Getting started on the Spring Jobs

We're still getting a lot of rainy weather here and so we've not been getting down to the allotment as much as we would like. Easter weekend though was lovely and we made the most of the sunshine by getting some of the important jobs done. 

I've planted out all the onions now which were started off in cell trays.  There are two varieties, Sturon and Turbo,  I've grown both of these before. They have taken up about half of the bed. The rest of the bed will be planted up with leeks when they are ready. I usually struggle to find room for all of the leeks but this year as I'm not growing  red onions and shallots I should have plenty of space. I will probably grow some salad crops in this empty space until it's time to plant the leeks.

The first early potatoes (Rocket) were planted two weeks ago in potato bags.  This week Richard started planting the second earlies (Charlotte). Unfortunately we have had a visit from a baby rat this week who we think is responsible for nibbling some of the Charlottes which had been left in the shed. This meant we didn't have as many to plant as we'd thought.

I always sow my first lot of broad beans in cardboard tubes. They've been ready for planting for a couple of weeks and were getting quite big, but with the bad weather and trying to get other jobs done this got delayed until the Easter weekend. There was enough to plant a double row with a few left over for another row, the varieties are Super Aquadulce and Witkiem Manika. Once they were in the ground I then sowed another double row directly into the soil, Super Aquadulce again and The Sutton.

The greenhouses are filling up with plants.  I've been starting seeds off at home to grow on the two kitchen windowsills. We don't have many suitable spaces in the house for seed pots and trays so as soon as the seedlings are potted on I take them to the allotment and put in the greenhouses. I cover them with fleece or bubble wrap so they are nice and warm. Seedlings growing in the greenhouses are:

Beetroot (Boltardy)    salad leaves and lettuce (Little Gem)  Cabbage (Kilaton)    Tomatoes (8 varieties)  Sweetcorn (Swift)      Aubergine (Black Beauty)  Basil    Parsley    

Also flowers, Asters, Zinnia, French Marigold and sweet peas at the moment, but others will join them soon.

I made the mistake I always do with sweet peas, they were slow to germinate and I thought they weren't going to grow so I bought a pot of seedlings from the garden centre and within a couple of days the ones I'd sown in pots  were finally coming through. I should have lots of lovely sweet peas this summer then!

The first peas are sown in lengths of guttering in the greenhouse--two varieties, Onward and Meteor.  They are just starting to come through.

    

As well as all this seed sowing and planting, there is much weeding to be done. The beds were all nicely prepared earlier in the year, but we have been plagued with hundreds of sycamore seedlings all over the plot. We have a big sycamore tree at the top of the plot which is to blame. Every year we have this problem but this year there are many more than usual.  Everywhere you look there are these little seedlings. So every time we go to the plot I spend some time hoeing off the weeds a different section at a time. I'm hoping they stop growing soon.

Before

After

Its good to get started on these early jobs and to see vegetables growing in the beds.