Happy Birthday to K! Here are birthday visitors to the plot.
At long last the weather is feeling less inclement. As we had a busy weekend, we only had time to go to the plot long enough to sow parsnip seeds (3 per station, 5 inch apart) in Bed 1. We had to remove the final 4 leeks from that quadrant. Apparently parsnips are slow to germinate and erratic, so we have to sow other catchcrops to mark the spot as it were. We also sowed some more broccoli and leeks in the seedbed (succession sowing, people).
The lettuce seedlings sown at home in the greenhouse have germinated. This is very pleasing.
Also the garlic on the plot is making strong and sturdy progress. Garlic is quite an amazing plant. It grows quickly and strong and is easy to spot and requires no tending apart from weeding. The broccoli seeds planted a couple of weeks ago now have begun to appear but no leeks as yet. The shallots are keeping their counsel so we hope all is well underground.
The previous weekend we spent a good few hours on the plot, mainly starting to dig up the bank in readiness for the potatoes. This was very hard work especially at the other (stony) end where we chose to repatriate the comfrey. They look a little forlorn but they are phenomenally strong and we anticipate that they will adapt after the shock has worn off.
The carrot bed is almost full with soil from another plot and compost and sand. N hopes that we have got near to the ideal "loam" quality required. I remind him that loam is just a posh word for soil and that all we need to do is to remove stones and add some sand for drainage.
We also tidied up the summer raspberries though they look sorry for themselves at the moment.
The purple sprouting broccoli has been comprehensively mauled by something - we suspect pigeons - so the protective cover is put back on (removed because of the snow). There do appear to be some purple bits at the top but it is very hard to see how it will eventually "sprout" like it does on the pictures. Maybe the pigeons have won this one.
To dig up the bank, we had to remove the various ethnic coverings we had put on. Imagine our surprise when the daffodills planted last year emerged, a little bowed but very willing. Today they look as though nothing traumatic had occurred in their first few weeks. Very good. We also had our favourite - an allotment lunch. Listening to the birds and contemplating the growing garlic, we are optimistic for our second year on the plot.
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