What to do on the Allotment in March

What to do on the Allotment in March

It is now a couple of weeks since I’ve seen any rain [or snow!] and with the constant cold east wind there has actually been quite a lot of drying on the ground. It is still a bit too cold to think of sowing seeds outdoors but, it is just about possible to start digging. The ground is still quite sticky and heavy underneath but it is essential to dig into the hard ‘crust’ on top to let sun and wind and rain onto the ground to break it up before we can think of sowing or planting it is hard, heavy work and I can only do so much at a time. As I look around, I see an endless list of essential work to be done in the next couple of months.

I did manage to dig a ridge outdoors and put in lots of manure in preparation for planting my first ridge of early potatoes outdoors. In the next few days I might actually persuade myself to plant a few and cover with environmesh to keep the frost off.

Maintenance

-      Keep the allotment tidy – bonfires for clearing hard organic matter may take place between November and March, inclusive [please don’t bring rubbish to the allotment to burn];

-      If you still have brassicas growing on your plot – Brussels sprouts, cabbages, broccoli, etc. remove all yellowed leaves and compost. Remove also, any plants which have finished producing crops, to reduce the opportunities for pests and diseases – clear these beds and dig over for new crops. Dig in compost or well rotted manure – not on proposed carrot beds which will encourage the carrots to fork [fang];

-      Mulch fruit trees, bushes and canes with compost or well rotted manure. If you are growing blueberries, which are ericaceous, make sure they are fed with a suitable ericaceous plant food;

-      Weed carefully around perennial plants [rhubarb, globe artichokes, asparagus] to avoid disturbing the roots, before mulching with compost or manure;

-      Tidy strawberry beds – remove dead leaves and any remaining ‘runners’. Clear old strawberry beds [3 years] and dig over the area, dig in compost or manure. It is a good idea to have more than one strawberry bed, planted on alternate years so that you will always have a mature productive bed.

-      It is advisable, if you are at the allotment on a dry sunny day, to leave the door open to allow for ventilation but, be sure to close up again before you leave. There are still hard frosts which will damage your young plants.

Preparation –

-      If growing rhubarb, now is the time to put a cover on your rhubarb plant to ‘force’ and early crop – some early varieties are already showing vigorous new growth;

-      Remove troublesome and deep-rooted perennial weeds [dandelion, dock, cinque-foil, couchgrass, etc] before digging over beds;

-      As soon as areas are cleared and the ground is workable, start digging. On our heavy clay ground, after last year’s continuous rain, the ground has developed a hard ‘crust’ which should be broken up before it can be broken down properly for planting;

-      Prepare seed beds as soon as the weather and ground have warmed up [by preparing seed beds I mean that the ground should be well dug, clods broken up and raked to a fine tilth so that the seeds can be sown into fine smooth soil. It can be helpful to rake in some seed or potting compost in the top layer to help this process. In my tunnel, I just put a thick layer of bagged potting compost over last year's dug over soil and sow my seeds into that. With carrots, to help with a fine, stone-free, clod-free ridge it can be useful to dig out a narrow ridge about 6inches [15cm] deep and fill it with potting compost - water it well and sow your seeds into that];

-      If planning to sow seeds in greenhouse or poly-tunnel [in seed beds or pots] bring compost and containers of water inside to allow them to warm up before sowing. Each day, as you leave the plot, leave containers of water inside to allow them to warm up for the next watering;

-      You might find that, after the very wet year we've had that you are deficient in some essential minerals like Magnesium - the leaves of plants will show mis-colouring –e.g. raspberry leaves [when they appear] with be yellow with darker green veins. Tomatoes leaves turn blueish/purplish. It's not a bad idea to sprinkle epsom salts around your perennials every couple of months, not too much. Don't buy this in a garden centre [too expensive]. If you have a shop attached to your allotment it should be cheaper.
Also check your ground for pH. The rain will probably have leached a lot of lime from the soil. Remember the optimum pH for most plants is slightly over 6 [slightly acid], although some prefer an alkaline soil [over 7] and a few, like most ericaceous plants like it a bit lower. I bought one of these cheap pH monitors from a large hardware store a few years ago - you just stick the prong in the ground and it registers the pH measurement on a screen - costs about £15. It isn't very accurate but will give an indication of whether or not you need to do something. If you are adding lime - don't put it out at the same time as manure - they will react together and the Nitrogen will be lost in gas. If lime is necessary, don't try to correct all at once - add a sprinkle on the chosen patch each year. My neighbour Christine adds a spoonful around each brassica plant as she plants them out - this way a different area is sorted each year.

Sowing –

-      If you have not already done so, and you have an electric propagator, set it up this month and sow chillies, peppers, aubergines, cucumber for indoor growing and tomatoes for indoor growing. They can be sown in February but it is important to have somewhere warm enough and light enough to grow them on once they have germinated.

-      In a poly-tunnel or greenhouse – in pots, trays or seedbeds, you can now sow – kale, lettuce, radishes, rocket, spring onions, early peas, spinach, sweetcorn, swiss chard, turnips, French beans, beetroot, broccoli/calabrese, brussels sprouts, summer and winter cabbage, celery, celeriac.

-      Outdoors, you can now sow [ taking the conditions and the weather into consideration] – leeks, lettuce, onions, spring onions, parsnips, early peas, radish, rocket, spinach, broad beans, broccoli /calabrese, Brussels sprouts, summer cabbage, carrots, summer cauliflower,

-      Plants which have been sown germinated indoors can now be planted outside [make sure the weather and conditions are suitable and that the plants have been ‘hardened-off’ first] – broad beans, sweetpeas, lettuce, early peas, summer cauliflower, winter cauliflower.

-      Bought-in plants – onion, shallot, garlic sets can be planted out now. !st early potatoes can be planted by mid-March [weather and conditions allowing] but it is advisable to cover with fleece or environmesh to protect from late frosts.

-      Plant new asparagus crowns in well prepared and manured beds.

Harvesting – Leeks are still good, some winter cabbages are still harvestable, some varieties of broccoli also. Some varieties of spring cabbage will also be ready – this winter I over-wintered a few in my poly-tunnel which will be ready and can be harvested when there is little else.