Parsnips, Compost and Digging

First time at the allotment for a couple of weeks. I sowed 4 rows of Tender & True parsnip seeds (last years 3 rows were not enough!) on a patch of soil that I have not manured and that has been covered with black plastic for several weeks. Hopefully that will have warmed the soil a bit. I covered the soil over with fleece once I'd sown the parsnips (see above) to keep the frost off for a few weeks.


The next job was to take my new compost bin to the allotment. I now have 3 (see above) which seems excessive (especially since I have another smaller one at home) but I think will be useful. The big green one I use for composting weeds and I'd already pretty much filled the first black one, so I'm now going to leave that one to rot down and start filling the new one. I emptied out the existing black bin in order to 'turn' the compost - emptied everything out, then put it all back in again. This helps to mix it all up, adding air and helping it to rot down better. It was pretty wet and soggy inside, so I added some shredded newspaper while I was doing it.


The 3 rows of garlic are growing pretty well still (see above). Unfortunately there are still no signs of the shallots or onions shooting, but hopefully they'll do something soon. I dug up the remaining parsnips from last years crop and pulled a few more leeks.


Over on the new plot I continued the digging and manuring. Still just really turning the soil with a fork, removing the odd roots and weeds that I find, then spreading some manure over the top. As you can see from the above pics, I'm gradually getting it dug over and the manure pile is gradually shrinking!

Back home I've sown Aubergene (Purple Beauty), Sweet Peppers (Carnival Mixture) and Chilli Peppers (Cayenne - free with a magazine). They're all in pots in a window sill. I'm still waiting for my Broad Bean seeds to arrive and as soon as they do I'll be sowing those on the allotment.