Life on The Weald - March 2025

and sundry distractions

Spring at The Weald 2025 - My neighbour's plot

1 March

The first day of (Meteorological) Spring and St David's Day, but none of our daffodils were flowering yet! But my neighbour's were! It was a fairly warm day and, at home, I risked planting some Echinacea.  I had bought a bare root plant ("Rainbow Marcella") from a garden supplier. I added some compost and gravel to the planting hole and applied some organic mulch to protect from the cold.  The flowers are popular with pollinators and I'm hoping that by the summer this will become a buzzing social club for bees and butterflies.

2 March

Visitors staying for the weekend, to celebrate a family birthday, so no time for the allotment!  But a stroll along the Prom and a trip to Marrocco's with my granddaughter were obligatory.

Hove Promenade with Tilly

The best pistachio ice cream

3 March

A very frosty morning with clear skies but I managed a brief trip to the allotment and  replanted a gooseberry bush I had lifted a few days previously. I spent some time removing bindweed and couch grass roots from the ground where it had been growing and think I managed to remove any bindweed and couchgrass tangled among the bush's roots.  The bush is quite old and woody and has not produced much fruit in the past but I'll give it one more chance before deciding whether to remove or replace it.  This was one of four, so three more to tackle.

3 March - the transplanted gooseberry

A rare sight!  A bramble growing over the shed had fruited but the blackberry had not been picked, or eaten by the birds, had gone to seed and was rather beautiful.

Blackberry gone to seed

The sun was shining and the temperature around 10C in the afternoon - but it felt much warmer, so , at home, I planted some Gladiolus ("Red Ruby") corms in the back garden close to the Echinacea. I have also marked out an area, on an extended flower bed, to plant some Dahlias once the warmer weather arrives.

4 March

There was a heavy morning frost but this soon disappeared and it was a fine sunny day. Unusually for me I was out in my shirtsleeves, listening to a loud chorus from Blue Tits, Great Tits, Wrens, a Robin and some rather noisy Magpies.  There doesn't appear to be any frog spawn in the pond, and I know that purists suggest you shouldn't introduce it - a fellow allotmenteer says I should make my pond conducive to frogs and let them decide whether to come.  But another plotholder had a plentiful supply in her garden pond, not too far from the allotment, and I succumbed and introduced some.

4 March - arrival of frog spawn

5 March

Another dry day and the Hellebores in the garden were wilting, but happily they revived after a good drenching, but the soil is so dry despite having a lot of organic material.  Our problem is that we are overlooked by large trees - cherry, yew and bay laurel whose roots extend into our garden on the north side.

5 March - Hellebores

Thursday 6 March

It was a glorious sunny day everywhere in Brighton and Hove - except for the end of our road and the sea-front which was experiencing a very localised sea fog known as fret  (advection fog) which results from warm air passing over a cold sea surface.

6 March - the coastal road at the bottom of our street

6 March - kids on the BMX track

6 March - a lone skater on the roller rink

I took advantage of the sunny weather inland and sowed some radishes and Boltardy beetroot and dug a shallow trench for planting some First Early potatoes.

Saturday 7 March

The trench dug the previous day was ready for my first early Red Duke of York potatoes.

7 March - trench for potatoes

Before planting, I laid pieces of torn up egg boxes at the bottom of the trench, watered well and covered with a light layer of compost. The egg boxes will rot down, aided by the worms and help to retain moisture which will be essential if we have a dry period.  The trench was now ready to receive the chitted Red Duke of York.

7 March - 1st Early potatoes planted

The temperature reached around 13C but there was no wind, despite the weather forecast, and in the sunshine it felt much hotter.  I created a new temporary, decomposable seed bed from an old cardboard supermarket vegetable tray and I repotted one of blueberries in some fresh ericaceous compost.  I laid cardboard and woodchip mulch either side of the asparagus (which was yet to appear) and picked some of the forced rhubarb.

Sunday 8 March 

It was another dry sunny day and there was the first sign of the broccoli sprouting.

8 March - first sign of purple sprouting broccoli

We also picked some more forced rhubarb which had been grown under an inverted recycling box.

8 March - forced rhubarb

8 March -cover removed from rhubarb

8 March - a compostible seed bed

Sylvi continued work on the greenhouse, removing brambles and plum suckers on the south side.  I sowed wild flower seeds that had been given out at Peter Gorbach's funeral in my recently created cardboard seed bed.

