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-blasted, rain-lashed hill, albeit without any Heathcliff. I’m desperate to keep toasty but I can’t dig anything as the soil is too wet.I’m very lucky – my plot has a lovely, rich soil, well dug and manured by many a plot holder before me. But, like much

as well do a bit of forward planning of my crop rotations and get the relevant beds prepared.I'm really lucky with my soil - it's a rich brown loam, well-manured in decades past, with a tendency towards the stickiness of clay when wet. It's also a bit

At this time of year, gardeners and plot holders take advantage of any dry, sunny weather to improve the soil and get their beds ready for planting. My neighbours on the allotment have been doing just that - everywhere I look there are freshly

I'm as keen on improving my soil with manure as any other allotmenteer. I love it all - chicken, cow and best of all, horse manure. A good dollop of well-rotted manure does wonders for your soil, enriching it with nitrogen, phosphates and potassium

view to nesting sometime soon. It would be great to have a little family to keep an eye on while I'm weeding.Although the soil is warming up nicely I'm determined not to sow seeds too early. It's easy to get lulled into a false sense of security

.So this week I'm improving my soil with home-made compost. This seems a good use of my time as I can stop instantly and pack up as soon as a passing shower turns into steady rain (I'm not a wuss really - I get wet enough at work but I get paid for those

for my maincrop spuds.My only complaint is that the potatoes have scab. I've never had a problem with potato scab before, but this year it's affected my precious Charlottes, particularly at one end of the bed. Potatoes thrive in acid soil, and potato scab

organic matter added to them. The richness of manured soil causes the roots to fork, becoming terrifically deformed and a nightmare to prepare for the pot. But they are really good for the kids' 'make an animal from a vegetable' competitions.My root beds

According to the papers it's been the coldest start to December for 30 years - an average of only 1.7° C.The cold weather has hopefully killed a lot of pests, but I've not been able to get on with many of my jobs on the plot. I've not been able

to weed nicely contained beds where the soil is lovely and light, and I barely even get muddy.Laying carpet at the far end was a big mistake. I initially laid it over the soil to suppress weed growth, with the view to digging the area over later on