To do list

Space management, to do list for next weekend

This week I am starting to feel restless for staying away from the allotment so many days in a row: but it is still 35 days before long days and British Summer Time!

Is this hobby getting a bit out of hand?!? This winter has seemed more miserable than the ones before... and I seem to have so many things to do. This weekend went very fast as I spent it all outside - I realise now I did not look for recipes as I had planned! And already I know I won't be able to do any gardening the week after this one. Not ideal as the seedlings need watering, now.

My to do list for next week has cleaning the greenhouse at the top: I bought a citrus-based disinfectant to kill any bacteria that might be left from last year's tomato blight, but forgot to take a sponge with me last week. This is important as I have already planted tomatoes seeds and I want to give them a good chance to thrive at least at the start. Sponge ready in my allotment bag. Tick.

Then I have to find a place for all the Corrado onions I got for free with my seed orders. It sounds a bit exaggerated to find it difficult to find space in an allotment that is around 100 m2 for two people only, but what with the crop rotation, the time it takes for a crop to mature, the flower patches to attract insects, soft fruit, the greenhouse, the pond and the 200 or so types of seeds I have collected in the end I really find it difficult! So this is still a no-tick for now.

And jokes apart, with the 4 year crop rotation I can use a patch for the same crop family only after four years, and last year I seemed to grow mostly vegetables from a couple of families (A and B in my plan) so now I find I am left with a minority of beds for A and B this year... I will have to dig a bit more. In the meantime, I am experimenting with making the most of space with layering and companion planting. Last week I planted salad on the margins of the shallot patch. Let's see how it goes.

And it's already time to take the primroses and cowslips out of the polythene bag and leave them outside for the next month to get the lower temperatures they need to germinate.

Time for bed now, and not a vegetable one (I may need to excuse myself for the pun here...).