It’s March 21st and definitely the start of spring: ladybirds busily hurrying about (all natives too!), the amazing green of new leaves just out of buds, spawn in the pond (at home) and… the mallards are back, three of them (at the allotment)!

I love those three ducks, they are so beautiful when they lazily pull themselves out of the water, or walk in. Neighbours might worry that they eat their vegetables (that’s the first thing my auntie said when I mentioned them) but I have done some research and here’s what the WWT says:

“Mallards are dabbling ducks and are usually seen looking for the leaves, shoots and seeds of water-based plants. When these are submerged, the ducks up-end yet it has been known for Mallards to graze grasses, including cereal plants, as well as to deliberately shake vegetation to loosen any seeds and invertebrates that were out of reach. Mallards will also eat insects and their larvae, small fish and when the need arises, will even eat small mammals. Their tolerance of people has allowed them to make the most of any food that is freely given.”

so they are more likely to be the reason why no frogs have taken residence in the allotment pond than to cause any damage with the veg.

And talking of frogs, last week was a hard one: as it rained for the first time since the good weather, all the frogs came out to breed and just down the road it was a massacre: I counted 9 killed, 1 wounded and in distress – very very unpleasant images are still at the back of my mind.

I had no idea I was so keen on frogs, but now I do, and this morning, when I spotted spawn in my home pond (which is tiny), I decided to dig another one and make a log pile, so that more of the slimy creatures can come and stay in my garden.

Over the week I learned other facts about them: they do not eat for the whole of the breeding time and they can drown while mating! Frogs have an urge to go back to the pond they were born into, so the few I rescued from the road were probably back shorly after I released them. In the UK there is a charity that monitors amphibian & reptiles.

Anyway, I finished long after dark, and the mother frog watched me closely all the time – I had never seen her so exposed before, usually they hide under vegetation.

At the allotment, I did up two beds, and sowed some seeds:

• beetroot
• agretti (I am trying again, never managed before)
• hollyhock
• thyme
• thai basil

and a few had started to come out

• cardoon
• chamomile lawn
• and some peas and tomatoes were on the point of…

The leeks have self-seeded massively, and are growing fast, so I am considering keeping the bed for one more season – they seem healthy, but that means I will have to make space somewhere for the cardoon next week, as it will be ready to transplant.

It was great to be out in the sun, and although probably tomorrow I won’t be able to move a single muscle, it was a great way to spend the first day of spring.

What a tangible sign of spring when the broadbeans are out once again! For a moment I thought it was some horrible weed, as I could not recognise the shape of the shoots. But it’s definitely broadbeans, and I will probably manage to find space for sowing some more.

Reading and writing about gardening, despite weather in the way; wildlife station

I was already enjoying the thought of another whole weekend outside in decent weather but the forecast goes:

• Saturday: Grey Cloud
• Sunday: Light Rain

so I have to prepare myself for more miserable weather and less allotment than expected. Maybe there’s still time for the weather to change…

Last night I had some time for reading, and I learned that chalky soil – with lumps of white chalk and flint like mine – agrees with grapevines, so maybe the plants are not dead after all, but only sleeping (very hard indeed by the look of it). Rosemary thrives on chalk as well, it seems.

Reading about soil improvers has reminded me that I need to sort my compost heap, which appeared in pictures some time ago showing that it is not really a compost heap, more… just a heap, and an ever growing one to boot! I could dig a trench and bury the material. It seems that peas would appreciate being planted on such a trench, after a couple of months from closing it up.

Or I could go back to my idea of getting pallets and build one like some other people on site. I must say that there are quite a few pallets thrown away at the garden centre that I could make use of, but my husband is not keen to carry them in the car… I should ask if they would take some home for me… but then I would also need to go to the council and ask for the key to the private drive to the allotment etc. so I tend to just dismiss the thought. The other day there was a skip on the road to the allotment with big wood cages that looked perfect: I wish I had the cheek to go and ask if I could take them… for recycling purposes, what else?

