More sheds on allotments broken into in the Newmarket area
Sheds on allotments are often targeted. What can you do?

First mark all your tools. Get a metal stamp and get your postcode stamped into them – put your house number on too so if items are found then you’ll be able to identify them. The beauty of them being garden tools is that you can cover up the mark with mud and no one stealing them would know it was on which means they are unlikely to notice it. Even if they do it’d have to be ground off which will make it’s own mark!

You can chain things up with bike locks or chains and a padlock too. By fixing tools together you’ll make them really hard to carry and whilst this might not put off someone it’ll make it so difficult to do that it’ll take longer and they might give up.

A steel shed might be more secure than a wooden one. You can concrete something to the floor and chain your tools to this. This would make it even harder to steal things.

New items added today at Tooled Up

Sealey Galvanized Steel Shed 1500mm x 800mm x 1900mm £220.95
Galvanized steel panels easily bolt and rivet together to form a rigid and secure shed. Single door fitted with cross bolt and eyelet that accepts padlock (not included) for additional security. Features a Skillion style roof. Supplied with bolt down…

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– get as many water barrels as possible. Daisy chain them together using the bit of kit listed below
– get barrels that have not had nasty chemicals in
– keep them lidded. This keeps out dirt and insects.
– make them child proof.
– don’t drink the rain water.
– decorate them if you want!

Connect them up to the roof downspouts to fill with rainwater. Sheds and greenhouses are worth having their own barrels. Some people think you should have a rain barrel inside the greenhouse so the water is the same temperature. It’ll also act as a thermal heat store too.

New items at Unwins Seeds & Plants

200Ltr Water Butt £54.95
This green wood grain effect 200 litre water butt is a must in any garden. It’s made from a minimum of 75% recycled HDPE plastic and comes with a 5-year guarantee. Unlike many other water butts advertised elsewhere ours comes complete with a stand child safe lid Quick Connect and downpipe diverter kit -ready for immediate installation. Downpipe converter kit will fit 68cm diameter round pipe or 65cm square pipe. Maxium distance from pipe to butt is 50cm. The butt with stand measures: 68cm diameter (at the widest point) and 118cm high (2.3 x 3.9ft).

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More tomato seeds – well worth a look for some tasty varieties to grow at home.

Tomato – Italian Tomato Seed Collection £4.99

Tomato Ailsa Craig Seeds £1.75

Tomato Alicante Seeds £1.75

Tomato F1 Fantasio Seeds £3.55

Tomato F1 Giulietta Seed £2.15

Tomato F1 Golden Pearl Seeds £2.35

Tomato F1 Incas Seeds £3.35

Tomato F1 Little Sun Seeds £1.99

Tomato F1 Lizzano Seed £2.99

Tomato F1 Orkado Seeds £2.99

Tomato F1 Shirley Seeds £4.75

Tomato F1 Spencer Seed £1.99

Tomato F1 Sweet ‘n’ Neat Seeds – Cherry Red £1.99

Tomato F1 Sweet ‘n’ Neat Seeds – Yellow £1.99

Tomato F1 Tomatoberry Garden Seeds £3.55

Tomato Faworyt Seeds £2.15

Tomato Floridity Seeds £3.55

Tomato Golden Sunrise Seeds £2.15

Tomato Marmande Seeds £1.75

Tomato Maskotka Seeds £1.45

Tomato Megabite Seed £2.15

Tomato Red Alert Seeds £2.15

Tomato Red Robin Seeds £1.99

Tomato Seed Growing Kit £3.55

Tomato Sweetbaby Seeds £1.55

Tomato Tamina Seeds £1.75

Tomato Tumbling Tom Yellow Seeds £3.35

Runner bean seeds at Jersey Plants direct. I love runner beans! When you grow your own you’ll love being able to pick them and get them cooked within a short time.
Runner Bean 6 Jumbo Ready Plants March Delivery £6.99

Runner Bean Scarlet Emperor 50 Seeds £2.99

Runner Beans Streamline 50 Seeds £2.99

Dwarf Runner Bean Hesita 50 Seeds £2.99

Tomatoes take effort but are worth every bit of care you give them! Home grown tomatoes are superb!
You’ll need pots,growbags, plant food and canes.
Tomato ‘Craigella’ – Heritage – 1 packet £1.99

