Sunday 1 April 2007
Weather : Sunny but strong cooling wind.
No work today. Just picked some spears of Purple Sprouting Broccoli.

Monday 2 April 2007
Weather : Sunny but strong cooling wind.
Hoed between rows where seeds have appeared. Dug in the top dressing on part of plot 1. Sowed another row of Carrots (Nantes) and resowed a row of Beetroot (Boltardy). None of the earlier sowings of these seeds made early in mid February in the case of the carrots and early March in the case of the beetroot, have shown yet.

Tuesday 3 April 2007
Weather : Dull with strong cooling wind.
Hoed between the onions. Planted three rows of Potatoe (Picasso) - 2nd maincrop in plot 3b. Trenched out first and dug in homemade compost.The ground has been very dry and has been cracked for over a week.

Wednesday 4 April 2007
Weather : Sunny with continuing wind.
Just did a bit of watering today.

Thursday 5 April 2007
Weather : Frost. Sunny and warmer.
Collected and delivered some sacks of stable manure. Baled out the water tanks (using the water on the seedlings) then cleaned them out. Left them empty to dry and kill off anything inside. Raised up the level underneath the tank on plot 1. Noticed that the original planting of Asparagus is sprouting. Noticed also that some of the sprouts on the 1st early potatoes have been nipped by the frost last night. Recovered a watering can and planter pot from the field next door where presumably kids have been into the allotments and thrown them out. Picked some White Sprouting Broccoli.

Friday 6 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and warm with continuing light wind.
Weeded through the asparagus beds and hoed in between. Watered the strawberry plants which had been moved. Refilled the water tanks - not a mean task as all the water has to be raised by pump then carried to the tanks.

Saturday 7 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and warm.
Watered the strawberry plants then replenished the water tank again. Cut a good helping of Purple Sprouting Broccoli. Cleared some beer cans which had been thrown into the allotments by the nighthawks.

Sunday 8 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and very warm.
Watered the strawberry plants, the peas and a few other seedlings then replenished the water tanks again. Watered the seedlings of an adjacent allotment holder who is away on holiday.

Monday 9 April 2007
Weather : Cloudy start and finish but sunny and very warm through the day.
Watered the strawberry plants and a few other seedlings again then replenished the water tanks. Loosened the compacted soil around the strawberry plants then laid straw each side of the rows to minimise drying out of the soil. No rain for two weeks and none in prospect. Broadcast pelleted chicken manure over plots 3a, 3b, 3d, 4 and fruit section 2.

Tuesday 10 April 2007
Weather : Cloudy start then sunny and very warm.
Broadcast pelleted chicken manure over plots 2c, 2d & 3c. Spread some sifted soil from the spoil bank over the Asparagus roots. Hoed around the Broad Beans and Onions. Watered some seedlings and fruit bushes.

Wednesday 11 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and very warm.
No work today.

Thursday 12 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and warm.
Broadcast pelleted chicken manure over plot 1, fruit area 1, plots 2a & 2b. Mowed the grass paths and clipped the edges. Hooked back the long grass along the bank with a sicle. Watered some seedlings and fruit bushes.

Friday 13 April 2007
Weather : Overcast but warm.
Planted three rows of Potatoe - Desiree (maincrop) in plot 3b. Trenched out first and dug in some homemade compost. Used the hand cultivator to break up some of the hard soil and disturb the new weeds in unplanted areas. Hoed around the newly appeared brassicas and spinach. Watered the new seedlings. Cut a good helping of Purple Sprouting Broccoli which is still doing very well.Cut my first spear of Asparagus just for a taste.

Saturday 14 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and very warm.
Watered the strawberry plants and a selection of other seedlings, also some of the fruit bushes. Used the hand cultivator to weed between the rows of early potatoes.

Sunday 15 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and very warm.
No work today but just nipped up to see if everything was alright before going away for a few days.

Monday 16 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and warm.
Away on holiday but my son came to water what was necessary.

Tueday 17 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and very warm.
Away on holiday.

Wednesday 18 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and very warm.
Came back from holiday. Called in to check and found everything looking OK.

Thursday 19 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and very warm.
Hand weeded through the Spinach and Brassicas on plot 3b and the Turnips on plot 2d and watered. Hoed and cultivated areas between rows where necessary. Topped up the slug traps with bait. Cut two spears of Asparagus and some Purple Sprouting Broccoli.

Friday 20 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and warm. Windy.
No work today on the allotment but potted on the Cabbage (Greyhound) and Cauliflower (Snowball) seedlings at home.

