Although Christmas just seems like last week, we are now in the middle of March. Not so long ago I would be found on a riverbank in search of a final Roach or Dace at the end of the course fishing season at this time, but not this year. My fishing days are on hold, and will be for some time.

It is great to get the first seeds planted, and for me Tomato’s are the first of the year. This season I am growing varieties Sweet Aperitif, Sweet Million, Sungold, Orange Beauty, Golden Sunrise, Rainbow Blend and the good old Moneymaker. Such evocative names of hot summer days eating colourful salads; let us hope.

I will only pot on about 21 tomato plants, any more than this in my greenhouse I find the plants often get problems and certainly crop less. Any spare, of which there will be many, I will give away.

I already have a couple of really good gardening books in my collection written by Mr Don; Santa has been very good to me this year and kindly gifted me four more. I have began one of them, and I am thoroughly enjoying the read. There is probably one more that I seek, and is hard to find these days entitled “The Prickotty Bush” so I am keeping an eye out for that one to add to the heaving book shelf.

I never thought id ever been picking tomatoes in November and here is the last of them.

Planting everything late this year has extended the season somewhat, but the cold weather has now put pay to the plants themselves, and they have given up for this year.

These too are the final onions. They have just not stored as well as they ought to but they will still get used. and the chillies just keep coming. There are a number remaining on the final plants in the greenhouse. Il wash and freeze these now and use them straight from the freezer.

My tomato crop this season has been very poor. Although I am still picking a few toms each day, it is nothing like previous years crops. I think that I have a: planted too many plants in the greenhouse, 28 this year where I normally grow about 18-20 plants, and b: planted them too late at the season.

However, I have a great number of Cayenne chillies this season, and more than enough to last me a full year. I’m picking a good handful each week. Used straight from the freezer they will last for ages.

With work so scarce at the moment, I have had the opportunity to keep on top of the allotment more so this year.

I usually don’t have a clear out until the winter, but there were a few jobs that I had just kept putting off. The decision to get rid of all my strawberry plants and start afresh was one that I had not relished. Although I had split them each year, the plants just had not produced anywhere near what they used to; so they are now part of the compost heap. The same applied to my one remaining gooseberry bush. It simply outgrew it’s location and didn’t really produce last season, or this. So the gooseberry bush is no longer either.

I have also removed the whole row of early raspberries (Malling Minerva) which have not performed for years, I should have replaced them some time ago.

So this coming winter I will put planting a new strawberry bed, a whole new row of early raspberries, and will also add six new canes to my main crop raspberries (Glen Ample), along with two new gooseberry bushes in a different raised bed next year.

I had no idea as I am visiting my allotment so infrequently at the moment, but a fellow allotmenteer told me that I had Blackbird that had set a nest in my Rhubarb. I did indeed have a Blackbird in my Rhubarb, and she was sitting on four eggs. I left them alone for over a week and have been today to see that the nest is now empty. Hopefully, all four and the parents are doing ok and I look forward to the extra members of the choir when I’m listening to the Blackbirds singing.

I’m sure that I am planting potatoes early this year. I think I will have to look back in my diaries at some point to search for previous years’ plantings. The weather (apart from yesterday’s sleet) has been really mild, and as the sun shone today, the earth was dry – perfect time to get some spuds in.

As every season I am growing “Arran Pilot” again. They have chitted nicely. With a helping of organic fertiliser in the bottom of each trench they are now planted and earthed-up.

This particular raised bed is not quite wide enough to take three rows of potatoes but I managed to get all the remaining onions sets into the remaining space, which was nice.

It is nice to get the hands into soil again.

It has been a very mild and wet winter, it is always great to see the first ‘greens’ of spring.

There are currently restrictions on personal travel, movements and a ban on all social gatherings due to “Corvid-19” or The Corona virus. However, one is allowed one exercise per day;  taking advantage of this unusually warm weather it is time to start planting, getting out into the garden and the allotment. The Rhubarb is shooting away again, as it has every year. I will take a couple of stalks shortly to try in a pie. (That is, unless there is a total lock-down and everyone is not allowed out of their houses).

I had purchased my onion sets for this year some time ago and had left them in trays in the greenhouse. This year I am trying a couple of varieties for the first time – A white onion called “Snowball” and a coloured onion called “Pink Panther” both of which I cannot wait to see how they get on. I have also planted the usual “Sturon” and “Red Barron”. I have most sets in the ground now with only about one hundred remaining to plant.

Potatoes this year are “Aran Pilot”, which I grow every year. To me it is the finest First Early, but my second early and main I have not tried before, they are “Cara” and “Charlotte” both of which I am looking forward to getting in the ground very shortly.

It has been a while since I have made a chutney from my surplus crops. This has been due to the fact that the past two years have really not been that productive. This year has been very different indeed. Although some fruit and veg have still not produced as well as in previous seasons, I have had a bumper crop of tomatoes; so it’s time for Christmas chutney making.

I’ve grown a number of different tomato varieties this year. As per previous chutney’s that I have made, I am including a bowl of dates, raisins, two cayenne chillies for a little bit of after-heat taste, two bell peppers, muscovado sugar, fresh rosemary, two small tea spoons of mustard, red and white onions, and a bottle of malt vinegar. This is all cooked down for three hours and carefully deposited into oven-hot glass jars. The sharp vinegar taste will disappear completely after these have matured for a couple of Months, and will be grand on the table at Christmas. I will as ever, keep aside a jar for the final day of the course fishing season on the 14th March 2020. I can’t wait to try it now with a slab of cheese, or even better a good quality pork pie, but one must wait.

Although I have had several disasters, notably with broccoli and a number of my fruit crops, this year has been great for onions.

As always I had planted “Sturon” and Red Barron as my main crops which did ok. but I also planted “Ailsa Craig” which did very well indeed. I again planted seeds in November of my giant onions, and by August I had a 4lb 7oz’er.  I left one in the ground for a few more weeks and lifted it at the weight of 5lb 10oz, not a show-winner, but it is my best yet.

All of a sudden it is Spring again. Although the 20th of March marks the formal start of Spring, it has actually arrived in many forms days and weeks ago. All the Spring flowers are in bloom, and the Blackbird has been serenading for some time now.

I don’t usually plant anything so soon in the growing year, but it has been so mild, and with the warmth to continue I began planting the Onions and Garlic I purchased back in February. One hundred “Red Barron” and two hundred “Sturon” have now been set, along with Garlic, Radish, Carrots, Chard and Beetroot. I have never really had much luck with carrots, but am trying two varieties this season so we will see how they fair. My Rhubarb always does well, and this season is no exception; its off to a flying start.

The 20th of March this year is especially significant as not only does it mark the beginning of Spring, but it is also a full moon. Not only this, but it is a “Supermoon” – a very rare occurrence co-inciding with the beginning of Spring. This particular moon at this time of year is also known as a “Worm” Moon as it signifies the emergence of worms in the soil. The last time this co-incided with Spring was back in 1905!