Allotment gardening

After a few days at work and looking after sick kids, the weather seems just right to go and plant some lettuce, parsnips and carrots. I quickly fork over the earth in the bed earmarked for parsnips and carrots and then begin breaking it up so it forms a nice tilth. My dad stops by to check on the progress and then a couple of other plot holders stop for a chat. A Korean chap with a plot by the entrance gives me a load of seed for Korean lettuce so I plant a row next to my row of Tom Thumb. I also sow three rows of carrots and two of parsnip and have plenty of seed left over. More garlic is coming through and my strawberry plants are looking good too. I do a quick spot of weeding and leave it at that. I can't wait for my other strawberry plants to arrive and the rhubarb. The plot is really filling up.

It hoses it down with rain all morning. I was gagging to get down to the plot and put the spuds in, but the rain does not let up. Later in the afternoon it brightens up and I go down with my son Matthew. Matt carries one tray of chitted potatoes all the way. I then do my best to prepare the ground and then hoe out a trench. The cloying ground is not ideal but I really want to get these potatoes in today. I fill one row and earth it up as the books say to do. Then I do another row and still have six potatoes over so I do a third short row. I then worry that I haven't earthed them up enough and run round tipping soil over the rows. I have doubts as to how the potatoes will fare in this earth - I didn't exactly prepare it properly - but then again I hardly did that with the onions and that's one of the crops that is doing the best. We head for home where I then begin worrying that I have earthed up too much. I really won't relax until I have a nice bucket full of new potatoes.

I crack on with some of the weeding that needs doing. There are loads of weeds around the onions, choking them. It takes a good hour but I get rid of most of them. The onions really do look like they are doing well but I won't be convinced until I see the big juicy bulbs. I then weed around the peas and beans and then brush the paths so that it all looks neat and tidy. Then I start digging a bit of the potato bed. I'll finish that tomorrow when I intend to put the earlies in.

I haven't been down to the plot for quite a while so I get a pleasant surprise today - shoots of garlic have popped up above the ground. I have a close look and there is a bit of gap where I think the dodgy cloves were - but there is definitely a nice straight row of shoots coming through. Two other things are noticeable: the onions I planted last year are doing really well and the weeds are taking over. I get the hoe out and tackle the worst of the weeds round the broad beans and peas. Then I turn my attention to the bed with the onions in it. I hoe down some of the worst weeds but, as I only can only stay a little while, I make a note to come back next week and get rid of the rest. A quick check of the strawberries reveals they are thriving - I can't wait for the next 20 to arrive - soon surely. Then I dump two barrow-loads of manure over the patch where I intend to plant my early potatoes next week and leave it at that. There is plenty to do next week - dig the potato bed and the carrot and parsnip patch, plant the spuds, sow some carrot, parsnip and lettuce seeds and crack on with some major league weeding. I can't wait.

I have bought a roll of felt from B&Q, nails and some stanley knives so it is time to take my ladder down to the allotments and fix the leaking shed roof. It is a bit of a chilly morning but I crack on and take off what remains of the old felt, as many of the old nails as I can and I pull down an old piece of wood that is sticking up until I am left with a nice blank flat roof. Following the instructions on the felt, I cut off a piece and begin nailing it into place. It is very windy and it keeps blowing off. But I persevere until I have nailed it into place. I didn't realise it was so cold and my fingers are beginning to feel a bit numb. Now that I've started I'm determined to finish. I cut the next piece and nail it on as quickly as I can. The finished job looks a bit rough round the edges but it is so cold I just want to get home. Although the sides don't look great, the top looks fine and I don't think any more rain will be getting in through there. Happy, I go home. My next job will be planting out the spuds.

I am desperate to have a look and see how the strawberries are doing. They looked so dodgy after a few days in a seed tray that I wonder if they have thrived in their bed. The whole family takes a trip down to the plot and, amazingly, all the strawberry plants have a bit of fresh growth on them - the crown on every plant is bright green. Result!. They are obviously thriving. The HDRA's advice to get them in asap was obviously right. My wife and I decide to buy some different varieties to fill up the bed. I visit the Organic Gardening Catalogue and buy 10 plants of two different varieties. Three rows of 10 plants will fill the bed and hopefully mean some nice, juicy strawberries come the summer. Now I've just got to fix that roof.

My carpentry skills are coming on. I cut four planks to shape and replace half of the rotten floor in the shed. I then climb up on the roof to have a look at the extent of the problem up there. There is absolutely no felt left and many of the planks are rotten. I nail a replacement over the worst of the rotten planks. I'm not too worried about the rest - I just need to cover it all with a piece of felt. I turn my attention to the beds and make the final preparations for the strawberry plants. There's no frost predicted tonight but rain on Wednesday so it's got to be today. I stick all 11 plants in one row and give them a bit of water. I think I'll buy another 10 so I can put another row in and compare how the two varieties do.

It snowed overnight but I go down to the allotment to finish the last few metres that need digging. It is hard getting the spade through the first half-inch of the ground but after that it is easy enough. I finish it quickly and then dig over the bed where I am planning to put the strawberries on Tuesday. They are not doing so well in the trays so I think I'll take my chances with the frost. I also rip up a couple of the rotten floorboards in the shed. I need to saw their replacements to size and nail them down tomorrow. Then I'll have to get some felt to re-cover the roof to keep the rain out. I'm becoming a jack-of-all-trades since taking on this plot.