Signs of Spring

After the slightly harder winter than we have been experiencing, the heavy snow came as a slight shock for some. Spring flowers have been delayed and daffodils are only just coming into bloom. Having repaired my fruit cage which suffered a bit during the inclement weather I looked around for signs of spring.

 

So here is one sure sign that spring is around, site secretary Robin Cooper has rotovated his potato plot and is planting his potatoes. Shortly after that, the stresses and strains of planting were being releived with an afternoon cuppa.

A lot of hard work has obviously been going on just before the break for afternoon tea! From left to right and top to bottom are Robin Copper, Keith Bearpark, Mac Mitchell, Ann Harper, Bill Callaghan and Nora Godfrey. So what about the signs of spring.?

A small grouping from our own plot, daffodils just opening in front of a hellebore, nearby is a white hellebore, note the cunning use of a thin branch from a bush to lift the flower head to view the flower face. The large euphorbia is also in flower, not sure what the variety is but it forms a large bush.

The garlic (foreground) was planted mid October last year and is coming on strongly, The spinach took a bit of a hammering during the winter but all the dead and frost damaged leaves have been removed and added to the compost heap, there are a few leeks which will get eaten over the next few weekends, freeing up a patch for planting. The winter onions just in front of the fruit cage were also planted in October but do not seem to be as strong as the garlic. Next to the fruit cage is a tub of tulips providing a small splash of colour.

So, yes, spring is sprung and the grass is riz! 

So get to your plots and do the biz!

Mulching onions with comfrey leaves

As the weather turned hot after a wet spell and the comfrey has grown massively I cut down some comfrey to mulch between the onions after hoeing weeds out. The comfrey leaves dry out around the onions and rot into the soil providing organic matter rich in potash.

Overwintering Onions

Good progress is being made by the overwintering onions that were planted at the end of October last year and they are just showing signs of starting to form bulbs. They are usually ready towards the end of July where spring planted sets usually mature in the middle of August.

Spring in the air for a few days

With a few warm days but the forecast is for snow at the weekend it made sense to get down to the allotment and get some work done. The first early potatoes are in, Maris Bard, and a lot of spring flowers are blooming like the spurge in the photo.

The plum tree is just flowering in time to get frosted off with the snow at the weekend so this year may not be as good a crop as last year. We still have plenty of plum chutney and plum jam from last year though. I have made some really good dishes using the plum chutney as a plum sauce. It goes really well with lamb.

The broccoli plants did really well last year and we are now cropping them. They are producing substantial florets with a rich purple head that turns almost black when you cook it.

Garlic and the overwintering onions got off to a good start last autumn and are looking substantial now after the few days of sunshine we have just had.

A Portakabin and composting toilet have been delivered to the site and the the Portakbin will be rewired and used for plot holder meetings.

Many of the new plots taken on by tenants last year have made good progress like this one of Sian and Marty's where some crops were grown last year whilst the other half of the plot was sheeted over to be got into use this coming year. The broccoli was some of my left over seedlings last year that were pushed into a patch that had been cleared and is ready for picking now.

On my own allotment the globe artichoke plants are next to the broccoli and have started to produce fresh foliage for this year. Unfortunately one plant looks as though it failed to get through the winter.

It has been a great day to be out working in the fresh air, even the bees have been active looking for nectar in the rocket that has flowered. All in all a grand day.