Mid March and a slightly fuller greenhouse

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Whilst it's still a little cold, today I've planted:
- Broadbeans (Bunyards Exhibition) - yes, I know this has already been said once this year, but after a freezing fortnight and no sign of growth, I decided it might be because the seed is old, so I purchased some more this morning from Sainsbury's and it happens to be the same type.
- Squash (Early Flat White) - this is a heritage type, let's see if it grows
- Statice - Art Shades Mixed - some flowers for my garden
- Pea - Klevedon Wonder
- Leek - Caretan
Sweet Pea - Perfume Delight, to encourage the bees at the allotment and for picking for my living room.

Hopefully it will warm and they will grow.

Wind!

Not only is it cold, but yesterday was very windy too, so I spent the night worrying that the minni greenhouse would fall over. Fortunately I had weighed it down with a patio slab, and it has stayed upright.

I want some nice Spring weather now!

Snow!

Goodness, didn't expect this snow and cold this far into March. The fleece is back out on the onion bed. I'm hoping that the crop isn't ruined.

I've only got the broadbeans in the mini greenhouse, no point planting anything else as it won't germinate in this cold. Hoping that the broadbeans take off too.

New cover for the mini greenhouse

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New season and I needed a new cover for the mini greenhouse in the back garden. It's looking after the broadbean (Bunyards Exhibition) seeds at the moment.

Fancy being on TV?

A recent advert was sent through from the Alton Allotment Assocation, asking

"Do you grow your own fruit, veg and flowers and do you know what to do with them? Are you the complete kitchen gardener?

We are looking for pairs who have the skills and the dedication to compete to be the nation's best kitchen gadener. someone who can cultivate the perfect carrot, make their green tomatoes into award winning chutney and turn their dahlias and sweet peas into floral arrangements fit for a Queen.

If you have the skills to compete and are interested in featuring in our BBC 2 series...."

Whilst this isn't for us - don't have the time for a start, we probably don't have the skills either. We make a really good pair, my leading the growing, Graham leading the cooking. But we are probably too 'safe' with what we do with the product at the end of the day.

This is a little bit of a challenge to make sure that we continue to learn and develop on our allotment.

Chilli and tomato planting

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I've used organic coir pots for the first time (a gift), to bring these seedlings on.
Chilli is (Hot) Orange Wonder
Tomato a mixture of Gartenperle and The Amateur (seems appropriate).
I've got them on the windowsill in my dining room, and have put clingfilm on top to keep them warm. When they're a bit bigger, they will be planted into larger pots.

Tidy raspberry bed

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We spent the morning tidying at the allotment.

The biggest issue with tidying in the raspberry bed is clearing the raspberry routes, these have a tendency to put out shoots so as to colonise new areas, so we dug up masses of these so that something else can go in this bed too - possibly the spinach, but I'm not quite sure yet.

Today's the 3rd March, you can see the rhubarb sprouting in the background, won't be long until we are picking it.