It was a bit of a "Hurry-up" at the end, but the plot is now completely clear of last season's crops. All the winter digging is complete and the ground ready for this season's planting and seed sowing. The dry weather towards the end of the month made the digging a bit easier. And with all the preparation complete, we did manage a weekend away.

In the end I didn't get any organic compost from Braehead. Shortage of time and the logistics of delivery onto my plot made me decide to give it a miss this year. The potato section has had applications of Rock Dust and Fish, Blood & Bone. That, combined with the generally good condition of the soil, should give a good crop. The section was double dug and that brought up the last of the farmyard dung applied four years ago. Even after being double dug every four years, forking over the second spit still brought up the occasional bit of Mare's Tail. Maybe one year the plot will be completely clear of it, but not yet! It's a war of attrition.

In preparation for planting out, the following are ongoing; potatoes are chitting with strong short sprouts, shallots (Red Sun) and garlic (White) are growing well in Rootrainers, the first of successional sowings of brassicas (Sprouts Maximus, Summer Cabbage Minicole, Calabrese Chevalier and Cauliflower Candid Charm) are ready for moving from their thimble-sized modules to Rootrainers, the second sowings of brassicas (Candid Charm and Chevalier) have germinated in their modules and the courgettes (Defender) and sweet corn (Sugar Bun) have been sown.

Next month, once the latest of our snowfalls has melted, the potatoes, shallots and garlic will be planted and the leeks (Musselburgh) and parsnip (Countess) will be sown direct in the ground. The peas will be started straight into Rootrainers for later planting out. And so the cycle of crop production goes on.

B. A. Plotter.