Don't Panic

Don't know about you, but we've had rain by the bucketload the last week or so. Enough to prevent me getting much done up the allotment. My spuds aren't in yet - my normal rule is, in on Good Friday and harvest when the fair comes to town.

What I have learnt over the years though, is that it's not a race. Back in 2007 I put my spuds in earlier than normal - gee'd up by all the posts on an allotment forum. Everyone seemed to have their spuds in but me, so I got on with it. This was almost immediately followed by a prolonged wet spell which rotted all the tubers. I lost the lot.

So, if I could give one piece of advice to anyone growing their own for the first time, it would be don't panic by what you read in this 'virtual' world of ours. Grow to your own conditions.

When I first moved to Wiltshire I couldn't believe how wet and windy it was compared to where we lived before. I thought, perhaps that particular Spring was a one-off. It wasn't, and I've learnt to start things off a bit slower than I did before.

Today I've been sowing my climbing French beans in homemade paper pots. I used to sow these directly in the ground, but found the pigeons had them as soon as they germinated. If I grow them at home, by the time they are robust enough to plant out, the birds seem to leave them alone.

I position the paper pots in these plastic tubs to save them falling over, And I've drilled some holes in the bottom of the tubs for drainage, as when they get put outside, the rain accumulates quite quickly inside, rotting the paper.




With a decent forecast for the next few days I'm going to have to shelve my plan of brewing some ale tomorrow. The allotment beckons and my spuds are overdue a planting. Don't panic though, the brewery will be up and running again soon.