Organic Allotment

Dear Diary...

I've always kept a garden diary since I started on the allotment. I was inspired to do this because I had read that Monty Don always keeps a record of what he's doing in his garden, and if it's good enough for Monty it's good enough for me...!

The records that I keep are nothing complicated - just a simple record of what the weather has been like and what I've been up to on the plot. I'm on my fourth year of growing now and I find it really useful to be able to look back over my old diaries and see what I was up to on the plot at any given time. To see what did well in a particular year and what wasn't such a success, and then try to think what I can do to make things better next time.

My diary this year was a Christmas present from the man who I buy veg from on my local market. Any fruit and veg that doesn't come from the plot is bought from him and his produce is pretty much as good as home grown because... well... it is home grown. Much of what he sells comes from the small holding that he runs with his family on the Lancashire coast. He's a real enthusiast about growing veg and when I go shopping there's normally time for a chat about what we're both up to on our respective plots, as well as a bit of growing advice if I'm lucky. I wouldn't get a service like that in my local supermarket! I only hope that some of his success as a grower will come along with the diary that he gave me and that my veg will turn out as good as his normally are.

Just Add Plants

This week I finally got time to give the greenhouse a good spruce up. It's a job that I always do at this time of year before the planting really kicks in and it's bursting at the seams with plants. This time the task was particularly important because there was blight on the tomatoes in here last year and I didn't want to take the risk that it may still be hanging around.

All the windows have been disinfected, the floors have been swept and the potting bench that you can see in the corner has been cleared ready for action. If you're wondering what the wooden trough on the left is for - it's the only place that we've ever managed to grow carrots successfully! When it was first built it was christened "Courgette Corner" but now it's been renamed "Carrot Corner"...And it's been moved out of the corner...

As you can see from the picture it all looks clean and tidy now, but a little sparse as well... Time to start planting and fill it up!

Spring Is In The Air

 All of a sudden the air feels that little bit warmer, the green shoots are starting to come through and the first hints of Spring are in the air. At my house this means that all the seeds have been sorted out, a plan has been made of what is going to go where on the plot and I've got a good idea what is going to be planted when. Now it's just a matter of playing the waiting game and not being too hasty no matter how desperate I may be to get outside and get planting.

For those of you with a heated greenhouse or living in milder parts of the country you are likely to have more options open to you at present in terms of what you can plant. Here in Manchester though, I'm holding my horses and leaving it a few weeks yet before I really get on with this year's planting. March can be a funny month with a great contrast in weather; some days may be hot enough to discard your coat when you're working on the plot but other days there'll be a frost that is deadly for any young shoots. You may be lucky enough to have a couple of warm days where seeds will germinate, but then one cold day will stop everything dead in its tracks. I have also found that seeds that are planted a little later in Spring have so much more warmth and light that they soon catch up on their counterparts that have bee planted earlier.

Having said all that, the chillies have been in the propagators in the kitchen for a couple of weeks now because they need such a long season for the peppers to ripen, and I've got broad beans and summer cabbages in the little greenhouse in the garden. But apart from that I'll be resisting the temptation to plant all the seeds I can get my hands on and hang on a couple of weeks to give my plants the best possible chance in the early days of their lives.