A set back?

Well that will teach us not to be so smug at being ahead of the game this year. Last week we suffered a set back. The weather gods decided to teach us a lesson. They sent the sort of weather that prevents any visits to the allotment.

We did have one dry and sunny day but we decided to have the afternoon out at Clumber Park.

On our last visit the water birds were in abundance and making their presence known through their loud calls to one another. The smaller birds were constantly streaming to the log where we had scattered some tempting food. This time many birds and also many squirrels were keeping a low profile although some couldn't resist diving in for a treat or, in the case of the swan, admiring their reflection in the water.

The rest of the week has been wet and at times very blustery - not the conditions that tempt us out to do any gardening, except maybe a quick spell in the garden, in between showers, to cut back some of our roses.

The problem is that once the rain stops the plot will remain soggy for a while so our progress preparing beds and planting may slow down considerably.

The somewhat soggy plants on the other hand are made of sterner stuff and carrying on regardless.

The shrubs are also starting to flower, some like the camellia have decided to produce flowers a little earlier than usual. I hope that they don't regret it.

The hellebores are continuing to flourish despite the buffeting they are being subjected to.

The bluebells that we planted in pots are starting to grow quickly now and I am looking forward to being treated to their flowers in the near future.

One plant that thrives in the wet conditions is the moss which looks really pretty when it is confined to the right place.

We did manage a few gardening jobs inside the shelter of the garden greenhouse. For a few years now we have bought small early brassica plants. We never seemed to get the plants growing soon enough when we were growing them from seed. The plants arrived last week and so potting them up was a priority.

Calabrese Aquiles, Cauliflower Helsinki and Cabbage Regency

The plants may look a bit shabby at the moment after there journey through the postal system but they usually perk up and produce good plants.

Martyn, also sowed our leek seeds and a few lettuce. This year we are growing Musselburgh, Oarsman and Porbella leeks. We grew Oarsman last year but the other two varieties are new this year. Porbella is described has having good winter hardiness and resistance to rust. The claim for Musselbutgh is that the root system improves heavy soils. Our leeks often fall foul of rust and our soil is heavy clay so we will be interested to see how they perform. The cycle of life is emphasised by the fact that we are harvesting leeks at the same time as planting seeds to harvest later in the year.

The seed trays are covered with lids, not to protect them from the elements but to try to thwart any mice that are exploring the greenhouse on the look out for shelter and any tasty morsel that has been left unprotected.

Unfortunately we didn't manage to get to the plot to harvest any crops last week. We will have to pay a visit come what may this week as our supplies at home have run out. It's the downside of not growing your crops outside your own back door.

Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett