Focus on the Good Stuff

I haven’t visited the allotment much this month and I’m a bit behind. The weather has been unseasonably warm for weeks which made the ground bake hard, making it very difficult to plant potatoes around Easter when I like to get them in, but I did make a visit to sow carrots and plant peas and the ground prep is almost there, so it’s not all bad.

I popped to the plot on Monday, the weather was much cooler and the site was a hive of activity. I can’t remember a time where nearly all the plots were worked and neat so early in the year, lockdown has given people more time than usual to spend at their allotments and it’s really showing. As usual I was greeted by bindweed as I stepped inside the gate, powered by the sun it’s popping up everywhere in the pumpkin patch. It’s a problem but if I keep it in check by pulling it up (oh how I love that satisfying ‘snap’) it will weaken eventually, so the books tell me. My potatoes are still sitting in their trays and I have a ton of weeding to do again, I began to feel a little bit overwhelmed. Then I spotted tiny carrot seedlings poking through the soil, simple things such as this make me incredibly happy. I soon forgot the woes and began to focus on the good stuff going on around me.

Much-needed rain arrived Tuesday, my concrete soil will be moveable again and I can finally plant potatoes which I plan to do tomorrow, weather permitting. I’ll take full advantage of this and get the bean poles up too.

Happy gardening, stay safe x