Late Winter Bits and Bobs.

[Westi]

Talk of snow on the weather forecast but no channel is willing to define when & where yet, but makes for small talk in the queue at the shops I suppose. Getting bored with their inability to find a new punchy name for it if does occur 'Beast from the East' has come & gone.

Was lovely down on the plot today though so cracked on in the peace & quiet so only 2 beds left to prep now, so next visit will be doing some of the other general tidy & weeding jobs on the next visit to give my back a rest. Perennials are outside under fleece so fingers crossed; but they do get residual heat from the tunnel cover & some wind protection where they are so figure should be OK.

[Westi]

Well the BBC weather app has come clean & says light snow showers on Wednesday. -3C to 6C down here. Rest of the day looks like drizzle when not 'light snow'! Either way I will be snuggled inside & hopefully not venturing out for anything, well except a brisk dog walk, but she has been known to decline a proper walk if a tad too cold preferring a quick dash into the garden!

[oldherbaceous]

Glad I haven’t got a lot of tender plants in the glasshouse yet!

[robo]

We have not had a decent rain shower for over 2 months had a couple of one minute drizzles my pond is nearly dry

[tigerburnie]

We have heavy snow forecast for next week!

[oldherbaceous]

Been pressing on with jobs over the allotments since first light, as I think we could be in for a long wet spell….been emptying the compost bins.

[Clive.]

It was dry enough here to deftly step foot on the ground, so I quickly pulled down some previously dug ground to then push in a double row of broad bean seed.
On the square that I dug the other weekend, then had the change of plan to grow a few potatoes, I put down two boards to work from and put in a line of 8 Rocket. It's a very well sheltered square, south facing and had dried nicely.

Also put a bit of growmore along the raspberry rows and lightly worked it in.

In the back field the seed drill has been busy one day last week which followed a bit of mole draining around the headlands. There are some patches that look very wet but they managed to pull the drill through them....

C.

[oldherbaceous]

New potatoes and Broad beans…..now you are talking, Clive.

Do you know what they have sown in the field?

Just been and chain harrowed Cooks field… thought it was better getting it done while it was dry and before work goes crazy again….

[Clive.]

I'm thinking that it'll be wheat in the back field. There's a lot of land being quickly worked and drilled in this area and fertiliser spreading on established, getting ahead of any wet that may be coming in.

C.

[Westi]

Surprisingly quite a nice couple of hours down on the plot as it was sunny on & off, definitely a nip in the air but no wind. Also just noted that the snow & really low temps have disappeared off the weather app for this week - hmm?

I gave the vulnerable wee plants a bit of bubble wrap extra protection, so no doubt they will overheat now! Did a general tidy & sorted netting into size, chased some rat runs, popped the canes in oil stuff ready for starting frames & got the fungi things off the hazel poles & stacked & covered them on bricks. Had a strange find on one tidy up section as several bags of my leaves have disappeared. I popped them in the empty compost as I filled them with the plan to move them where the hazel poles were as a bit shaded. Just 4 bags of leaves today instead of about a dozen; but I inherited 2 black bin bags full of coke & beer tins in their place? I suppose at least they were sorted & even crushed so straight into council recycling bin at home. Another break in on Saturday night but their goal was tools & they only hit the front row as trailer was full as noted on the CCTV as it was leaving. Gate was left open again!

[Westi]

Spoke too soon regarding the weather - yellow warning for Wednesday for ice & snow, which on the map seems to include right to the coast, but still on the weather app is saying 'light rain & a moderate breeze' for my area. The app only covers a small area as supposed to reflect your immediate area & it does change when driving around, but who knows?

Going down tomorrow just to check everything is happy & maybe do some odd jobs in the shed & tunnel! Yep I'm a true allotment addict well to a point of comfort & appropriate attire!

[oldherbaceous]

Woke up to snow here….

[Clive.]

2C and wet paths here.
We might have had a few minutes wet snow yesterday morning preceding the rain as there was a little still showing on top of some compost that we had spread on one of the borders.

My no potato growing plan took another knock yesterday when some Jazzy, 2nd early, arrived...

C.

[retropants]

I wasn't going to grow any spuds either Clive, but I was next to a seed potato stall at my last artisan market, so bought a half bag of 'Valor' for 50p. They are a local garden charity, and were busy all day.

[tigerburnie]

My sons in Medicine Hat in Canada, minus 20 degrees................................now that is cold.