I spent a lovely morning up the allotment on Sunday having arrived back from Wales the day before. I hadn’t seen the allotment in over 2 weeks and I wanted to do a few jobs and check everything even though it was pouring with rain! I’ve been busy planning whilst I was on the farm and there’s going to be a few changes on the plot (all will be revealed soon!) so I wanted to get up the allotment and do a bit of measuring before I finalised the plans. I am so excited for the year ahead and for me this is one of the most exciting times, a time when you can start to sow all your dreams…
Whilst I was there I decided to tackle the brassica bed. Some of the poor purple sprouting broccoli plants were starting to lean over so I used some bamboo canes to secure them upright incase they snapped. These will be harvested in early Spring and along with the flower sprouts and the over wintered leeks are the last crops waiting to be harvested from plot 15c (I harvested the last of the kale on Sunday). Apart from the broad beans which I sowed over a month ago all the other vegetable beds are empty and waiting to be turned and fertilised. I never got round to getting any manure last year but I am currently looking into other natural fertilisers to add to the soil to help boost the nutrients. Plus there’s plans to make my own homemade fertilisers next year too! Did I mention that I was excited?
5 thoughts on “Getting things ready for Spring”
Last year I tried nettles in a bucket of water, a very rich plant liquid. Leave for a few weeks, it smells pretty strong and needs to be diluted before watering the plants with it. Not sure of all the details but it is apparently a very nutrient rich fertiliser.
Thanks for the link Barbara and for all the information. I’ve actually been looking into making my own fertilisers and plant teas this year and having a small area up the allotment for just that. Nettle tea and comfrey tea is on the list 🙂
http://www.nettles.org.uk/nettles/activities/nettlemanure.asp
Lots about this fertiliser on the net and I have to admit, I don’t bother to crush the plants and just leave them in the bucket with water.
Comfrey makes a good plant tea as well.Have used it for years with good results.
Funnily enough I’m planning on growing comfrey this year to make my own fertiliser 🙂