We are just about to turn into March and that really marks the beginning of the growing season. March is the month when you can really get sowing with all your vegetables and flower seeds. The days are getting longer, the temperature is slowly rising and it’s time to get sowing!
If you have a new allotment plot or are starting a new garden, then you might still be in the process of clearing and setting out your space so it works for you. Maybe you’re building raised beds or starting to put in pathways and build a shed in the corner? If that’s the case, you might be panicking that you are already behind with the growing season.
I’m starting a lot of my seeds for this year early. The reason for this is because last year I felt I could have sown more sooner and ended up with a lot of empty beds. So brassicas, cosmos, sweet peas, peas, tomatoes and potatoes have all been started. However, most of these can be direct sown later on in the season and they will catch up!
If you are starting seeds early, make sure you have enough room for them! If you follow gardening instrammers, you might sometimes see them post images of dining room tables and kitchen windowsills slowly getting filled with baby plants! That’s definitely true of my house, though since moving to our dark Victorian terrace, it’s not been so great for indoor seedlings.
Of course, the start of the growing season might be delayed for you depending on where you live. A lot of places further North are still facing snow and torrential rain as well as freezing conditions, not ideal for starting your garden plants! It can feel frustrating to see everyone else already growing while you are stuck inside with a hot chocolate, staring at a white carpet of snow.
Comparison is the thief of joy, and that applies to gardening as much as anything else. No two gardens are alike, everyone grows different crops and gardens in a slightly different way. Gardens are of course at the mercy of the weather and the seasonal changes. But each one is beautiful, and special in its own way. So maybe your growing season is delayed, but that will only make it all the more special when it finally comes around. You’ll cherish it, enjoy it and be that extra bit grateful that it came around at all.
I’ve added pops of colour to my garden in the form of primroses, spring bulbs (almost up!) and violas. Just seeing the fresh colour emerging in my garden makes me feel so happy and excited for what is to come.
So enjoy this time of year and look out for lots of new posts from me as I muddle my way through another year of allotment gardening!
Happy gardening x
