Monday 21 March 2016

A year on the allotment: March 2016

March has been a busy time on the allotment. We've been visting the plot three or more times each week. There's loads to do, mainly digging and tidying up after the cold Winter months. Everyone is waiting for the soil to warm up before the planting gets into full swing.

little girl holds garlic cloves in her hands ready for planting

Despite the soil being cold and wet for most crops, we did manage to plant some garlic and onions. Magoo enjoyed breaking the bulbs up into individual cloves. Planting garlic and onions is the perfect gardening job for little fingers.

separated garlic cloves ready for planting on the allotment

a selection of onions waiting to be planted on the plot

Whilst we were busy planting the garlic and onions, Mr. M was cracking on with the digging. I'm glad he enjoys it so much because it's back breaking work, especially when the soil is so damp.

plating onions and garlic on the allotment

Once the planting was finished, we stopped for our all important picnic lunchbreak. Chunky sandwiches and tea from a flask taste so much better in the Spring sunshine.

eating an allotment picnic of doorstop sandwiches

After lunch Mr. M carried on with the digging, closely supervised by Magoo. Plus there was a robin keeping a close eye of proceedings. He darted down and ate one or two fat worms as they were dug up. It's so nice to see these beautiful native birds up close.

digging in march on the allotment

At this time of year the allotment gets regular deliveries of horse manure. Large mounds of the stuff appear from time to time and everyone is welcome to help themselves to it. We filled our wheelbarrow and started spreading the muck onto freshly dug soil. Magoo didn't need to be asked twice to get involved with the 'poo throwing' as she called it. We all agreed she is a pretty good dung flinger.

wheelbarrow full of horse manure waiting to be dug into the soil

spreading mnaure on the allotment

In other exciting news, we finally have a new shed. In my February post I explained how Storm Imogen turned our old allotment shed into firewood. Mr. M and my brother worked for over six hours last weekend putting it together. They are more fiddly to construct than you'd think. It's lovely to have a shed on the plot again and it looks great...we just need to paint it now.

brand new shed on our allotment plot

This week I'm linking up with these lovely blogs:

"How Does Your Garden Grow" over on the beautiful mammasaurus.co.uk

"Point + Shoot" over on youbabymemummy.com and www.snowingindoors.com

"Making Home" over on mrscraftyb.co.uk

"Whatever the Weather" over on lifeunexpected.co.uk and monkeyandmouse.co.uk

"Share with Me" over on letstalkmommy.com

"Blogger Club UK" over on www.cuddlefairy.com and mudpiefridays.com

"Country Kids" over on www.coombemill.com

18 comments:

Vintage Sheet Addict said...

I do love a bit of poo throwing! Allotment is looking good :) xxx

Louisa said...

I really need to get digging in our garden but it is muddy I'm putting it off until someone else does it. You new shed looks fab, you're so lucky to have an allotment to grow your own veg #point+shoot

The messy brunette said...

Looks good, I keep meaning to start something in my back garden .....

thisiswhereitisat said...

How fabulous and fewer learning X #pointshoot

Catherine @ Growing Family said...

Looks like you're really on top of the allotment work, I wish I could say the same! How brilliant that your site has free manure delivered. I definitely need my husband to discover a love of digging....

Bear and Cardigan said...

It's lovely when children are encouraged to help with gardening and they learn where their food has come from. #hdygg

A Green and Rosie Life said...

I got my onions and shallots in today but have given up on garlic as that never does well here (In France you'd think it would!) - lovely shed, I have to make do with the corner of the polytunnel. #HDYGG #PointShoot

Mrs Crafty B said...

Love that you have an allotment. We are always tempted but I don't think we could give it enough time. Hubby B tried growing vegetables before but quickly moved to flowers. Maybe I will have to take over a patch in the garden! Love the shed too. We are currently looking for one! Thanks for linking up to #MakingHome

Coombe Mill - Fiona said...

What a wonderful catch up on the allotment, I was looking forward to reading what you had been doing. Onions and garlic are a great choice for planting at this time of year and well done Mr Magoo, that digging looks really hard work. I think the storm did you a favour in the end, that new shed looks like it is built to last and will be perfect for storing all your tools. I'm looking forward to seeing the allotment shape up over the spring and delighted to see Magoo still enjoys coming with you. Thank you for sharing with me on #CountryKids

Annie said...

It's so nice that you all enjoy spending time on the allotment together as a family, it's something I wish we could all enjoy the same here. The new shed's looking mighty fine :)
Tea from a flask outdoors always tastes better than a cuppa made in a kitchen - especially after hard work!

Thank for joining in again lovely :)

Chloe/Life Unexpected said...

Hooray to the new shed! So good that you've finally got one. I love your adventures on your allotment. They sound so perfect, all of you mucking in together to plant things, having picnics. It's so idyllic! I can't wait to see what you grow.Thank you so much for sharing with #whatevertheweather xx

snowingindoors said...

We used to grow garlic when I was younger, it always tasted better from our garden instead of the shop!

Thanks for linking up with Point + Shoot xx

Mudpie Fridays said...

Its so good you can get free manure - we would love that! By this time we would have normally put our garlic and onions in too but we are a little behind due to decorating and generally decluttering in time for our new arrival in a few weeks. I am not sure how much we will actually get done this year although Monkey has already requested strawberries. Thank you for linking up with us at #BloggerClubUK hope to see you again next week x

Cuddle Fairy said...

It looks like you got a brilliant day for your gardening! Having it be a family event is so great for the kids to learn about where food comes form & how much work goes into producing it. Thanks so much for linking up with us! #bloggerclubuk

Unknown said...

The shed looks fantastic! It will be great for all your allotment things. Magoo is doing a great job with that garlic, she needs to teach my two how to help around the allotment more, last time they were chasing each other round with sticks! Will have my own allotment post up soon too, have potatoes, garlic and onions all in now. Some new strawberries planted in as well. Thanks so much for linking up to #Whatevertheweather :) xx

chickenruby said...

It's so strange that while you're waiting for the soil to warm up, i'm dreading the summer and have started moving some of the plants indoors if they have any chance of survival in these temps in Dubai

Let's Talk Mommy said...

Oh you have done a lot already and looking good hun Its so much fun growing your own. (hard work but worth it) Thanks for linking up to Share With me #sharewithme

Unknown said...

that is some good looking garlic! looking good.

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