More Seed Sowing

We had a good afternoon on the plot even though the cold wind was horrible. The sun didn't shine but at least it stayed dry and there were loads of plotholders on site.

Jamie and I put up our little green house for germinating seeds. We've piled bricks all round it as it was trying to take off in the wind already. We've put perspex under the seed trays to help warm the ground underneath as that's where we'll be planting some flowers once the greenhouse is moved on. We're hoping the perspex will encourage weed growth so we can pull them before we put wildflowers in - otherwise we won't know what's what!

We sowed the grass path between the two newly aligned plots - hope somebody wants to lease them soon so they don't stay unloved too long!

I did the meet and greet of a new couple (welcome to Andrew & Gill). They arrived armed with tools and had planted a row of donated potatoes within a couple of hours of setting foot on site!

We left after we had sowed some beetroot (Moneta - monogerm variety), calendula (Daisy Mix) and french marigolds (Oranges and Lemons). They're all in the greenhouse.

  

 

Well, it is still April, what did we expect?!

We may have been thinking that it's been a slow year, but April is proving to be just as we'd expect - full of April showers.

Time to go!

Jamie was digging plot 8B yesterday and got caught in hail and snow showers and today we didn't do any better! In between there was some lovely sunshine but it felt chilly (8°) and the nights are still cold, 0° last night.
Our plants are enjoying the weather though. The onions have green shoots and the salad seeds sown last week have germinated.

We're really pleased with the rhubarb, this is the original Victoria which we were concerned about in February - it's certainly made up for it over the last couple of weeks; it seems to grow before our eyes!

Today we were doing HAHA work; changing a couple of empty plots and making a path between them. We'll seed the path tomorrow and then we can get back to our plots. We need to get our little greenhouse up so we can get some more seeds sown.
 

The Other Side of the Hedge

It was such a lovely day that we walked up to the allotment after work - just to check that our new plantings/sowings weren't drying out too much. Well, they were rather, so we gave things a water and then walked back via the canal which was looking especially beautiful as the hedgerows are beginning to spring into life.

I took the above photo from the Kennet and Avon Canal side of the Marsh Lane Allotments' hedge. It's directly under 'our' Ash tree. We could hear our little robin but couldn't see him from this side of the hedge - he was probably still eating the worms we had taken up for him :-)

We forgot to put the St George's flag on our bean pole this year, so here's a photo of the flag flying on Hungerford's St Lawrence church.
Look at that lovely blue sky!
 

Blasted Wind!

A short opportunity to get to the plot today meant that we got a few more seeds sown - but the wind was howling so it wasn't lovely and warm like at the weekend. I think I managed to keep hold of the parsnip seed so they were sown where we wanted them rather than broadcast across the whole plot though :-)

'Tender and True' Parsnips

We've sown 3 seeds to each cloche, which is providing a little protection from wind and the additional warmth will hopefully aid germination. We only want one parsnip to grow from each 'station' so if more germinate we'll have to snip them off - which always seems a shame, but they'd be too close to grow properly if we left them.
We prefer to sow seeds this way, rather than sowing a whole row and then having to thin them out. Parsnips don't really appreciate being transplanted hence sowing direct into the ground (on a little seed compost).

Look how dry the earth looks! It really doesn't take long to dry out, but there is still moisture when you go a couple of centimetres down and it's looking like it may rain later on.

We also sowed our Oarsman leeks - two trays which we've protected from leek moth in their own little enviromesh cloche. The leek moth is rife on our allotment site so we're careful to protect these. The mesh is sealed all the way round as the caterpillars can crawl in under open sides - sneaky!

 

Aaah, Sunshine and Warmth!

What a fabulous day! We knew it was going too be sunny but didn't expect 18°! So welcome! It meant there were lots of plotholders and wildlife (bees and butterflies) on site - the most we've seen for months.


We really must learn to do straight lines!

We're so pleased that we managed to get our two rows of Kestrels (20 potatoes) planted.

We planted in trenches lined with shredded paper and grass clippings to aid water retention, with some manure and a little 6X fertiliser for good measure.

Marsh Lane soil separates the seed potatoes from the manure.

We got some seeds sown; a couple of trays of lettuce (Red Fire and Little Gem), which I'll plant out when they're big enough. They're under a plastic lid under the bench which will hopefully protect them from full sun and the cold nights - it was 0° last night so still too early for a lot of sowings.

We also sowed some Suttons broad beans, to follow on from our Aqua Dulce beans, which have definitely developed a couple of tiny flowers now. We've taken the enviromesh cover off the over-wintered beans and hopefully they'll get pollinated!

The newly sown Suttons are protected under bottle cloches. We've found in previous years that this can protect the newly-sprouted beans from mouse damage.

I also sowed a small row of Sparkler 3 radish because a fellow plotholder had some unwanted seeds. If they're ready at the same time as the lettuce that'll be perfect :-)
Another plotholder had left a tray of surplus lettuce seedlings (Butterhead) on the HAHA spares table so I planted a few of them out too - I've been missing my salad lunches for too long  :-) They look very feeble but they usually cheer up from looking like this.. let's hope so!!

So, at last we have a growing allotment this year!

Wildlife blog updated, but sadly no photos of the Brimstone or lovely peacock butterflies we saw.