8 March - seeds sown In memory of Peter

At home the crocuses were still flowering and providing food for bees.

Indoors the tomato and chilli seedlings seemed to be doing well.

8 March - tomato and chilli seedlings

Monday 9 March

There were self sown aquilegia plants appearing in the newly dug patch for the dhalias which would be disturbed when I plant the dhalias, so I dug these up and put them in pots ready to be replanted later. Otherwise known as Columbine  or Granny's bonnet they are a short-lived perennial but usually appear through self seeding.

9 March - Columbine

There was still a good supply of kalettes  to be picked.

9 March - Kalettes

I planted a row of 2nd Early Nicola potatoes alongside the Duke of York and some Gladiolus corms in large pot.  I had bought a few plants for around the edge of the pond, Saxifrage, sedum and woolly thyme and planted these,

13 March

The tomato seedlings had all acquired true leaves and they were a bit congested in the seed trays so I began potting up the Beefsteak, Ruby Falls and Sungold.

13 March - Ruby Falls  tomatoes

13 March - Beefsteak and Sungold tomatoes

The following day we set off for Staffordshire for a family birthday weekend, travelling up in our campervan and had a leisurely drive home stopping off in the Cotswolds for a couple of nights.

19 March - River Windrush at Witney

Thursday 20 March 

The seedlings at home and the plants on the allotment had survived our absence but everyting was very dry as there had been no rain.  We picked some purple sprouting broccoli and rhubarb...

20 March - purple sprouting broccoli

...and there was much more yet to be harvested.

20 March - purple sprouting broccoli

20 March - forced rhubarb

At home the crocuses  were past their best, but still providing food for the bees.

20 March - Buff-tailed bumblebee on crocuses

Friday 21 March 

At home I sowed Kalettes and Summer purple sprouting broccoli. Summer broccoli was a first for me - I usually sow early purple sprouting broccoli which is usually harvested late winter and early spring.  The seed packet for the summer broccoli says I should get a crop in August/September - we shall wait and see!

I also potted on some of the remaining tomatoes and some of the chillies - Aji Limon, purple jalapeño, Santa Fe and early jalapeño.

21 March - chillies ready for potting on

21 March - chillies potted on

Saturday 22 March 

We spent an interesting morning on an organised foraging session at Whitehawk.

22 March Whitehawk Hill and Brighton Racecourse

We made a variety of infusions, herb vinegar, flower infused honey and pesto, mostly using freshly picked wild herbs and flowers.

21 March - Burdock, Dandelion & ginger tea

22 March - Flower infused honey

Sunday 23 March 

There was no real rain, just a persistent drizzle and it was very cold! We should have been celebrating the spring equinox with the Organic Gardening Group but they decided to postpone the event.  We did make a brief visit to the plot and picked some Purple Sprouting Broccoil, Kalettes and Chard.

Sunday 24 March

I planted two rows of 2nd early Charlotte Potatoes.

Tuesday 25 March 

On Tuesday there were signs that the summer purple sprouting broccoli seeds, sown at home on 21 March were already germinating.

25 March - summer sprouting broccoli

Wednesday 26 March

A day later and the Kalettes had germinated.  

26 March - kalettes

This put me in sowing mood and a sowed some seed trays with Calendula and Pansy, both plants having edible flowers.  I also sowed some Early purple sprouting broccoli and Cavolo Nero 

Thursday 27 March 

The sowing continued with some Boltardy beetroot directly in a bed with the radishes and I cleared all the existing crop of Cavolo nero as it was going to seed.

27 March - Boltardy beetroot sown between the radishes

Saturday 29 March 

I sowed some Meteor peas and sweetcorn in trays inddors at home.

Sunday 30 March

Up on the plot the Duke of York potatoes were sprouting and I gave them a light mulch of straw.

30 March - 1st early Red Duke of York potatoes

There was more couchgrass to be cleared from around the pond.

30 March - tidying around the pond

At home, the Cavolo nero, purple sprouting broccoli and calendula which had been sown on Wednesday had already germinated but there was no sign of pansies yet!

I sowed Achocha seeds that I had saved from fruits given to me by a neighbour last year. Achocha  is native to Peru and is in the cucumber/courgette family.  It has a climbing habit and the fruits taste a bit like cucumber and a bit like green pepper.

March had been a very dry month with little or no rain and my water butts are now very low.  Thankfully the mains water is due to be turned on in a few days time.

