Allotment Tales at the end of March

After last week’s balmy conditions, it was back to chilliness on Thursday, though the sun did take the edge off a bit. The grass got a first mow of the year, just a gentle trim rather than a full-on scalp, All the stumpy willows were coppiced, and the lengths trimmed – ready for weaving into the windbreak next week.
As usual, the netting of the plum tree was a comedic event, with most of us using a range of implements to manoeuvre enviromesh over the crown (to protect emerging blossom from late frost). We needed a coffee break to recover after this.

New posts were secured into the ground over at the herb bed, ready to provide support for climbing crops. Ash from last week’s bonfire was spread around the fruit trees.
The first of the Early tatties went in – 3 short drills of Pentland Javelin. More will follow next week.

As ever, we did quite a bit of weeding in beds and along borders – in an attempt to stay on top of the alkanet, couch grass and creeping buttercup.

Jobs for next week: Prepare the soil for sowing carrots; remove old leaves from the strawberry plants; finish edging the grass; start weaving willow lengths into the windbreaks; plant more tatties; weed