Anyway, talking of pallets, I have finally got round to taking a picture of the wildlife station I found on the Garden Organic magazine a while ago and that fascinated me at first sight. Here it is, compared to what I started last week (on the right).

I have a hedgehog box and a bird nesting box, and a couple of pallets, one of which I wrecked and which I started filling with brick fragments I scavenged around, and some twigs. I need to take with me a gorilla bar to pull apart the other pallet to put on top, and then fill the whole structure with – it appears – mainly hollow stuff.

What I have done so far felt really satisfying because that bit of my allotment behind the shed used to be just a grubby mound of soil; now, instead, it looks nice and tidy and will be put to good use 🙂 This is in addition to the lacewing box and ladybird tower that were already there, and for which I have to find some attractant I had bought and seem to have lost somewhere in the shed…

Time to have dinner now: this is the fourth post since Saturday, my mind seems to be now all set on gardening, flexing her muscles (metaphorically speaking) for the spring rush!

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…).

Crop updates, new bed, “nature reserve”

The salad mix is growing really fast, no sign of any other seedling, but I planted quite a few new things

• shallot Vigarmor
• salad Lollo Rosso
• celery Victoria
• sweet peas (5 varieties, leftovers from last year)
• tomato San Marzano
• chamomile (lawn)

and

• pea Twinkle (last year it did nothing, so I have to monitor)
• broadbeans Express

in the new bed I finished!

I am very happy with the new bed, it has come out nicely and I am sure the beans will be growing well as the soil is very rich and crumbly: looked very healthy. Let’s hope the holly is going soon, I will mention this to him when I see my neighbour next time.

Today it was really deserted, only me at the allotment, not even Geoff around that I could see.

Anyway, after finishing my bed and planting seeds, I also decided to clean up a little at the back of the shed and start off my “nature reserve”, with a wildlife station similar to the one I saw in Garden Organic magazine back in November.

I also took off my fleece tent, in the end it was no use at all, I could have used the fleece on the artichokes instead.

Crop updates, acting on plan

It was a sunny day so I spent the whole of it gardening. The snow has finally gone, so it was time to inspect how the different plants were faring.

Gloom on the artichoke patch: most of them have rotted – I was so looking forward to eating artichokes this year. Anyway, it is my fault: I should have been more careful and covered them in autumn.

The strawberries are doing mostly well, except the ones I planted last: they might still be rooting though. The vines have been looking very dead all winter, and they look no better now. Leeks are as happy as they could be: my supply will not run short quickly. And the primroses around the pond that I ‘de-clumped’ before the snow set in, are doing extremely well.

Inside the greenhouse, the Winter Gem salad I transplanted in pots last week is still alive, although there is no considerable change in appearances. I was pleased to see, though, that the salad mix has sprouted already. I gave a little watering booster and then left it, as I have something major to do outside.

In fact, my bed plan tells me there is not enough space for peas and beans this year, so I need a new bed and the only space to put it in is the lawn at the top of the allotment (the dotted line at the top in my plan).

It is a bit of a shady position but I hope my new neighbour will help by chopping the holly on the boundary: he has only half a plot, at the top, so he doesn’t have much of a chance of growing vegs unless he gets more sun himself – I think there’s some good motive there.

Anyway, I digged most of the bed and I am going now to do the rest.

Reflections on prices and wartime slogans

Tonight I went to Waitrose – it must have been a while – and I was a little bit shocked by how much I spent.

Be it because of the credit crunch, the strong Euro, oil prices, general lack of sustainability of our way of living, or all of those things together, I think it will be good to make the most of the allotment this year.

The UK rethoric is rediscovering wartime slogans against waste and follies. I will join in, referencing a fantastic poster from the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign, one that is so very appropriate to today’s situation.

I’m going to start doing my duty next weekend: I will look for recipes to use up all the onions and potatoes from last year that are starting to go bad…