Monday 31 March

Another excuse not to visit the plot as my granddaughter is moving to Brighton and was collecting the key for her new flat in Kemptown - another DFL! (down from London).

John Austin

Hove, March 2025

Life on The Weald - February 2025

and a few distractions

1 February

The first day of the month was a clear, dry day and I spent some time repairing raised beds and the pathways around them with layers of cardboard and woodchip. The cardboard will present a barrier to weed growth and will breakdown in a few months. 

1 February - tidying around a garlic bed

2  February

Sunday was Seedy Sunday in Brighton, the UK’s biggest and longest-running community seed swap event - but it is now much more than that, with lots of community and gardening stalls.  We were there with our allotment association stall selling organic seed potatoes, onion sets, garlic and shallots.

2 February - setting up shop at Seedy Sunday

2 February - looking the part as market traders!

3 February

Monday was a miserable day with fine mizzle all day, not one for working on the plot.  About one third of the Meteor peas that I had sown a few days earlier had begun to germinate in the conservatory.  Hopefully more will follow

3 February - Meteor peas

In the loft extension, the potatoes were chitting and hopefully the Red Duke of York will be ready for first planting at the beginning of March.

3 February - Red Duke of York potatoes

4 February

Another lost day for the allotment as I was in London for a Memorial gathering for a former friend and colleague, Doug Hoyle, who I first knew as President of my trade union, ASTMS/MSF when I was a lay representative. 

4 February - Memorial for Doug Hoyle

6 February

Thursday was a bright, sunny day, but very cold.  I did a lot of strimming around the area close to the eastern boundary with my neighbour, Louise's plot. She had cleared some of the overgrown area on her side to reveal daffodils that would soon be in flower so I thought clearing my side was long overdue.  Nothing grows there, apart from couchgrass, lemon balm, dandelions, brambles and bindweed, because of the apple tree and several plum trees.

6 February - the eastern boundary

6 February - the eastern boundary

In tidying up around the shed, I found a grow-bag that I had forgotten about and thought had been emptied, but it contained some Pink Fir Apple potatoes from last year which looked really healthy.  It was a good discovery as there are none of these to be found for planting this year.  The entire UK crop appears to have failed.  Our dilemma is, shall we eat them or re-plant them.  I decided that we should eat two thirds and save one third for chitting ready to be planted out late March or April.

6 February - Pink Fir Apple potatoes

Homebase stores have gone into receivership and the Hove store is one that is closing.  Most of their stock was being sold at 70% discount and I had bought some varnish and wood preservative at a very good price. I had also bought some sand and quartz pebbles which I can use to redesign the area around the pond.

As it was a dry day, it was a good opportunity to put my purchases to positive use and restore some of the garden furniture, especially the table which was looking old and tired.

6 February - staining and sealing the garden table

6 February - staining and sealing the garden table

It was a definite improvement.

7 February 

It was a dreadful day with high winds and pouring rain and I couldn't remember putting the strimmer away the previous day, so I braved the storm and found it leaning against the apple tree.  Hopefully no damage will have been done.

8 February 

And yet more rain!

At home a few more Meteor peas had germinated, up from 33% to almost half.

Getting there slowly.

8 February - Meteor peas

9 February

The initial weather forecast for Sunday was dry, and sunny, but that changed overnight and it was a damp, cold drizzly day.  Nevertheless, I braved the elements and did more strimming along the eastern boundary and dug up brambles near the apple tree.

I also removed one of the plum trees that had grown from a sucker but think I need to remove more if we are to have any chance of increasing the growing area.

9 February - some more strimming

We can't do much this year with the area that has been cleared, but we will lay down cardboard and mulch in the hope of  defeating the bramble, bindweed and couch grass and consider cultivating next year.

The cold frame, which I was given for free, is in need of repair, and may need to be moved eventually, but it was laid on cardboard and a pile of autumn leaves so might be usable this year as a hotbed.

9 February - the cold frame

The sides of the raised bed where onions are growing, have rotted or collapsed so I need to make a decision whether to replace the frame or just leave as a bed without sides. It is a kind of Hugel bed as I buried a lot of tree branches and other organic matter when I created the bed.

9 February - one of the Hugel beds in the foreground

At home, I made some spicy, pickled red cabbage, which I had brined overnight, and I sowed Sungold and Beef master tomatoes in trays and Damien’s chilli seeds Kung Pao (hot - internet says mild 7-10,000) Santa Fe (medium, milder than Jalapeños) and Early Jalapeño (mild 8,000 SHU).  

