Last look back at winter on the plots - in March!

Lots of work to be done on the allotments now that you are able to get out on them. Hope you have a bumper harvest. :O)

You've made a start. I hope the cold weather hasn't ruined things for you.
Pitty about the beetroots but you had a good crop of leeks :o)

As you say Snoopdog, it IS hard getting started this year! I think (& HOPE!) my potatoes will be alright. It's a month since I planted them & there was no sign of them breaking through the surface when I was down there yesterday. This could be equally good or bad news! I'll explain: Good news because it means they are still protected & haven't been frosted & that my last light covering has protected them, Bad because they may have rotted! I hope that's not the case though! We shall see in the coming weeks (or not, as maybe the case!) whether they sprout.

I hope your broadbeans come up! They seem to be a pretty hardy bean as they can be planted out in the autumn for an early harvest the following spring. I think I may do just that this autumn!

I planted out 15 plants a couple of weeks ago & they have survived this last round of cold including snow & nightly frosts!

You are quite right, Oliveoil, it is indeed a lot of work! Even worse because NONE of it got done over the winter at all! I, too, am looking forward to a bumper harvest this year! :-))

Hywel, other than putting everything WWWAAAAYYYY behind, I haven't noticed anything being ruined - other than the broken glass caused by the wind in the greenhouse!

I was rather upset at the very poor showing of my Beetroot last year but I hope things will go better with me this year! I have a trayful of seedling that need to go out as soon as possible in the greenhouse. I sowed another tray of beetroot yesterday, 'Chioggia', which is one with pink & white rings! I'd wanted to get some seed last year but I hadn't seen it on sale here. But this year they had a few packets in Wilko's in town so I got a packet.

I also sowed some more Broadbeans, I finally found the packet yesterday! I sowed another trayful. I hope to plant then out in a few weeks time. I had intended to sow the few remaining seeds in the bed on my plot near the ones I planted out a few weeks ago but didn't have time in the end. I also sowed another trayful of Peas as well. The first two trayfuls I'd like to plant out next week but that will depend on the weather & if it does get milder as we are forecast!

Another trayful of Lettuce seeds 'Little Gem' were sown in the greenhouse. I planted the first trayful out yesterday. Some I put in the greenhouse border, others I put directly into the ground in the bed in front of the greenhouse, under the dwarf apple tree. I hope they will do alright. I still have a trayful of another Lettuce called 'Ballon', which are a bigger variety of Cos Lettuce. Once I plant them on my plot I want to sow some more seeds the same day so as to keep a succession of them coming all summer.

You don't do things by half, mate, do you?
I hope you get the huge harvest you've worked so hard for.
Good luck, Balconey! :-)

With things like Lettuces you have to sow few & frequently otherwise you get a glut that you can't cope with followed by weeks with nothing at all.

The small Lettuce, 'Little Gem' will mature long before the 'Baloon' ones which are bigger plants. Beetroot is another one that needs to be sown in the same "little & often" is I believe the keyword. That way you get small tender roots for summer salads - last year the great majority of my efforts turned out to be a waste of time, energy & space! Other guys had them the size of cricket balls!

Potatoes need to be sown very early to get some in June & then the maincrop can be planted out in April. I'm going to plant out the 2 varieties of maincrop I bought at a potato fair in town earlier this year.

It's almost time to sow seeds of runner beans, Sweetcorn & other tender plants that wont stand for the cold weather. It's all go over the next few weeks!

Thanks for the invaluable info, mate.
I'll be well prepared for next year.

Glad to be of service.:-))

How large is your allotment?

It's a half allotment as our council no longer rents whole allotments. There was a high demand for plots that the council couldn't attend to so now whenever an allotment is left vacant they split them into two, so when I applied for one that is what I got.

Even with that policy they have opened a new field of allotments that once was allotments but which was closed down at least 10 years ago as people were no longer attending their plots.

On the field where I have mine, people take them up but few seem to persevere after a couple of months. So the plots get full of weeds once again & stand idle for the better part of a year. It's a shame.

I'm not sure of the measurements but I think it measures 25ft long by 15ft wide. But I may be mistaken. Whatever it's half the size of a full plot & I have to pay £12 a year which will increase by £1 I think next September.

I came back to Glasgow late '92 & enquired about an allotment, to be told there was an 18yr waiting list!
The city council has sold off three sites, since, to developers!!!
Probably a 30yr list by now.
As for those who go in half-hearted, I've never understood that attitude.
Is it because they expect instaneous results or because it's too hard or too committed a job for them?
It was the same, when I was doing the forestry.
It's a hard, manual job with lots of study, yet so many think they just have to turn up, plant or fell a couple of trees & Bob's your uncle.
We'd bet which of the newbies would last the course. Lol.
Nothing serious, you understand, at least not in my squad. A pint & the satisfaction of winning.
Allotment? I'd give my eyetooth for such a chance! Lol.

You ought to move down here then! LOL! :-D)

But I agree with you that it's a shame that people who would really use a plot can't get one because it's tied up for a year - even if it is only generating weeds (& their seeds!) for the better part of a year!

I guess it must be an eye-opener for some folk, when their fruit & veg isn't a uniform shape & size, like they're used to from the supermarket. Lol.