Page 20 - ALG Issue 3 2022

on the...
March to late May 2022
After some cool nights and a few showers in March, these have been followed by almost 2 months with no significant rainfall, accounting for no more than 30mm over that 2-month period followed by some strong winds blowing what moisture we had away again. Despite this, the soil is still quite moist when you get below ground to plant. One of the great advantages
of going up to the plot in autumn and digging over the soil, is it allows any winter rainfall to be stored below. Those allotment growers that wait and turn over their soil in the spring are now finding things are very difficult
as the moisture that was there has been released and the clods of soil are harder to break up, whereas my soil breaks down well with a crome or a rake.
When soil is this dry, it is always wise to water the seed drills first before sowing any seeds, then, once sown,
cover over with dry soil. This traps the moisture below where the seeds need it, whereas those that keep watering overhead will often cap the soil and make it difficult for the seedlings to break through and then complain of poor germination. Then, as soon as we have a good shower, the rest of the seed comes through. Why a shower of rain is different to a can with a rose is always strange but it is usually the case and up those seeds come.
In early April as the weather was good and the soil had warmed up, I sowed carrots, parsnips, beetroot and radish. These have all germinated very well and are growing nicely. The carrots are under enviromesh to keep carrot fly at bay, and the parsnips were sown 2-3 seeds per station with a few radishes dropped in between as a row marker. The parsnips will soon require thinning to a single seedling per station. The direct sown beetroot will also soon
require thinning and should follow on nicely from the module grown beetroots I raised earlier in the season under glass and planted out at the same time as sowing this row in the plot, plus another sowing has just been made for a succession of fresh beet to harvest over a long period. Spring onions that were module sown have also been planted out and won’t be long before they can accompany the radish I am already harvesting.
Lettuces and all my brassicas were raised under glass and planted out on the plot in mid-April. The lettuces were interplanted between my leeks or in separate rows under wire cloches to protect from birds in the early stages. My brassicas are growing very well
20 Allotment and Leisure Gardener
Kings plot