We're having a heat wave

For once, London is hotter than Central Europe and on a par with some of the southern areas.

This being Britain there are already some people complaining about the heat but I am enjoying it while it lasts. The Daily Mail (apologies, I didn't mean to read it, honest) did recently run a story about the wasteland southern England has become.  Certainly my plants might not like it quite so much but they will have to lump it. So far there seems to be no threat of a hosepipe ban which is good as I have a lovely new hose that coils itself up again. Bliss - no more hoses snaking around the garden and sweating over buckled pipes.

I was in Berlin recently and was very taken with the now defunct airport, Templehof (in the picture above), which has been turned into an impromptu leisure park. The runways make amazing rollerskating, running, cycling and roller skiing (yes, that's right) arenas.  In between that the land is used for kite flying, picnics and general lounging around.  There are a few unofficial allotments which, unlike in the UK, do not seem that focussed on grow your own just colourful wildflowers mainly.  There was even a nature crazy golf - with all the obstacles growing.

Templehof may be huge but no space is too small to grow things in. A neighbour down the road is using the patch of land outside his house which is shaded and with no soil to grow vegetables. In reclaimed containers he is growing a great variety of plants from seed. More power to him.

Preparing the plot

We have been having freakishly warm weather recently with temperatures being close to June averages. The perfect weather to get ahead with jobs to do on the plot and prepare the ground for potatoes that will be going in soon.

I dug trenches and piled up the soil next to them and set up plank pathways so that I don't compact the soil when tending the plants. I also scattered some chicken manure pellets in the base of the trenches to feed the potatoes during their long growing season. As usual I am running out of land as potatoes need a good amount of space and I have only dug 4 trenches - I doubt this will be enough to accommodate the 6 varieties I have bought and plan to grow this year. Luckily I have 3 potato planters so might be able to give some of them refuge on our patio at home. I still need to find space to later fit in tomatoes, courgettes and squash. 

I did get on with other chores though.

• I finally tied in the raspberry wires to stop them flopping over.
• I mulched the fruit bed with manure. Though I didn't dig it in and the weight of a bin bag full of pony poo snapped some twigs when landing - very bad.
• I hoed the shallots and onions which are resolutely poking their heads through the soil but not doing a great deal. apparently this is the last month to sow garlic but luckily I did all of that last autumn. My one worry is how soon I can harvest them to make space for the aforementioned squash etc.
• I weeded the coriander/ asparagus raised bed - fingers crossed for some home grown spears this year though technically should wait until the second/ third year to harvest and they only went in last year.
• I cleared the plastic off the slightly tired looking strawberry  raised bed - the remaining plants may well be moved into open ground and I will use the bed for salad leaves.
• More clearing: I finally gathered up the home made water bottle cloches/ watering systems as they were my allotment versions of tumbleweed - blowing here and there on the plot and being relatively useless.

Still to be done:

• Cover bare earth with the cardboard I saved from a delivery
• Prepare a bean trench (am I going to do runner beans again? really?)
• Mulch and check the cherry tree at home
• Sow lettuce
• Sow peas
• Sow chillies
• Prepare seedbed for PSB
• Sow radishes (and develop a liking for their taste)

A week of extremes

At the weekend we had overnight temperatures of -1. As visitors to the gorgeous Brighton we had to scrape frost off the car on our way to a half marathon (ouch!) but were bathed in sunshine as the day warmed up.

London fared slightly better I believe though the nights are still chilly.

We are being lured into a sense of security and optimism about planting later though as Thursday temperatures are predicted to rise to 16 degrees. 

After a relatively dry winter (the second in a row) there are warnings of possible drought measures in the future and families are being urged to start saving water. Apparently, the average rainfall this winter has been lower than the months preceding the severe drought in 1976, which brought a summer of water rationing, damaged crops and wild fires. The worst affected areas are the east of England, the Midlands and the South East.

I recently had some good news - I am to be the reader of the month in April's Garden Answers magazine. Apparently there is a prize associated with it.  I'm seriously hoping it will be a collapsible water butt as they look awesome. And it will help with the upcoming drought.*

*Please note that predictions of drought often precede an unbelievably wet and unimpressive summer (see 2011).

Patience is needed for asparagus

I planted out my asparagus crowns ignoring all gardening advice. You are supposed to dig a trench, fill it with good compost, create a ridge, water it, place the crown with the roots spread out on the ridge and back fill gently. And water again.

I did none of that. I scraped out some space in one of my compacted raised beds, dumped the crowns in, leaving some roots a bit exposed and forgot to water. in the dry weather I assumed they were dead.

Despite this, I've spotted a few brave shoots breaking through. Maybe they are tougher than we give them credit for.

Asparagus are perennial plants and need time to establish themselves and that is why it is wise to give them the best possible start in life.

This includes ignoring the exciting new shoots that are appearing from the crowns I planted last year (somewhat unwisely in a sort of pathway). You should only really harvest in the 3rd year and even then sparingly.

Not an ideal crop for impatient people like me. But the taste will be all the sweeter for waiting. Hopefully.