Bean race

There has been a lot of rain (and some snow) in the last week and a half, but now the forecast is set fair. I decided to sow broad beans today. I had a discussion a few days ago where Dave asked what I do if things don't germinate. My answer about broad beans is that they are tough as old boots and always most of them grow. Today I had second thoughts. I decided to have a bean race, sowing two thirds of the beans direct on the plot and the remaining ones in pots at home. I think the ones sown in pots will probably germinate quickest, but the shock of planting them out later may hold them back, so which ones will win?

I also hand-weeded the asparagus plot, which should be showing shoots soon. One thing I quickly noticed is how much warmer the ground is from a couple of weeks ago. It must be time to get going now.

I have potatoes chitting at home, some first earlies and some second earlies. I want to get them planted in the next day or two, they are all ready.

It looks like spring is about here, it certainly felt like it in the sun on the plot today.

Gary Wins

I've started to turn over the ground on part of the plot. I want to sow some broad beans which will be about ready to grow now.

 

I have only turned a small patch so far to be ready for the beans. However the winner of the prize for most ready for the Spring goes to Gary Charles, as you can see below. 

Parsnips pushing on

The parsnip tubes are flourishing as they usually do.

I've sown some spinach and radishes in pots to stay at home. I'll sow some more on the allotment plot in a few weeks.

There has been a frost most nights for the past week. This should have polished off a few pests. The ground is still wet and cold, so I'll wait before turning most of it, but I need to get on with sowing broad beans soon, so I'll be turning the patch for that in a day or two hopefully.

Flowers too

The parsnips sprouts have started, I've now got a dozen in paper tubes with little parsnips in them in compost with more seeds on damp paper to encourage them to sprout. I sowed some spinach in pots today to keep at home and hopefully produce enough young leaves for a treat in a few weeks. I'll sow some more after the first batch show for another early crop.

I also sowed some flower seeds. Some stripy gazanias, some pillar box red salvias and some yellow african marigolds to go with the antirhinums I sowed a few days ago. The flowers are for the garden which looks a bit better now snowdrops, hellebores and aconites are all in flower. There's lots of daffodils to come and few other bulbs like grape hyacinths growing too.

This is a great time of year.

Mini dig

The cabbages are finished. they have been small but very nice. A chunk of crisp cabbage has brightened up many of my winter meals.

I went up to the plot to dig over the space where the cabbages had been, which only took a few minutes. Weeds are beginning to grow and the lack of any really cold weather has left slugs and snails untouched - this year could be a another bad year for slug damage. The thermometer said 5°C, but with not much wind and a glimmer of sun it felt quite pleasant. The ground is still quite wet and easily becomes mud when it gets walked on. I'm glad I put some boards down where I usually walk. I need to hand-weed the asparagus patch and pick out a few of the worst weeds elsewhere, but most will wait until I turn the ground for planting, which won't be for a few weeks yet.

Wooden leeks

This morning the short cold spell broke, but the rain started again. By mid afternoon the rain had stopped and the sun was out so I popped up to the plot. I wanted some leeks and a cabbage. Digging a couple of large leeks was quick and easy now the frost has gone and the ground is very wet. I chopped off the very muddy roots and bagged them to take home. There are a few small savoy cabbages left. The hearts are small but very crisp and tasty.

When I got home I cleaned and trimmed the cabbage which was fine, but the first leek was woody and even a bit rotten. The second leek was fine, so I have some leeks for this evening. I'm going to have to examine the remaining leeks as I dig them on the plot and throw away any rotten ones, to avoid disappointment when I get them home.

The rest of the plot looks as I would hope at this time of year. It's much too wet to walk on - I have planks to walk to the leeks and cabbages. I wonder how much more rain we will get before the spring.

A few weeds

I finished digging over the plot two and a half months ago. The winter has been very mild and damp until the last week. I popped up today, as I was passing, to see that all is well, and it is. There are only a few weeds on most of the plot, though the asparagus badly needs weeding. It never gets dug over, like ground around the fruit bushes (which is also weedy), so weeds are still a problem. Hand weeding is the only answer, as always.

I'll begin sowing a few seeds at home for parsnips and leeks soon, but the plot will look after itself for a few more weeks.