What to do monthly.

We use five date zones for gardeners, your town is in zone 2 - Bournemouth, Dorset.
February
Celery - sow seeds indoors
Peas / mangetout - sow early types under cloches
start sowing parsnip seed, but it may be too cold to germinate
Start successional sowing of radishes
Sow your first peas in pots in the cold frame or under fleece direct into the ground
Cover your strawberry patch with fleece or a cloche to warm up the ground
Prune blackcurrant bushes

March
Peas / mangetout - start to sow seeds of early types outdoors
Squash / pumpkins - prepare soil
Asparagus - apply spring fertiliser
Beetroot - sow seeds under cloches
Potatoes - plant out sprouted sets
Radish - sow seed under cloches
Beetroot - sow seed in pots indoors
Squash / pumpkins - sow seed indoors
Swiss Chard - sow outdoors with cloche protection
Turnip - start to sow seed outdoors
It should be safe to plant parsnip seeds
Start successional sowing of chard, beetroot and spinach
Cover rhubarb crowns to "force" them
Cut back autumn raspberries to the ground
Sow cauliflower, summer cabbage and sprouts for summer transplanting

Jan - Mar Gooseberries - prune
Jan - Mar Red / whitecurrant - prune

Sowing timeline.

Undercover, sow
broad beans,
spinach,
lettuce,
peas for shoots,
onion,
salad onion,
early brassicas (cabbage, calabrese, kohlrabi, cauliflower),
radish,
parsley,
coriander,
dill.

Giving some warmth helps germination, such as heating mats: this is the most worthwhile time of plants’ lives to invest in heat, to germinate their seeds.

Assemble a heap (hotbed) of fresh horse manure, to provide heat for new sowings.
In 25C warmth sow aubergine, pepper, chilli – they must have warmth or it’s a waste of time.
Outside, the only sowings now are broad beans, and garlic if you have not already.
You can sow parsnips but seedlings may be stronger from March sowings, even April.

If you have no way of warming seeds, seeds still germinate but more slowly and sometimes unevenly.
Undercover without heat its fine to germinate lettuce, brassicas, peas, broad beans, onions, spinach.
Sowing timeline for vegetables:

A year on the plot.

March
It should be safe to plant parsnip seeds
Start successional sowing of chard, beetroot and spinach
Plant strawberries and raspberries
If you've sown early lettuce, they probably need thinning now
Lift all remaining leeks from last year to give you time to dig over the land for new planting
Plant sunflower seeds in pots in your cold frame
Cover rhubarb crowns to "force" them
Cut back autumn raspberries to the ground
Plant out onion sets
Sow cauliflower, summer cabbage and sprouts for summer transplanting
If warm enough, sow leeks in a seed bed or in pots
Dig, dig, dig to get your plot ready for spring planting

prune-in-summer

- https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/eight-reasons-to-prune-in-summer/

Health Benefits of Gooseberries.

Health Benefits of Gooseberries.



Gooseberries are nutritious, low-calorie fruits that are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Though research on gooseberries specifically is limited, many of the nutrients in these berries have been linked to significant health benefits.

These include lower blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure levels, as well as a reduced risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and age-related illnesses of the brain.

Gooseberries are a wonderful, healthy fruit to include in your diet as a snack or flavorful addition to meals.

Harvest from My allotment !

Homemade Mosquito Repellent

plant fennel seeds

Job to do - plant fennel seeds!

Spent Hops As allotment mulch

Britain is home to more craft breweries per head than any other country in the world. But the booming beer industry also means an increase in the waste product called spent grain.

Breweries are struggling to get rid of this by-product, but one of the solutions is to turn it into food.

WHAT IS SPENT GRAIN?

Making beer requires a process called ‘malting’ a grain (often barley), which means soaking it so it germinates, then gently cooking it.

The malted barley is then mashed to extract the protein, sugar and nutrients, leaving behind the spent grain – called ‘spent’ as it’s been used.

Despite being a by-product, spent grain is still totally edible. And, as Jamie and Jimmy discover on this week’s Friday Night Feast, it has a delicious sweet and nutty flavour.

WHY IS IT WASTED?

For every pint of beer made in the UK, the equivalent of two porridge bowls’ worth of spent grain is produced. That’s a lot of grain to find a good home for!

Currently, spent grain is often used by farmers to feed cattle and pigs. But it can be hard for brewers to find a good home for spent grain, particularly in cities – and avoid sending it to landfill.

The challenge is that spent grain is a very wet product, with up to 80% water content due to the soaking process. So, in its raw form, the grain needs to be re-used very quickly before it goes off.

Alternatively, it can be dried and stabilised – which opens up loads of new, tasty ways to use spent grain.

How to Plant Leeks

How Long to Keep / Best Way to Store Leeks — Fresh, Raw | StillTasty.com - Your Ultimate Shelf Life Guide:
Leek culture
-Sow leeks indoors in late winter for fall harvest. Start more leeks in August for spring harvest.
-Grow them in soil that has plenty of compost and nitrogen.
-Don’t let leeks lack for water.
-Once leeks start growing, hill them up every 2 weeks to get more of the white part.

Watering well is important. I soak my beds twice a week. Leeks that suffer from lack of moisture grow unevenly, and have a stronger taste and pithier texture.

Отсюда!
И здесь!
Sow: Staring sowing indoors in February.
Continue outdoors in April, 2cm deep.
Soil: Work in plenty of well-rotted manure the previous
autumn.
Sun: Full sun.
Grow: Harden off well before planting out, when 20cm high.