U3A Gardening Group meeting on Wed 7th Feb 2018
An enthusiastic group of 35 of us came to the Blue Room in the Crackington Institute to hear the talk ‘Garden Medicine’ by speaker Nick Bacon. He is so knowledgeable and gardening experienced. Apparently his involvement with gardening began as a child & never stopped! One of his varied roles was in the Trelawny Garden Centre until 2016.
His most popular talk is ‘Garden Medicine’ which is very informative and humorous, using a box of items from the home.
One subject is pest control ie. Slugs and snails but the large black slugs are beneficial in compost bins so not included! Carrot fly can be deterred by sewing Carrots between rows of Onion sets and/or placing mirrors at either end of Carrot rows. The fly reflections, deters them! Peppermint is anti-mouse.
Using custard powder can help with rooting soft cuttings and also seal the surface of cut seed potatoes. Vacuum cleaner dust under plants encourages Tomato growth. Aspirin acts as a growth hormone for plants.
Beetroot into the middle of Daffodil bulbs can turn the flowers pink!
Nick spoke about much more and answered our questions. The group hope to see him again as he gives several more talks.