Spring springs.

I've got my first and second early potatoes in and Dad has dug over another part of the plot for the maincrop. Sunday I refilled the bird feeders and when I got to the plot last night one was half empty so there's a lot of avian activity happening at the plot. The fruit trees and bushes I planted before Easter look fairly happy and are starting to bud although they aren't as far ahead as the established stuff.

I've sorted my first planting out and last night went to the plot for an hour and put in peas and mangetout. This is the last chance for the peas - if they don't produce this year I'm giving up and planting double rows of mangetout from next year. Allotmenting starts in earnest from this week when I need to put my first rows of beetroot etc. in and start keeping watch for the horsetail. At home I've still not got round to putting in my seeds but I'm thinking of investing in a heated propagator: the lack of a handy greenhouse makes starting things hard. On the plot one job is going to be cutting the bottoms off the 5 litre water bottles I've been saving to make myself some cheap cloches. I'm hoping for more success with my carrots this year with the addition of this handy anti-pest device.

As far as plot infrastructure goes I've just a couple of paths still to put in, the herb garden to sort out and the cold frame to build. Dad is faffing with the greenhouse and I can see us losing out this year with tomatoes and cucumbers again as if it isn't in place by May I'm not going to bother.

Here's hoping for a better crop this year - I'd love to not have to buy any veg from May this year, it should be doable.