Starting to get back onto the allotment on good days...

good days being ones that are not raining or too cold.

Spent two hours today turning over the compost heap to get air in and mix some dry materials in with the very wet heap which I  had as a result of the wet weather.

For me this is what composting is about; you build the heap for the first time and it takes a while to turn into usable compost.

Then each time as you learn how it works you are able to speed up the process by applying your growing knowledge of composting to make adjustments to the heap.  The little red worms that live in compost were surprisingly active today considering how cold it has been. When you disturb the heap the little red compost worms wriggle away downwards away from the light I suppose and to keep moist.

I also dug over an patch that will become a salad bed area in the spring and then walked around the plot digging up any brambles and perennial weeds that had emerged; these will be more difficult to dig out later in the year. The soil is moist at the moment and the tough weeds seem to get a better grip with there roots as it dries out in the Spring. I have a sandy soil  at the allotment so it dries out very quickly and it not moisture retentive. That is why I need to add as much humus as possible to the soil when I can. Provided I do not apply it just before something that dislikes growing in a newly fertilised/manured vegetable  patch.

The photo is of my allotment in the beginning - two years ago - February 2008.

First Visit to the Allotment ... since the snow..

What to wear on an allotment.
Taking care of the compost heap and tidying up.

Finally the weather has been good enough today for me to go to the allotment for a couple of hours. It did not seem that long; time has no meaning when I am there. The things you do like that were you cannot track time are supposed to be good for your well being.

I really enjoyed my couple of hours there, it was not cold although I  have to admit I had lots of layers on. What I wear is - loose clothes so that you can move as you dig... my cotton fleece top is big enough to fit over two jumpers or a sweater and a waistcoat/gilet. It is best to wear something that is long enough to keep your back warm when you are moving about on the allotment. Clothes that wash easily are also a good idea.

The soil was moist enough for the weeds to come out of the soil but dry enough for me to be able to shake the soil off the roots as I dug the weeds out. Most people use a spade but I find a garden fork easier to use.
If I need to use a spade I use a border spade ( smaller then an ordinary spade). A border spade is the size spade a lot of smaller ladies prefer to use when digging, it is also useful for using in the borders of gardens as its name suggests.

I also turned over the compost heap and made adjustments to it. As it was a bit too wet, I spread some dry layers in as I turned the compost heap from one place to another. Composting is a skill, the more you practice it the more you understand the process. You can make compost very easily... food and growing items decay naturally and that is what composting is it is using that process to our advantage ... simple, great for the environment too.

No sign of the rhubarb coming through yet but I will be watching the space where the rhubarb crowns are so that I can force some early sticks into that delicious first growth.