Mid April

What has Germinated mid April? My mange-tout are showing well, but only three peas have made it so far. They were planted in same trench at same time nearly a month ago. I had similar problems germinating peas last year, obviously doing something wrong. Mange-tout were just as easy last year providing they were protected from birds. I'll give the peas another week then resow them and I'll try soaking them this time unless anyone has other advice. The line of radishes that had germinated have now been eaten, hungry birds probably, you wouldn't think they would like them! Need to sow some more. I think a few parsnips are just starting to show but difficult to tell amongst all the weed seedlings. Lettuce is showing well, as is spinach. Lots of thinning needed there. Sunflowers also visible i'm excited to say, planted three weeks ago, i've only had success from indoor sowing previously and these are from seeds from last years plants, so free. As for the weeds, they are coming on nicely of couse! Loads of couch grass and other grasses are appearing. I think the bindweed is just starting to germinate, and masses of other stuff. Loads of howing and hand weeding needed. Potatoes that i planted (too) early March, 6 weeks ago, are showing less sign of life than ones planted 2 weeks ago but there is very little from any of them yet. I covered the first leaves on a few plants last night to protect from frost, but i think i need to investigate what is happening in the first trench as only one is showing. I didn't have much success with sequential planting of anything last year, things tended to be ready regardless of when planted, i'm trying to separate things by longer time frame this year but i think i was too hasty with my first row of potatoes. I've one more row of earlies then two rows of main crop still to go in during next couple of weeks or so. Loads to do, garden at home horribly neglected! Jo

Have we had any rain yet?

Early April and no rain for ages, three weeks? more? Have we had any today? How much? The forecast is promising loads, fingers crossed. A few of my radishes had started to show last time I looked but nothing else, very exciting.

Thanks to Sergio for setting this blog up. Great to be able to share info and experiences, ask questions etc. I have fallen in love with our allotment (sorry, Sean's allotment!). I love being up there, seeing our efforts turn in to real things to eat (wow!), wondering at how others have grown such beautiful cabbages when ours were mostly a refuge for white fly, hearing the skylarks singing and the corn bunting calling from just over the road (yet to hear him this year - hope he is OK) and the buzzards and skylarks wheeling overhead, meeting new people and getting to know others better.

Long live Steeple Morden, its allotments and all its allotmenteers!

Taking care of Asparagus

Jim Reynolds brought some instructions that his father had given to him about how to take care of Asparagus.

A real sense of community

When Nat and I arrived in the area a couple of years ago , the first thing we wanted was get an allotment. Unfortunately, where we were based at the time (Potton), the length of the allotment waiting list meant that we were never likely to get a plot. We then saw some private allotments to rent nearby, and we jumped at the chance. It is true, the cost was a bit more, but they were very big plots, and the soil was rich as it was basically a field that had been left fallow for a long time. It was a very strange set up though. We were the first people on the allotment (the field) and apart from a few spikes here and there to mark out the plots (oh, and a tap on the other side of the field), there was nothing... and no-one. We paid the owner directly, who occasionally decided to show up but for the most part left us to our own devices. Slowly, some people did start arriving, and we all set about starting to grow some veg. We chatted from time to time over the fences that we had had to erect to keep out the army of rabbits. The size of the plots meant we could have  a bit of a garden, which our old flat sadly lacked.

At the same time, there was something missing.

We moved to Steeple after a year, and wanted something closer to home. I think we managed to get the last or second last of the plots going on the new allotment here.

What first struck us was how much had been done in such a seemingly short period of time. Plots had already been organised, and because we arrived in spring, there were often many enthusiastic gardeners tending to them. Unlike at the old allotment, there were no fences keeping neighbours out, and a good portion of time was spent going from plot to plot chatting and admiring each others vegetables. This was what had been missing: a sense of community.

Nothing better conveys the sense of a community than when everyone gets their hands dirty, working towards one aim. I've experienced it a couple of times on the allotment, but no more so than yesterday, when many people got together to help weed a strip of land that separates us from the neighbouring, farmed field. Everyone got their hoes and rakes down, while one person Barbecued bacon and sausages to keep the rest of us going. People were working (and don't get me wrong, it was pretty back-breaking), but we were all smiling and chatting to one another and the work seemed not to take too long at all. What's more, it was a beautiful day, and it really felt like we had welcomed in the spring.