White Christmas followed by Rain

After a white Christmas, the snow melted and the rain came down turning the plots into paddy fields

The pundits were right and we had a white Christmas and very beautiful it was as well. Now the snow has been melted away by the rain and temperatures have soared into double figures again.

The plots are very wet with water pooling in places so I just spent a couple of hours filling the leaf cage on Plot 5 and added a couple of barrow loads to the cage on plot 29.

It’s not sensible to dig or work on the soil when it is as wet as it is. At best you compact the clay and at worst sink into the quagmire, never to be seen again!

The field beans on plot 29 have keeled over, due to the snow and frost I expect. Digging them in can wait. Strangely the field beans planted later by the onions don’t seem to be affected – I expect they hardened off better.

The leeks still look good on plot 5 and I think the parsnips and carrots are OK too. I should really have harvested the carrots but the wet soil is hard to get off them so I’ll just dig as needed unless we have another couple of dry days.

Overall, it’s not been a bad year on the allotments. As usual there are things that could have been done better but you can say that about anything. Planning for new season is the next priority