Spring flowers, it doesn't get better than this

Crikey, what a fabulous Spring

Hello again,

There's no doubt that spring has sprung, and sprung early. We haven't had an early period of prolonged warm and sunny weather for many years and it is quite a change. A sunny Aintree for the Grand National, no April showers, no late frosts (yet)- just wall-to-wall sunshine for about six weeks (at least, where we are).

I have to say, I haven't heard many complaints about the weather except perhaps from gardeners, who, like farmers, are never happy with their lot; it's always too cold, too wet, too dry, too windy. Like prima ballerinas, it's all tutu. And yes, I count myself in the former group (gardeners) at least, from an allotment point of view.

Instead of the usual slow start to the allotment year in which I consistently prove that I don't have the patience to wait for the soil to warm up, this season has got off to a flying start - I've been like a whippet out of the trap.

Normally, I sow seeds in pots too early and they either go leggy or I plant them out in the cold ground and they sit there and look miserable for weeks or even months. Normally, I optimistically sow on the allotment early in the hope of early crops only to stare abject failure in the face. Normally, I stand there wet and shivering, thinking "I wonder how those old allotment fellas seem to get good crops, year after year?"

This year though, it's been hectic; early potatoes in, followed by cabbage, broad beans, pak choi, parsnips, lettuce, carrots, peas and spinach. At the house, I've sown french beans, courgette, squash, sprouts, plum tomato, cherry tomato, sprouting broccoli and flowers for cutting like Echinacea and Aster. It's been all go since the beginning of March,

How's the rest of the season going to pan out? Well I have now at least learnt one thing about allotment gardening; don't try to guess, work with what you have got and do your best because it never, never goes to plan.

Until next time...