I went down to the allotment afterwards as it was such a beautiful day it would have been a shame to miss it, despite a full tummy. Got a bit of gentle digging done, sowed swiss chard, rainbow chard, beetroot and spinach, and got my shallots and onion sets planted. I'm going to go for a more permaculture approach this year as I'm not going to have as much time to spend down there, so I'm planning to grow more things in mixed patches (the two lots of chard and spinach were all sown together), much closer together so the weeds don't win out, and plenty of flowers like calendula in between. Hopefully this will mean that the allotment looks pretty rather than messy, which it usually does!
This is my 'raised bed' system for carrots: my carrots were rubbish last year, so hoping that this dismantled compost bin will help - and thwart the dreaded carrot root fly.
I've filled it with compost from my ungainly compost heap.
And last, but not least, here is a little froggy that nearly gave me a heart attack last time I was down there by jumping when I least expected it! The frogs are getting busy in ours and next door's ponds, so we may have frogspawn soon :-)
The garden is looking greener than ever, I really enjoy the anticipation of things coming up and getting ready to flower. The snowdrops are still looking pretty.
Our garden goes up a hill so is very shady and steep. The lower bit is terraced and is a mixture of cottage garden (well, that's the plan) and veg and chickens. The upper bit is becoming a wild garden. We had to clear mountains of ivy and bramble, but it is now grassed over and has loads of wild flowers like campion, self heal, toadflax etc dotted around - and bluebells of course!
Then:
And now:
Here are some wild arums (lords and ladies) just poking up:
Let's just hope the sunshine keeps up!
