2/2/25 - Sow, It's February
It's been a great weekend weather-wise. Even though we are only just out of January, there is a feeling that Spring is starting to tease us with clear days and the first signs of warmth beginning to be felt on the back. I guess a huge amount of timing on the plot is down to the weather. When you plant, when you harvest and when you do all in between is governed by how the weather behaves.
There are some things that I prefer to do by calendar date instead of according to if it's frosty or not. Sowing seeds is one of those things, and while I have already done a little bit of sowing this year already, February sees seed sowing start to ramp up. But more on that later...
Weekly Temperatures
The weather generally has been quite settled this week. No storms or copious amounts of rain for a change, and while we haven't necessarily had clear sky all week, the polytunnel temperatures have reached over 33 degrees, but as low as -1.5. Today when I've been working in the tunnel, it reach a very pleasant 25 degrees.
Weekly Progress
Before I get stuck into what I've got done this weekend, let's take a quick look at how things are progressing. First off, generally around the plot, things are pretty quiet as you'd expect. All the progress is being made inside the tunnel. The tray of cut and come again salad leaves are continuing with their slow progress in growing. But at least they are growing, and with daytime temperatures sometimes getting into the 30's, they were ready for a good watering.
The great news for this week is that the sweet peas have started to germinate and the first signs of green growth are just about starting to pop through on some of the cells. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, we'll be able to see exactly how good germination has been across both the varieties.
Finally, we turn to those bare root strawberry plants that I bought a couple of weeks ago, and planted last weekend. They seem to have settled in well, and it's good to see some early signs of new growth. I potted them up in compost mixed with blood, fish and bone which should give them everything they initially need to come out of their dormancy. As well as a watering, this weekend, I've also added a bit more compost to some of them as the compost level has dropped as things have settled this week. Fingers crossed for a great strawberry harvest in the Summer!
Plot Jobs
After the midweek efforts with the woodchip, it was quite nice to just rock up on the plot and get on with some different work. But first thing's first. time to get the kettle on!
I had such grand plans for my couple of hours on the allotment this weekend. They didn't last long though 😂. A combination of taking the wrong seeds with me but also leaving a couple of pots back at home cut the job list down straight away.
I could pot on my first sowing of Ailsa Craig onions into cells though. Some of them were a little small, but the large seedlings were reasonably tall and had developed their second leaves. So, into the cells they went. The second sowing of Ailsa Craig aren't quite big enough to transplant as yet, but I have left them in the polytunnel so they are getting some good quality light at least.
Pricking out seedlings seems to take ages, so I was still there for nearly an hour getting all that done. There was only one more think I could feasibly do this weekend, and that was to transplant some broad bean plants. Back in the Autumn, I sowed a load of beans (Aqua Dulce) directly. As Winter moved on, it become apparently that some of the seed hadn't germinated, and a couple of other plants were a bit slow and stunted. So, I sowed half a dozen plants indoors and brought them on in the polytunnel. Those seedlings came on well, and so I used 3 of them to fill in come gaps where the direct sowings had failed. I'm back up to a full compliment of broad bean plants in the bed now. The remaining plants have now been sent to the compost bin, along with the left over broccoli plants that I have been harbouring in the tunnel all Winter. I'm not going to need them now, and in the coming weeks and months, I have it on the schedule to sow fresh seeds anyway.
Home Jobs
Having messed up slightly with the job list for the plot, I headed home to do a bit more. First job at home was to plant the first batch of this years leeks. I am once again growing Musselburgh leeks and have used the same method as I have done for the last 3 years. I dug out an 8" pot, filled it with a potting mix and then just sowed a load of seed in the pot. The pot will be big enough for the leeks to stay in there until they get to around 5 or 6mm thick, at which point, they will be transplanted into the ground. This year, I am going to try two sowings of leeks, with one set being sown now, but then another sowing done later in the year which should give us leeks in the ground through next Winter too. I've put the pot under lights, but not on heat to allow them to germinate. As soon as I see signs of germination, I will probably move them up to the polytunnel.
In the heated propagator and under the grow lights at home, the tomato and aubergine seedlings have been coming on well. They started their journey on the windowsill on the Super 7. They started to get a bit leggy, so I moved them under the lights to give them light for longer that they were getting on the windowsill. They were still a little leggy, but they did also develop their second leaves. For my plan this year, I only need 2 Aubergine Black Beauty plants to come through, and 2 Tomato Red Cherry plants to come through. Germination for both counts was very good, so I had plenty of seedlings to choose from. I selected the 4 healthiest of each, and potted them on. They will remain in the propagator and under lights for the weeks to come. Hopefully I will see signs of additional growth this week, and that they won't suffer from transplant shock.
That brings to an end this weekend allotment diary update. There's a last few jobs I need to do on the plot to prepare for the Spring, including sorted out some more path edging, rearranging the paths between 3 of the beds and it would also be nice to see if I could get a couple more trailers of manure from the stables. We shall see.
