Allotment Update Jan 2020

 Hello, thought I would update on my allotment as not done any crafting the past couple of weeks as my hands are not their best at the moment with the rheumatoid arthritis and this wretched damp weather we seem to have been having the past few months in the UK!

My plot is still drenched and soggy so I have limited standing on the soil and working mainly from the sides and paths I have created.

I have been trying to over winter some corn salad to see if I can get an early salad harvest under a cloche, so far it seems to be hanging on in there-they are SO small, but then I suppose there is so few hours of daylight at the moment.  I hope in the coming weeks as the days lengthen they will suddenly get a growth spurt!

My kale is hanging on in there, the red kale has done a LOT better than the green kale

My over wintering onions I planted in a mound all along the length to see if that would help as that end of my plot is really sodden and until recently was still a bit under water seem to have worked, I have covered some with the metal mesh I used to keep my squashes off the soil back in the autumn in an effort to stop the birds trying to pull the stalks out of the soil!  The rest are planted up in a small plastic greenhouse (those small 4 foot high ones) in my garden until I am able to work the soil on the plot when it dries out a bit more.

My plot-kale, spinach and purple brussel sprouts still ready for picking (the leeks at the very top of the plot are covered in rust and didn't really bulk out so don't think I will bother again.

 I am trying something new in my compost bin this year.  In a book about compost I borrowed from the library it said to create a chimney of wire in the middle as a way of getting some air into the middle (my compost in the first bin is quite wet, presuming I need more brown matter) so in my 2nd bin I am going to see how it works.  I have only just started the bin, putting down some wire mesh on the floor in a bid to keep the rats out and I was lucky enough to convince the works canteen to give me a large bin bag full of spent coffee grounds.  So according to Charles Dowding these are classed as brown (rather than green) matter and are better in a compost bin rather than spread on the soil (where they can go mouldy) so I thought I would give that a go too-it doesnt cost anything so I reckon it has got be worth a try, if it doesn't work for me then I will start again.

 My garlic in my small 4foot high greenhouse thingy at home is starting to sprout nicely.  As soon as we get a cold spell I will put them outside as they need sub zero to help split the bulbs (or at least that is what I read in another one of the many books I am borrowing from my library!)

 During the wet dark evenings I am sat here with the dread that is TRYING to sort out a plan for crop rotation.  I have read so much up on it and it seems like the main thing is rotate brassicas, onions and potatoes but who knows as I then read others who don't and find it fine!  I have decided to put my onions etc this year where my spuds and courgettes were last year and the spuds will go where my onions and roots were last year-as to the rest-who knows!!

 then finally I have started sorting out my seeds.  I have placed like with like in envelopes (i.e. all carrots together, all beetroots together) but I haven't thought about sowing times etc as I am hoping I can do some seed swaps in the next few weeks which may thin things out a bit.

So there you are, fingers crossed the soil will dry out a bit.  I have some potatoes chitting from local potato days I have attended and have started cleaning my tools and sharpening them all ready for the new growing season.

Kyla