Allotment Matters

Well, with the budget for March well and truly blown by my hair cut and colour, new glasses and other indulgences, the remainder of March is going to have to be very frugal indeed.  With little money left to spend on anything but food for the family and essentials only, I have absolutely no excuse not to get on and clear the garden and get the allotment planted up before inspections start at the end of the month.  Weather allowing that is.  I had it in mind to go on Saturday, as I had a more or less free day, but didn't count on it raining all morning.  My partner said it was forecast rain all weekend, save for Saturday afternoon, so we headed off there later that day, as soon as it had dried off a bit. 

It isn't ideal weather to be at the allotment, straight after rain as the soil is wet and you probably do more harm than good, but as I didn't really have much choice and I am running out of time to get the plot up to scratch,  I decided to go anyway.  So with a tray of chitted seed potatoes and my camera to record the results, I paid a visit to the allotment and started in earnest to cultivate it.

When I got there, as expected, the soil was very wet and very heavy, so took a bit of turning over.  I decided to dig out the herb corner as the mint was getting too invasive and I wanted to put the potatoes along the bottom of the plot.  I think I will create a herb patch in a container at home by the back door, where I can get at it easily.

I also transplanted all the lettuce that had overwintered to another spot, again to clear the way for the potatoes.  My partner kindly came over, after walking the dog, to help put the chitted seed potatoes in.  He did this beautifully, as you can see from these photos.  It was nice to get some help too.

 

Beyond the potatoes are some garlic and shallots, sown in late autumn.  They are a bit spindly at the moment but will hopefully fill out a bit and put on some growth when the weather improves.

 

 

Next to the potatoes are the broad beans I sowed last year and doing quite well.  I pinched out the tips to prevent black fly attacking them in spring.

Here's the bed I transferred the lettuces to.  Most of them are quite small but will hopefully expand as the weather warms up.  I'm surprised they survived the winter at all really.  Beyond are lots of forget- me-nots which I will probably dig up as they get quite invasive.  I'll leave some clumps in though, as they are pretty.  Beyond them are two artichoke plants which grow huge come the summer with lovely big heads, that if I leave on to flower, the bees love.  Sometimes I use them as cut flowers.

 

Finally, my fruit bed by the compost bin, where there is a huge crown or two of rhubarb.  The stalks are just starting to push up out of the ground although you can't really see this from the photograph.  I get lots of rhubarb from these plants.  The strawberry plants pictured here look a bit straggly but will also hopefully put on growth soon.  I transferred a couple of blackcurrant plants into here, but they look like twigs so probably aren't easily visible.  I now have most of my fruit in one corner.

It looked pretty well cultivated by the time we'd finished.  There is another bed along the right hand side by the fence to dig over and plant up with beans, salad, parsnips, beetroot, etc.  I'll have to try to get down there this week to do that, but I came away feeling relieved that for the most part it is looking a lot better, and most of the hard work had been done.  I just have to keep on top of it now.