On the 1 January 2016 I fell down a few stairs and managed
to rupture my ankle ligaments – the most shocking part of this story is that I
was stone cold sober and not even hungover from New Year’s Eve!
It was obvious that the diagnosis wasn't going to be good after I took my boot and sock off and the
Dr's first reaction was eugh!
Before this accident I had managed to dig over a couple of
beds and plant my garlic, but the majority of the winter clear and dig was
still to be done and this injury saw me spend the whole year playing catch up
and it was probably the worst year on the allotment so far.
Dig, condition, leave repeat
Deep breath for the first job is to dig the beds.
There is a
good chance if you ask 10 allotmenteers how to prepare a bed you will get 10 different answers – some will advocate the double dig; some prefer the no dig
approach, some like to clear all the stones as they go along but get rid of one stone
and 10 will appear for its funeral!
My chosen method is to dig the bed with a large fork, taking out old
crops, except for the nitrogen enriching bean roots, clearing the weeds and breaking up any large clods of earth. I remove rocks, but leave stones, which
help with the drainage, especially if you live in an area with a clay-based
soil, like Cambridgeshire.
You can then add manure and/or compost if it needs it for
the next year’s crop and that bed is ready for the frost and the worms to do
their work.
Come the spring time each bed just needs a quick once over with
the large fork, then use a smaller fork if necessary and finally rake it over.
General tidy up
Winter is a good time to give your plot, tools etc. a tidy
and preparation for the next season and big congratulations to everyone who
manages to complete the job list they set themselves at the start of the
winter.
My ever-growing pile of crop labels are testament to my
annual failure to sit down with a bucket of warm water and a wire brush to
clean the writing off ready for the next sowing season #epicfail
I do usually manage the general tidy up of the allotment,
gathering string and sticks and getting rid of any rubbish etc. and have every
good intention to take the time to oil my fork, spade and other tools…
Let the sowing and planting begin
Yes, you can still plant and sow at this time of year.
Winter garlic should already be in and once again mine has come from the Garlic
Farm on the Isle of Wight, including their fantastic elephant garlic.
It is also fine to sow over-winter lettuce and some spinach, both
under cloches, to ensure some nice early crops, which give a great sense of
satisfaction early in your allotment year.
Planning
Winter is the perfect time to plan your beds for the next
season. I rotate my crop planting, as this helps with
the general health of the plot.
With the plan in place I can look at getting vegetable
seeds, along with any companion and
bee attracting flower seeds. Most of
the flowers I love such as sweet peas, calendula, cornflowers, poppies and the
very useful, but prolific nasturtiums are self-seeding, but I may well
supplement this with some purchases from the wonderful Higgledy Garden http://higgledygarden.com/
So, (pun intended!) that is the Winter to do list – now just
need to get on with it and avoid staircases…
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