No Weeds Today

Due to work commitments I have been struggling to find time to do much on the plot over the Winter months but bit by bit, by nipping up there for an hour or so whenever I have been able to do so, over the last few weeks I have managed to pull up a mountain of weeds and dig over most of next season's beds.

I have also cleared out the greenhouse and repaired the storm damage from the high winds which we had a couple of weeks ago. I got off lightly; a few greenhouses on our site suffered severe damage and my neighbours on Plot 26 lost their greenhouse altogether. Fortunately I only had to replace one pane of glass. Other panes had slipped and moved position and some were hanging precariously but only one had shattered.

I have still got a fair bit of digging and weeding to do before I'll be ready to start planting but compared to last year I think I am slightly ahead of my allotment work schedule. The problem last Winter was that the ground was frozen solid from about November until to the end of January and then when the thaw came a large section of the plot resembled an unworkable paddy-field until March or early April. The comparatively mild winter we have had this year has meant that at least the ground has been workable when I have found a few minutes here and there for digging and weeding.

As you can see from the photo above, when I called round at the allotment this afternoon all the weeds had miraculously disappeared.

Life in the freezer

Brrrr! It's cold. In fact it's bloody freezing. After spending two days shovelling snow off the road outside my house and excavating my car from the glacier that had formed on my drive I attempted to drive to work on Friday morning. I managed to move just four inches (sideways). The rear brakes on the car had frozen fast and I was going nowhere fast. According to the car's thermometer the outside temperature was minus 12 degrees centigrade. I have never known it ever get so cold previously. The temperature hardly got above freezing point over the weekend but I did eventually manage to get the car moving again. This morning, when I set off to work, at 7.27am, the temperature was, as you may be able to see from the photograph below, minus 17.5 degrees centigrade and it was only 4 degrees warmer when I arrived home tonight.

I am seriously worried that this prolonged exceptionally cold spell will be fatal to my grapevines. I did carefully select the Rondo variety of vine for its proven winter hardiness but I never thought that in their first year these young vines would be exposed to such cold temperatures. In fact, I never thought that I would experience such cold without making a trip to the Arctic.

I can only hope that the deep layer of snow which covers the vines has provided them with some insulation against the harsh cold. Only time will tell and it will be an anxious wait until next April to discover whether or not any of the vines have survived the Winter.

 

This time it's knee deep!

Sorry to go on about the snow. I know everybody seems to have a snow story to share but I am absolutely amazed at the amount of snow that has been dumped on us in the last 24 hours. I've never seen anything like it. There was no way that I could dig the car out and make the 120 mile round trip to work and back today, so I've had a "snow day". That's the first time ever that the weather has prevented me from getting to work.

I had a walk up to the plot today. The main purpose of my visit was to retrieve my spade from the greenhouse so that I could join my neighbours who were having a few beers and clearing snow from our cul-de-sac. I was also worried that the weight of the snow would be too much for the greenhouse roof so I was anxious to check that it was ok. Fortunately the greenhouse was still standing so I cleared the snow off the roof, took a few photos and returned home with my spade ready to enlist with the community snow shifters.

It's snowtime

I was planning a bit of double digging on the potato patch this weekend but we have had the first snow of the winter overnight. I think I'll give myself the weekend off!

Marching time.

I am itching to get cracking on my plot and get some mud on my wellies but there is nothing I can do until the contractor has finished the remaining work on the site. In February he was due to supply an additional 4 inches of topsoil, and then to "subsoil to 16 inches and then disc harrow and rotavate" the whole site. I'm not quite sure what all that means or entails but I do know that there is no point in me doing anything on the plot until he has finished.

There was no sign of the contractor on site in February. I don't know why the work has not yet been completed but I suspect that it has been delayed by the poor weather. There was another covering of snow and ice this morning. I have had enough of this weather. It's March now and I'm ready for Spring.

All the seeds which I sowed in February are coming on nicely. Even the Chilli pepper seeds have germinated. I was worried that they had failed but after a couple of nights in the airing cupboard the seedlings emerged. The French Beans are really shooting up as can be seen from the photo. I will pot them on at the weekend and start putting them in the coldframe during the day to toughen them up.

Last weekend I sowed a batch of leeks and brussels sprouts. This coming weekend I will move some of my seedlings from the propagators and put them in the coldframe. I will sow more veg seeds and some herbs in the propagator. I have not yet decided exactly what.

I have got a nice list of jobs to do once I can get onto the plot.

• collect farmyard manure from Richard's farm in the next village.
• mark out position for raised beds to be constructed by site contractor
• prepare bed for potatoes.
• prepare bed for beans.
• prepare bed for asparagus and rhubarb.
• prepare a seed bed.
• construct cane supports or wigwams for french beans and runner beans.
• install coldframe on plot.
• install water butt on plot.
• take delivery of wooden veg crates to be used as compost bins.
• make the compost boxes rat-proof with mesh lining.
• construct lids for compost boxes.
• construct plot paths once delivery of wood chippings arrives.
• erect posts and wire for vine trellis system.
• plant onion sets and garlic in one of the raised beds.

Off the plot I will continue with successional sowing of seeds. It looks like March is going to be a busy month....assuming the contractor completes his work and I can get started.

Boing

It felt like spring had sprung this week. I have been setting off to work in daylight and we have even had a bit of sunshine. The snowdrops are out in the garden and other spring bulbs are pushing through. With the exception of the chillies all the seeds which I sowed in the propagators last weekend are emerging and my Duke of York first early potatoes are chitting away nicely.

Today we are back into Winter. I woke up to a covering of snow and more is forecast later.

I called round at the allotment site this afternoon on my way to the Farm Shop for potatoes for Sunday dinner. Hopefully in a few months time the Farm Shop will be missing my potato purchases.

The contractor has not yet delivered the topsoil and raised beds which are due to arrive anytime this month. I did notice that David on half-plot 6 has rotivated and that Alan on plot 23 has had a large delivery of farmyard muck which was steaming in the snow. The new shed has been delivered to Chris on plot 14 (pic above) and he was fitting gutters to the shed and a fall pipe into his water-butt. Rachel (Mrs Plot 14) has suggested that we have a shed warming party. Any excuse for a party! Count me in.