Allotment Plot under snow (from bottom) 06-02-2012 002

will this set back your programme, or is it flexible?

Won't make a great deal of difference I think, though it will set me back at least a week on Gerry's plot! I was beginning to dig in compost when the ground froze & then the snow came! Now it will be even more difficult because the soil will be waterlogged once the snow has gone. SO I suppose, yes, it will set me back by a couple of weeks.

ahhh, right. could it have happened at a worse time? lol trying to find a way to look on the bright side!

A worse time would have been in March/April! At the moment it doesn't make too much difference but in a month's time ...

We are told to expect snow showers this evening here then in the wee hours of Friday morning we can expect the skies to clear & then a hard frost. Friday night/Saturday morning we are told temps could fall as low as -10ºC!

I brought my seed potatoes home on Tuesday evening as we were told temps would fall "like a stone" as soon as the sun set & there would be an extremely hard frost. I didn't expect them to be able to survive such low temps, even in the GH & the seedtray covered with bubblewrap & newspaper.

nods, so that might be some consolation, that it could have been worse.

how long will the seed potatoes survive before being planted? I know nothing about veg planting, as you can tell!

They can last some months as long as they are cool - not frosted. Mine had been on the GH bench for about a month but they look exactly the same as when I put them out! No eyes show signs of growing as yet, it must be too cold in the GH for them to break dormancy.

They are now at home & I think they will stay here for the rest of the month - at least! It seems the cold "snap" has "locked its jaws" around us & is in no hurry to let go!

None of the seedtrays in the GH shows signs of seed germination either at present. I knew it was a bit of a risk sowing so early in January but the weather fooled me & I let my desires overrule my head!

nods! and not just you, I think *s* - if the seeds are hibernating, rather than frozen solid, they should start to recover when the temp's right for them.

I've seen some dwarf conifers in GoY and on eBay, but I'm severely holding myself in check until I've got the work bench sorted, at least so I'll have somehwere to work to plant 'em - and, even better, I wait until there's a chance of them surviving outdoors! Did a tiny bit of work yesterday, but too damn cold to be outside for very long, unless I'm so swathed that I can't move - and can't use a saw reliably with several pairs of gloves on!

Yes, it's best to wait just a bit longer, no sense in putting the poor things out until we can be reasonably sure that the weather isn't going to surprise us with another cold snap.

I'm anxious to get back to working on the allotments. Time is going past very quickly & it's only a month now before we are in spring once again!

Yes, spring is just around the corner - checked my calendar, heck, it's Imbolc today! supposed to celebrate the earth starting to wake up after winter, and maybe it did when the weather stayed fixed to its traditional seasons.