Saturday 21 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and warm. Breezy.
Cultivated around, weeded and resowed the Parsnips in plot 3c, the Beetroot and Carrots in 2a and the Parsley, Raddishes and Pak Choi in plot 1. At home I potted on the Tomatoe (Alicante) seedlings. Was given a packet of Spinach seeds from a neighbouring allotmenteer for watering his seedlings whilst he was away.

Sunday 22 April 2007
Weather : Sunny spells and warm.
Sowed Spinach (Scenic) and Cabbage (Golden Acre) into the existing rows where there were gaps. Sowed Scorzonera (Russian Giant) and Salsify (Giant) in plot 3c and Curly Kale (Nero di Toscana Precoce) in plot 3d. Also sowed a row of Spinach (Samish F1) in plot 2b - these were the seeds I was given yesterday. Picked the last of the Sprouting Broccoli in plot 3c and cut off the remaining leaves and composted them. The plants were getting infested with greenfly. Dug out all the weeds in that area as they had got quite large and I wanted to get it done before the predicted rain tomorrow. Planted out my Lettuce (Little Gem) plants in plot 2b.

Monday 23 April 2007
Weather : Sunny spells.
St.George's Day today. Sowed two rows of Savoy Cabbage (Ormskirk (1) - Rearguard) in plot 3d. Watered all the new seed rows with a rose on the watering can as the pedicted rain has not come. Cultivated and hoed between various rows as necessary and watered most of the young plants. Watered the Strawberries in fruit area 2 and all the fruit bushes and plants in area 1. Mowed the grass paths and hooked back along the bank. Pulled up the Broccoli stalks and disposed of the roots in case of clubroot. The water pump nearest to my plot 1 is failing and becoming useless. The council groundsman was on site today strimming off the long grass on some of the paths.

Tuesday 24 April 2007
Weather : Overnight rain - first since 29 March. Overcast but warm.
No work today but picked some of the new leaves from the Leaf Beet from last years plants.

Wednesday 25 April 2007
Weather : Overnight rain. Sunny spells and warm.
Prepared the soil and sowed Purple Sprouting Broccoli (F1 Claret) and Brussels Sprouts (Fillbasket) in plot 3d. Sowed into the blank spaces of the Pea (Kelvedon Wonder) and Mangetout (Oregon Sugar Pod). Put up the climbing net for the Peas. Strung a wire to support the first asparagus row. At home, sowed into trays Courgette (Venus), Cucumber (Marketmore), Marrow (Badger Cross) and Squash (Butternut Sprinter).

Thursday 26 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and warm start. Unforecast rain later.
Sowed Dwarf French Beans (Purple Teepee) in plot 1 having dug some home-made compost in deeply. Hand weeded the onions in plot 2c. Put up the climbing net for the Mangetout. Came back to the allotment later in the day and replaced the sticks holding the pea netting with shorter ones as I need the long ones for the beans later in the year. Sent a message to the Town Council regarding the pump between plots 2 & 3 which is not working due to the washer being worn. The groundsman came onto site later in the day so I told him as well.

Friday 27 April 2007
Weather : Dull and cool start, sunny and warm later.
Dug over some of plot 3c then sowed a row of Swede (Marian. Watered all the freshly sown seed drills also the pea and cabbage plants. Hand weeded the onions in plot 3d. Cleared a space by the compost bins on plot 1 and erected the coldframe into which I put my Tomatoe (Alicante) plants which I had reared at home. Saw our Allotment Representative on site today so informed him also about the non-working pump.

Saturday 28 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and warm. Breezy.
Hand weeded through the shallots. Watered the Turnips. Dug over some of plot 1 to turn in the top dressing of stable manure also to keep the weeds down.

Sunday 29 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and warm. Breezy.
Hand weeded through the garlic. Watered the freshly sown seeds and the newly showing seedlings. Dug over some more of plot 1.

Monday 30 April 2007
Weather : Sunny and very warm. Breezy.
Watered the brassicas as some of them were drying out. Dug over some of plot 3c and sowed two rows of Spinach Beat (White Silver 2). Our allotment rep tells me this morning that the Town Clerk has promised to send the groundsman to fix the faulty pump. Went back in the evening to water the seedlings and young plants. Starting to have trouble with moles so I dug into one of the runs and dropped in some mothballs.

Now the hottest April since records began 250 years ago. It has also been the most dry, having had only 2% of the average rainfall for April. The forecast keeps promising rain but it does not come.