The weather has cleared up for a few days, and the allotmenteers have come out of hibernation. I think this spell of fine weather, 26⁰C today combined with the Easter Holidays (not for me sadly) has meant that the allotment has been filled with people the last few times I have been up. Now this for me a self-diagnosed antisocial person, does take a little getting used to. What is positive to see is the plot next door to me is being tidied up. I mean part of me was hoping they left it so long they got kicked off and I could take over, at the same time from a more community minded point of view I am glad it isn’t going to be spreading weed seeds everywhere all summer long. Watch this space we will see how they get on.

These last few weeks has been mostly planting seeds for what I hope to be a plug planting tidal wave to come. I have been module planting pretty much everything (I chucked some saved sunflower seed in the ground, but I don’t hold much hope for it I think a mouse had gotten into the bag through the winter), I am copying the Charles Dowding ‘No Dig’ method, loosely and anyone who knows his work, knows that he loves to module plant everything.

This did lead me to do something that I loathe to do, buy some module trays. Up until this point I had been getting away using recycled ones from plants I had bought in module trays. This year however with the introduction of the greenhouse I have so much more room to start seeds off I needed to buy some new ones (as far as module trays go they are pretty sweet).

Starting seeds off I try and do as a little and often affair, all the time reminding myself I am not running a market garden here so I don’t need 40 Lobjoits Green Cos lettuce plants at the same time. I do tend to multi sow my seed into the modules. I am a sucker for never throwing anything away so I am terrible for hanging onto seed well past its use by. Multi sowing gives these old seeds as good a chance as any.

I also fly fairly loose with planting dates, and just trying to learn as I go. Currently my successes are the old Boltardy beetroot has all germinated, where as the borlotti beans, I don’t think a single one of them has come up yet, and I am being very patient with them, they have till next week until I toss them on the compost, I have planted some Enorma runner beans I saved from last year which are looking good and they will take the space I had planned on using for the Borlotti.

I think this is a valuable lesson for me, I can only do what I can do and just being happy with that. In the end I am doing this for fun. Somethings will grow and flourish and some seeds I just hung onto for too long or planted slightly too early or late or they got a little too much or too little water, or a thousand other reasons why they didn’t gro. Which just makes the ones that do all the sweeter.