Gardening jobs I would have expected to have done…

… except that it is still snowing

It has been a tough start to the year for gardeners, thanks to a very wet winter and a snowy start to spring making it difficult to get outside and get the beds cleared, dug and prepared.

This late cold snap also means the soil is still very cold. I recently heard that you shouldn’t start your spring sowing/planting until you can sit comfortably (bare cheeked) on your soil. Since hearing this bit of gardening ‘wisdom’ I have been rather traumatised by the image of many of my allotment neighbours sitting on their plots with their trousers round their ankles, which would not be a pretty sight!

Anyway - pushing that image to the back of my mind - by the end of March I would usually expect to have a sown or planted a number of the crops on my allotment and to be enjoying the longer sunny days.

My chitted potatoes would definitely be in the ground, but they are still sitting on the window ledge. I would usually have started to sow carrots, parsnips and various other crops, but these are also delayed.

So what can we be doing? Well, I have covered my beds with some black fabric, not only to keep the weeds at bay, but also to try to absorb any warmth we get into the soil. The clocks have gone forward, so there are more hours of daylight (and hopefully sunshine) even if the wind chill factor is high.

I think the key thing to remember is to sow/plant by what the weather is doing, rather than just following what the seed packets say. Many of the crops that I would have expected to be underway can still be sown/planted in April or May.

However, I did spend the Easter weekend sowing seeds, including leeks, calabrese, Brussels sprouts and lettuces. These have all gone into my new purchase (pictured), as they don’t need to be indoors or in a snug greenhouse. I know that many of you will have fantastic greenhouse real-estate, but I am quite new to all of this and am rather proud of my little shelter. 

I don't sow carrots in pots or trays, as transplanting carrot seedlings wafts the smell around and the carrot flies come running, hopping, or whatever it is they do. Anyway, better to just sow them thinly where you want them.

However, I have sown courgettes, squashes, sweet peas and marigolds in pots and they are settled in on various window ledges and other surfaces around the house. I did have a slight mishap with this task - we all know that it is important to clearly label your pots/ seed trays etc with what you have sown, variety, dates etc. I must have been a little distracted as I ended up with a tray of sweat peas! Just have to hope that they don’t live up to this name…