Tomato ‘Striped Stuffer’ – Heritage – 1 packet £1.99

Tomato ‘The Amateur’ – Heritage – 1 packet (30 seeds) £1.99

Tomato ‘Tumbling Junior’ F1 Hybrid – Kew Collection Seeds – 1 packet £1.99

Lettuce ‘Red Salad Bowl’ (Loose-Leaf) – Vita Sementi® Italian Seeds – 1 packet (4000 seeds) £1.89

Lettuce ‘Lollo Bionda’ (Loose-Leaf) – Vita Sementi® Italian Seeds – 1 packet (4000 seeds) £1.89

Tomato ‘Il San Marzano Lungo’ – Vita Sementi® Italian Seeds – 1 packet (300 seeds) £1.89

Tomato ‘Cuore di Bue’ – Vita Sementi® Italian Seeds – 1 packet (390 seeds) £1.89

Tomato ‘Il Pantano Romanesco’ – Vita Sementi® Italian Seeds – 1 packet (300 seeds) £1.89

Lettuce ‘Verde A Foglia Riccia’ (Loose-Leaf) – Vita Sementi® Italian Seeds – 1 packet (7000 seeds) £1.89

Lettuce ‘Bionda Lenta a Montare’ (Romaine) – Vita Sementi® Italian Seeds – 1 packet (4800 seeds) £1.89

Lettuce ‘Quattro Stagioni’ (Butterhead) – Vita Sementi® Italian Seeds – 1 packet (6400 seeds) £1.89

Tomato ‘Moneymaker’ – Duchy Originals Organic Seeds – 1 packet (30 seeds) £1.89

Tomato ‘Yellow Stuffer’ – Heritage – 1 packet £0.99

Tomato ‘Falcorosso’ (Organic) – 1 packet (6 seeds) £0.99

Tomato ‘Orkado’ F1 Hybrid – 1 packet (8 seeds) £0.99

Tomato ‘Tigerella’ (Mr Stripey) – RHS Garden Explorers Children’s Seeds – 1 packet (50 seeds) £0.99

Fantastic article on the Telegraph – How gardening helps Alzheimer’s sufferers – By Bunny Guinness

As well as being good for the body, gardening is also good for the mind.

The green ones are everywhere, but with supermarkets suddenly selling purple ones maybe it’s time to start growing some!
Will confuse the kids if nothing else!
Sprouts at Thompson & Morgan – seeds available to order today.

Brussels Sprout ‘Falstaff’ – 1 packet (80 seeds) £2.29
A novelty purple-red sprout, adding a touch of colour to your plate. Brussels Sprout Falstaff matures over a long period, and has a milder, nuttier flavour than standard green types. The colour develops great intensity after a hard frost, and is retained when the sprouts are cooked, steamed or microwaved.

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When Boris Johnson launched Capital Growth in 2008 to create plots of land across the city where food could be grown, each borough was expected to establish 60 growing spaces by 2012.

Bexley currently has nine, eight of which are in school grounds.

Fantastic flowers at Jersey Plants Direct – the classic large flowered red geranium Fire Queen is a brilliant buy for you garden. It’s bright bold colour will fill your flower beds with fantastic colour all summer.
Available as plants or seeds.

Geranium Fire Queen 28 Super Ready Plants £9.99
Our best selling Geranium new to the super rangeUnderestimated how many plants needed for your summer displays? These new late spring special Super Ready plants are grown to a more mature size for immediate planting. They are ideal for plugging those annoying gaps in your developing displays.This classic large flowered red geranium is a beautiful example of a geranium. The red flowers stand proud of the green coloured leaves, giving a lovely backdrop to the large flowers. Geranium Fire Queen is good in dry conditions and will bloom throughout the summer.

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Jersey Plants Direct just added these new products

Begonia Destiny Patchwork 50 Plants + 20 FREE £11.99
An established favourite with our customersThese early order Patchwork Collections are made up of 6 separately sown and labelled colours giving you the opportunity to create your own uniquely designed planting scheme. Limited AvailabilityOur best selling Begonia Destiny is an established favourite. This strong upright bedding plant has fully double flowers in a colourful mix of red, orange and yellow. It is a profuse flowering plant and will provide colour in your garden all summer long. Orders must arrive by Saturday 31st December

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