral Dumplings, baked potato & green salad, or

• Chicken Valencia, baked potato & green salad, or

• Potato, leek and cheese pie with green salad, followed by:

• Rosy Fruit Compote with Yoghurt & Honey

• Double chocolate fudge cake with cream, or

• Cheese board

All followed by tea/coffee and mints.  There will be no bar so please remember to bring your own drinks and glasses.

Do please book early as space is limited and every year we sell out. Bookings should be for tables of 8 people.  Please contact Rosemary Goddard on 01306 711259 or email rosemary@stylehurstfarm.comas soon as possible.   Tickets are £16 per head.

We very much look forward to seeing you and please, for those who have not been before, don’t be put off by thinking the quiz is purely horticultural. Our quizmasters cover an eclectic mix of topics.

Jane Major
December 2018

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We have recently agreed a discount deal for our members with Buckland Nurseries (near Reigate on A25) on the production of membership card.

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Would you like to make your own Christmas Wreath or Table Decoration this year?

Then join us in Capel Parish Hall on Thursday 13 December at 7.30 pm.

All you need to bring is a pair of secateurs, a camera/smart phone would help you remember what to do for future years and if you have greenery from your own garden that you would like to include, bring that along too.  All other components will be provided,

Mince pies, mulled wine or tea/coffee included in the price of £25.00.  Arrive promptly as the evening starts with a demonstration from local professional florist, Vicky Edwards, who will then help you create a stunning Christmas decoration.

There will also be a Christmas themed raffleincluding a delicious Christmas cake to take home and decorate as you wish.

Places are limited, so contact Jane Major as soon as possible.  Tickets must be bought in advance only.  Cheques made out to Capel Horticultural Society.

oldjoinery@gmail.com

The Old Joinery
110 The Street
Capel
RH5 5JY

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