Thursday 16th April

All the potatoes were planted by Monday this week, in 4 rows consisting of (from rear of the allotment plot forwards):
Swift in row 1, Arran Pilot in row 2, Charlotte in rows 3 and 4.

It was also necessary to plant fresh strawberry plants s the previous ones, planted as small plug plants, didn't survive the winter. Very disappointing but the 6 news ones look strong.

With radish, chard and beetroot already planted directly into the area close to the vines, and 18 broad bean plants fairly close by, everything else has been started from seed and is either still in the greenhouse or been moved into the cold frame.

Recent sowings have included squash and French bean seeds, to join cucumber, courgette, pea, tomato, onion sets, chilli seeds/plants.

The recent fine and sometimes hot weather has definitely helped germination so most things are off to a good start.

Some tomato and chilli seedlings will need potting on very soon.

At the allotment, quite a high proportion of the cultivable area has now been cleared and dug over, with the rest to be don in the next couple of weeks.

I'll use the strimmer on the remaining grass to keep it looking neat, and am considering using some glyphosate on small areas of dense weed/grass.

 I also plan to sieve the rotted down pieces of turf from last year, remove any remaining roots, and top up the deep beds with the additional soil.

I weed the deep beds regularly now to try to remove weeds and grass. It's a non-stop job but hopefully worth it if we can get a reasonable amount of asparagus.    Otherwise I think we'll turn them to other crops from next season.