It's wet on 28 March 2008

Another rainy day. See that upturned terracotta pot just in front of Bowler D's corrugated fence? Underneath is a rhubarb plant. We were unaware of the plant's existence until the other day. It must have been there for at least two years; our plot had been lying fallow for 18 months when we took it on. Anyway, we have decided to try our hand at forcing. This, as I understand it, is a form of garden torture as it deprives the plant of most of its light source, thus 'forcing' it to towards the tiniest of light rays, in the process producing early juicy sticks. The pot is not tall enough but it'll have to do for the moment.

Mixed leaves and glass panes

In the middle: a big tray of mixed leaves, sown on 12 Feb and transplanted this week. To the left, one of two pots of radish seedlings called Rainbow Mixed, sown about the same time, I think.

Outside, resting: one of a number of glass panes. Found them somewhere. They'll come in handy when we're constructing those cold frames ...

Watering optimists

On the inside: the daintiest of mist sprays.

On the outside: the prettiest of baths. Soon after Forester B salvaged it 'on our behalf' after clearing another plot, Bowler D noticed the bath plug had a hole in it. And so it did. We replaced the plug. Plug too small. Bought another plug. Plug okay but plughole surround leaks. Afghan A to the rescue with some putty. Result: half FULL bath.

Thermometre

Two types of tomato!

The tomato seedlings are doing fine, too. The ones in the image were all sown on 12 Feb. At the front we have six pots of Marmande Super. At the back there are 12 pots of Gardener's Delight.

Morning Glory

Morning Glory, sown on 4 March. Some seedlings have acquired a quadruple leaf! We are hoping to grow this flower as a companion plant as it attracts hoverflies.

Terracotta pots and frog ponds

A close-up of Forester B's plot, the one next to ours. He stores a thousand and one things on it including some lovely old terracotta pots. I have 'borrowed' a small number of these and will have to own up soon ... In addition, I spotted a number of so-called pebble pools. One of these would do nicely as a base for a frog pond.

Lettuce and cauliflower

In front: lettuce (Little Gem) seedlings, sown on 26 Feb;

at the back: cauliflower (All the Year Round), also sown on 26 Feb.

They're doing okay!

Leek

This leek variety, sown on 4 March, is called Hannibal.

Parsley

Here's a tray of curly parsley, one of the first herbs A sowed back in February.

Lay a little egg for me

These chickens belong to Forester B who has many plots in addition to the one adjacent to ours.

The shed

Here's the inside of the shed marked Ladies.

Brussels sprouts

Here is our first batch of Brussels sprout seedlings, the organic Nautic F1.

Seed potatoes

It is still too early to plant our seed potatoes. We are keeping them "in a cool, light space in the warm, to sprout green shoots" (Susan Berger, "Allotment Gardening"). This process is apparently known as "chitting", giving us several weeks of growth whilst waiting for the earth to warm up. The image on the left shows Portland Javelins (a "first early" variety), the one on the right shows the Vivaldi seed potatoes ("second early"). I don't know why the Portland Javelins are sprouting purple instead of green shoots. Perhaps they, too, are confused about the cool but warm requirement.

Plum tree

The kindness of semi-strangers! Here is another gift from Chef T - a "Blaisdon Blue", he says it is.

Green manure

The green manure we used in some beds back in late autumn 2007 consisted of a rye, vetch and tetraploid Italian rye grass mixture. Suitable for organic gardening, it was, according to the packet, "fast and easy to grow". In addition, there was the promise it would add nutrients and improve soil fertility and structure. You simply dig it in after 40 - 90 days when it is supposed to be 23 cm tall. Taking the advice by Dan Pearson (Observer Magazine, 18 November 2007), we covered our green manure experimental beds with fleece to prevent pigeons decimating the seedlings and to keep the warmth in the ground.

On a regular basis, we've taken a peep under the fleece. We're not sure what we're meant to be looking for. I've pulled back the fleece covering one of the beds and it is possible that those green blades may well be our desired end result. If so, they are not yet 23 cm tall. And why is most of the soil bare? Back to Dan:

"The secret with any green manure crop is to trench it back into the soil at its most bulky, and you have to watch for the point at which the plants start to initiate flower. ... As soon as this happens, a subtle but significant shift in the plant occurs where the bulk of foliage, produced to fuel seed production, is converted into the flowering growth. You will have wasted considerable bulk if you miss this moment."

We will soon need to use the bean beds so we have decided to cut our losses here and dig the what-could-well-be-green-manure into the soil. That's what I did on a rainy 13 March. Surprisingly, the soil was virtually weed-free, feeling and looking very fertile. We'll leave the fleece on the other beds for the moment.

Broad beans and manure

The first batch of broad bean seedlings are coming along fine. The idea is to plant them out when they're 10 cm tall. Their destination is this bed which has had its surface vegetation removed but could do with a little more digging/weeding/manuring/kind thoughts to turn it from its present rain-soaked state of being into something that is just right.

As it happens, A has a friend N who has a horse, etc. Having spent the morning of 26 February 2008 in the greenhouse sowing seeds, A then whiled away an afternoon shovelling well-rotted horse manure into 15 elegant bags in blue sky thinking hues. You can see the broad bean seedlings in their tray having their second session outside the greenhouse on yet another rainy day, 11 March 2008. This is to get them used to the real world such as nasty gale force winds and lashings of rain. Sounds cruel, perhaps, but when one considers their ultimate fate ...

The March weather has taken us by surprise. Although we (think we are) are suitably dressed for digging, planting, mulching, sowing, weeding and clumping about on a clay soil, there is this part of the body just above the knees that feels SO COLD ...

Sowings and plantings and daffodils

On 26 February we carried on sowing seeds in the greenhouse. We decided to plant just one of the three garlic bulbs, leaving the other two until end March and end April respectively. The under-the-oak daffodils are out.