Allotment Growing In March

Planning your allotment fun in March makes life at the allotment good for all. In March you can start to sow your seed. Summer cabbage can be sown in March for June – under a fleece is a great top tip to make life easy. Cabbages like fertile well-drained soil and will need continuous water throughout summer. Cabbages are really easy to grow and your only thing you need to keep an eye on is slugs and snails. There are many great varieties of summer cabbage but my favourites are  – ‘Hispi’ F1 , ‘Greyhound’ F1 . ‘First of June’ F1 is an early round mid-green cabbage – so another great choice.

http://www.buckingham-nurseries.co.uk/acatalog/pics_900006.html

Globe onions can be started off now. For speed and efficiency, buy sets. They will be guaranteed disease free and the heat treated ones will be bolt resistant. Space 15cm/6ins apart for average onions . Onions are adaptable and you can control their size by the spacing. If you want big onions space them further apart. If you want to grow from seed, which gives you more choice, sow them indoors at 10 – 16C/50 – 61F. The first signs of life you will see is a crook shaped shoot that will form a loop. Don’t try to free it. Its purpose is to draw nourishment up from the seed and it will release itself when it is ready.

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‘Centurion’ F1 (AGM) is a straw coloured, globe shaped onion. It’s early maturing, a heavy cropper and stores well. ‘Turbo’ has the same attributes and is also slow to bolt.

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It is a good idea to have a nursery bed for slow growing vegetables like sprouts that don’t mind being moved. It saves them taking up space when they are still tiny. You can move them over when it suits you to their permanent positions. Get beds ready for sowing and planting. Warm the soil and make stale seed beds by covering them with clear plastic. The warmth and light will encourage any lurking weed seed to germinate. Before you are ready to sow in a couple of weeks you can remove them and give your plants a head start.

The main thing is to make your plot your own and enjoy your relaxing retreat. An allotment is a place to go – and grow 🙂

At last spring is around the corner.