9 February - spicy pickled red cabbage

9 February - spicy pickled red cabbage

10 February 

Another overcast day with intermitent drizzle.  I stayed home and sowed the remaining chilli seeds from Damien, Aji Limon (hot 30,000-50,000 SHU) Aji red (hot) and purple jalapeño (medium). I also sowed tomato, Ruby Falls, a new one for me. It’s a Thompson & Morgan, British bred variety and should produce a dozen fruits per truss each weighing 40g (1.51 oz).  Well that's what the label says - let's wait and see.

14 February

I continued clearing the area on eastern boundary and laid cardboard on the cleared area, ready to spread with woodchip when it becomes available.

14 February and all quiet on the eastern front!

15 February

I cleared some of the area surrounding the pond and began to create a "beach" with the sand and pebbles from the Homebase closure, where I hope to grow some succulents.

15 February - the beach takes shape

 

At home, the mushroom kit had produced a couple more Oyster mushrooms.

15 February Oyster King mushrooms

15 February - Oyster King mushrooms

16 February

Whilst clearing the couch grass around the pond, I was pleased to encounter a large common frog, but we don't have any sign of frog spawn yet.

16 February - a friendly visitor

Clearing the area by the apple tree was a hard task as I had to dig deep to remove bramble roots.  

16 February - bramble roots

I have cleared enough space for another bed. Rosemary bushes have been planted by Louise on her side of the boundary, which is great because the flowers will attract pollinators and the smell of Rosemary deters a number of pests including aphids.

16 February - a potential new bed

17 February 

I had bought a number of Dahlia tubers for the garden but I think it's too early to plant them out, so I have potted them up and placed them in the mini-greenhouse ready to be planted out in a few weeks time when, hopefully, it will be a little warmer.

19 February

I continued work on the pond, carrying some very heavy stones from the front of the plot that had been given to me a few months ago. I also need to place some in the pond to ensure that any amphibians (and any other creatures) can get in and out.

19 February - the pond takes shape

I had arranged with a local tree surgeon for a free delivery of woodchip to the central car park for sharing with poltholders and I filled a couple of bags and advertised the availability on our allotment WhatsApp group.

19 February - 12.46 arrival of woodchip

I spread the woodchip that I had collected on the cardboard by the plum trees on the eastern boundary.

19 Feb - looking towards Louise's plot

I returned to the allotment a few hours later and all the woodchip in the central car park had gone.  Everyone is desperate for more but we get few deliveries because some tree surgeons find our site difficult to access.

19 Feb - 17.46 woodchip all gone

20 February

The tomato seeds sown on 9th February had germinated, but no sign of any peppers.  My son thinks my conservatory is too cold and that chillies need at least 22C, so I have moved them into the dining room close to the radiator.

20 February - Sungold & Beefsteak tomatoes

23 February

I turned my attention to the western side of the plot and continued to remove raspberries and bind weed which had invaded an earlier bed.

23 February - removing bindweed roots

The soil was in good condition as the area had been a "no dig" raised bed previously, so I thought it was ready for sowing/planting, possibly with some beetroot

23 February - new bed ready for planting

23 February - new bed ready for planting

I continued weeding around the pond, and then had a rest admiring my handiwork.

23 February - time for a rest

24 February

It seems a long time since I planted my Kalettes, but it has been worth the wait. Sadly the Kalettes that I had originally planted, grown from seed, had all been eaten by the hordes of invading slugs that we had last year and I only had three plants for a second planting. I must grow more this year. The ones we have picked, however, are superb in flavour.

24 February - Kalettes

Kalettes are a cross between Brussels Sprouts and Kale, and grow similarly to sprouts but produce open florets.

We also lost a number of Purple sprouting broccoli plants to the slugs last year. Thankfully the few which we saved are looking healthy but no sign of any florets yet.

27 February

Damien's advice was sound and the chillies that I had moved into the warmer dining room had now germinated.  I hope it's not too much of a shock but I will need to move them back to the conservatory as there is insufficient natural light in the dining room.

27 February - The chillies have germinated

28 February

Now all the chillies, except Kung Pao have germinated and they are now back in the conservatory with the tomatoes.

There have been some pleasant days this month but it has been very, very wet and the soil is heavy as a result and not very good for working or planting. Well tomorrow is the first day of meteorological spring, so I'm hoping for some drier, warmer days.

John Austin
Hove, February 2025