still waiting...

Our winter goes on, and although the weather men tell us that spring arrived on 1 March, no one has told the garden.

By now, our shallots should be firmly rooted, our peas germinating in the greenhouse and I should have given a thick mulch of manure to prepare the potato bed. Our overwintering broad beans should be beginning to show signs of fresh growth but were all killed by the cold weather. Spring sown broad beans will take their place but not while the ground remains chilled.

None of this has happened yet, nor will it for a couple of weeks.

The result will be a compressed growing season, with much work to do once the ground has warmed.

In the meantime, the allotment looks serene on a cold March morning.