Allotment – week ending 2 March 2013

After the frosty haze cleared Thursday was a beautiful, sunny and still day on the allotment, when even the heat of the sun could felt. The daffodils planted in the autumn are looking good with the blooms already appearing – maybe they will be good enough for the Spring Show – weather permitting.

The paths were finished and used scaffold boards used to keep the wood chip in place. Old compost bags were opened out and used as a base to stop the chips disappearing into the soil and followed by a good thick layer of wood chips. The plastic was then forked over to create drainage holes. So now less mowing and less trimming back of the grass edges and fewer chances for the couch grass to grow into the beds.
We also continued to work on clearing the couch grass from around the communal fruit trees.

This year we are going to stake the autumn raspberries so one end of each stake was sawn to a point to make it easier to hammer into the ground. Next week they will get a coat of wood preservative and be hammered in round the rasp bed.

Potato Day – there are still seed potatoes and onions left over for anyone who couldn’t get along on Sunday. Best day to pick up is Tuesday.