Barry Cuff shares what’s happening on the allotment this month – what he’s cropping and what he’s planted – plus a few of his interesting findshe’s cropping and what he’s planted – plus a few of his interesting finds.

With few crops left in the ground to harvest and the start of planting/sowing for the coming season, March is the beginning of the new allotment year. We are picking plentiful spears of both early and late purple sprouting broccoli (Rudolph and Claret). Claret started to produce earlier than normal, brought on by the days of glorious sunshine which started on the 17th.
We cut our first Medallion cauliflower mid-month (top picture); not as large as the winter cropping Cendis which we grow, but still of a good size. We grow this variety because it always crops earlier than other spring varieties, and we need to clear the ground for the next crop which will be potatoes. We have a six year rotation of all our crops, except potatoes which are three years.
Throughout the month we also harvested parsnips and leeks. With a good supply of both we were able
to give some to other allotmenteers.
At home we cut our second lot of chicons on the 25th, hopefully we will get a third cut in about
three weeks time.

By the time you read this we will have planted seven lines of potatoes – Foremost, Charlotte, Elfe,
International Kidney, McCain Royal and Rooster. Further lines of Rooster and Picasso will be planted
in April.
By the 25th the soil temperature was warm enough to sow part lines of carrot and beetroot.
In the greenhouse we have plug trays of onions, cabbages and lettuce, and these will be ready to
plant out in April. During the sunny days we have enjoyed seeing Commas, Small Tortoiseshells, Brimstones and Orange Tips flying over the plots.
Despite two days with heavy rainfall (over an inch on the 11th with a further 0.8 inches on the 16th) our soil dug well after about six days. We only dig about one third of our total plot area each year to fit in with the rotation. I love digging, and it never seems like hard work with a good long handled spade.

During the last 34 years on our plot at Sturminster I have made some interesting finds while turning over the soil:
• An Elizabeth 1st silver sixpence.
• 1790 George third gaming token.
• Prince of Wales half sovereign (Date ?)
• 17th century wine bottle seal, showing what I think is a mermaid
• A yellow submarine – A baking powder ‘Atomic Sub’ from a 1957 packet of Kellogs Cornflakes!

by Barry Cuff

Sponsored by – Thorngrove Garden Centre

Soil testing is often expensive and usually unfathomable – but there is another way to check your soil health says expert Charlotte Tombs.

Soil your pants? Ew! I hear you all cry. Disgusting!
What on earth is she on about now?
Allow me to explain… The latest science emphasis in growing flowers or vegetables is all about your soil’s health (is this something else we have to worry about now?).
On digging a bit deeper (excuse the pun) it does seem to make some sense. If your soil is super healthy and full of all the micro-organisms it needs, then your plants too will thrive and flourish as they take up all those lovely nutrients from that super healthy soil. But we need to understand more.

An unorthodox test lab
The conventional way to test your soil is to spend money on a specialist kit, send away the samples to be tested in a laboratory and then receive the results back – and not really understand what they are, or be any clearer on the findings (is a low Ph level good or bad? I barely knew what that meant at school …).
The unconventional way, and the one I have read up on, is far simpler. You need to ‘plant’ a pair of 100% cotton Y fronts or boxers (best to ask the owners permission before taking them – you don’t want to be burying his lucky pants) in the soil in your garden.
Bury the pants, several pairs if your garden is extensive, roughly 10 to 15cm deep in your flower or vegetable beds, and simply leave them for six weeks. Mark where you planted them (or some time in the future you will have men in white all-in- one suits looking for where the body is buried) and make a note in your diary of when to dig them up. After your six weeks are up, if the pants are still wearable and will protect your modesty then your soil needs attention. If they are ragged and rotting then you’ve lost a pair of pants, but can rest assured that at least your soil is alive and well. You should have good healthy flowers and vegetables. And probably buy some new pants.
Apparently the optimum season to try this experiment is in the summer months when the soil’s biology is more active.

What to do next
If your experiment reveals less than healthy soil, there are a few things that you can do. Firstly stop using pesticides and chemicals; their effects underground might not be obvious at first, but in time they might be having the opposite effect to the one intended and be destroying your garden.
Secondly, minimise digging so as to avoid disturbing the complex structure of the soil – farmers have almost entirely stopped ploughing their fields for this same reason.
Of course, do add peat-free – or better still your own – garden compost and other well rotted organic matter on the top, and just let the worms bring this down into the soil.
I will report back on the result of my test and share the results (but not the pictures!).

by Charlotte Tombs