23rd - 28th February

23^rd February

I had a quick visit to the allotment and found out that my Dad has dug over sections 6 and 7 – well done Dad! Back at home I did plan to plant the onion sets into little pots or modular trays and get the boys to help, but the call of a DVD showing a certain SpongeBob Squarepants was, strangely, more alluring. By the time I got outside after fortifying myself with a cup of gardeners’ tea, it was not quite enough time for me to be sure of getting all the onions sorted before teatime, so I pottered around doing other jobs. I pruned the remaining fuchsia stems from the front garden and sawed the last of the larger sycamore branches. I love getting the big bow saw out onto real wood straight from a tree. When I clip away at the finer branches and twigs with secateurs, not only is it a little tedious, but I fear I will wear out the secateurs with all that snipping. The bow saw, however, simply glides through the wood in a very satisfying manner. After that, I transplanted the extra strawberry plants into the wooden tub that last year I grew the salad leaves in. I had to move out 3 rocket plants that were sown last May and even now are only the size of an egg, yet their roots were amazingly long for the amount and length of leaf on top. Perhaps they will spring into life this year. All this effort fitted exactly into the time available before tea – good planning!

 

Exbury Gardens, Hampshire

24^th February

I collected 8 more bags of soil from my brother-in-law and emptied that out onto section 3 at the allotment, and dug about three quarters of section 2. I saw that my Dad has been digging some more – almost all of section 8. I just can’t stop him! Back home I noticed that the 3 fuchsias that I took in from last years’ hanging baskets are beginning to show signs of new shoots.

26^th February

I’ve planted the onions! 58 sturons and 64 settons, all in modules, watered, and covered with a cloche and placed on the shelves in the conservatory. I only found 1 rotten set in each batch, so that wasn’t bad. What was strange was that 2 x 200g yielded 124 sets yet last year and the 400g bag had 161. I realise that due to size and weight of individual sets – and there were tiny ones and large ones – there will not be exactly twice as many in a double weight bag, but a difference of 37 seems way too few. Seeing as last year I had space after planting up all 161, I might get another bag to fill in the gap, or maybe I’ll try shallots. They have the bonus of giving numerous bulbs per set, unlike an onion which simply grows bigger. It will also add width to our home-grown culinary range.

27^th February

I went to the allotment after work and took all manner of tools – except the saw for the wood.  The completed raised bed for section 2 is about 8-10 inches short. Never mind, that space will be used as a dedicated flower bed! The chipboard sections, although prone to water damage, are a real pain to fix together end to end and it is a little bit of a rough job so maybe it is just as well they won’t last too many seasons. I also finished off digging over section 2 and so now it too is ready for some topsoil when that is available again.  Section 2 is the one I can fill in with quite a bit of organic matter as it is for the leeks that like that, but section 1, like section 3, will have to be mainly topsoil as it is for carrots which will fork in manured soil. If I can get these 3 sections fitted out as raised beds, and there is every reason to suggest I will, then that is all the roots and alliums beds ready. That will then give me breathing space to get some decent wood (I may even pay out for some) and work on section 9. This will mean, firstly, that the other end section is completed which is key for sorting out the wire mesh fencing as it will go tightly round 3 edges of that section, and secondly, I can pile in loads of manure for this years’ crops – the squashes, then re-manure it in the autumn for next years alliums – onions don’t mind manure from the previous year!

Saturday 28^th February

I popped into Hilliers and bought a packet of courgette seeds as last seasons’ green ones have been used up. I got F1 Defender which is reputed to be a heavy cropper. I looked at shallots and for £1.99 I could buy a bag of 15 shallot bulbs which would require a fair few bags to fill the potential space, or I could buy 50 Centurion onion sets for £1.49. Need I explain why I went for more onions? All in all it was £3.94 well spent I feel. Once home I headed straight for the garden and planted up the 50 sets in a tray of soil. I now have all space filled on the conservatory shelves with a few seeds to plant over the next few weeks!