21 Mar - A Gap In The Rain

I was lamenting in a previous post that we've had little rain this winter, well, March seems to have made up for it. After the snow the rains have come. Luckily, the third weekend of March when I traditionally put in my early spuds, was relatively fine so, in went the Rocket. Actually I only planted half, I'm going to plant the rest in a month to six weeks time. (Pic - Rocket potatoes go in).

Due to the snow and rain I haven't been able to get the Sturon onion sets planted out, I usually get them in just before the early spuds. Fortunately I prepared the ground for the sets back in February when things were drier. I tilled it, added some fertilizer and gave it a few weeks to settle. So, it was just a matter of gently pushing the onions into the soft soil. I planted eight rows of eight, plenty for us. (Pic - onion sets go in with some temporary netting to stop the birds from pulling them up until they get rooted in properly). 

As temperatures are forecast to be above freezing for the next few weeks, I sowed my Bunyard's broad beans into long root trainers and left them in the unheated greenhouse to germinate. They might take a bit of time but I'm sure they'll appear at some point.

New to me are 'Patty Pan' summer squashes, never tried them before. I've sown a few into individual pots and put them inside the house to germinate. I won't sow my winter squashes for a month or two yet but as these are summer squashes I thought I'd give them a head start - I'm planning to keep potting them on so they are established plants when I finally put them out after the last frosts.

I've cleaned out the carrot barrel, dug the sandy soil mix and added a little fertilizer. Sown are the best carrots you can grow, in my opinion anyway, and they're Sweet Candle. The barrel has been covered with a perspex sheet so things should be nice and warm to help germination. 

Finally a couple of brassica varieties have been popped in. First up is kale, I don't actually each much in the way of kale but it stands well over the winter months and I use it as leafy greens for the hens when there isn't much else around. I grew dwarf curly and cavalo nero types last year with the Nero Di Toscana doing slightly better over all and, they're quite architectural when the leaves are taken from the stem, like little palm trees in the depths of winter. It's also time to sow Brussels sprouts for Christmas! Yes, we need to think that far ahead! I'm trying Brenden F1 sprouts this year to see if they're any good. I always go for F1 sprouts as they don't tend to 'blow' open and stand better. (Pic - Nero Di Toscana kale covered in winter ice).

That's it, things are finally happening on the plot. Bye for now.

 

 

08 Mar - Spring? Nah! Snow.

The first week of March has been cold but fine. I've managed to make a start on some of the allotment beds. There's been very little rain this winter (which is a worry) so my clay has been fine to work, even the winter bed that had no cover. Anyway, I've prepared a bed for the Sturon onion sets which will be going out in a fortnight or so and I've started to prepare an area for salads. Both have been dug, weeded and fertilizer added.

Then today I woke up to snow. I don't mind a bit of the white stuff but around December, not bloody March when I'm looking forward to seedlings and spring! Oh well, every thing's on hold for a few days. (Pic 08 Mar 23).

In the greenhouse I've transplanted my leeks (Elefant) from the small seed tray they were sown in, into a much larger tray. I've spaced them out and hopefully they'll grow on now for a few months before being planted on the plot in their final positions early summer(ish).

The small selection of tomatoes (Roma & Moneymaker) have been re-potted too. While the leeks can take a bit of cold in the unheated greenhouse, the tomatoes are still on the windowsill in the house - it's just too cold for them anywhere else at the moment.

Likewise, the early lettuce I sowed in February are inside too. I've thinned them out to a few per cell as soon as they developed true leaves. I've also sown a few more in a pot as part of my plan to successively sow salad this year. The early salads will go into the plot as soon as the weather permits though initially with protection.

In the heated propagator I currently have a few capsicum peppers (germination has been poor so far), a second pot of lettuce and some salad onions (I'm trying the clump in a cell method). Well, that's it for now, there will be a lot more going on this month as soon as this cold snap passes and we can all get on with spring.

Bye for now.