Is the weather getting better or is it wishful thinking? At least the days are drawing out. There is still a chance of frost, so we are not out of danger yet.
We are all itching to get out on the plot and there are lots of jobs for March, as it is the first of the real preparation months.
Soil Preparation
If it is not raining and the soil is not too damp and clumpy, now is the time to really tackle those perennial weeds to stop them getting a foothold.
Once you have weeded and raked over, apply fertiliser to the soil or cover the soil with well-rotted manure or compost ensuring that you rake it in.
If you are planting out hardy vegetables, now is the time to warm up the soil. This will help with seed germination and plant growth. You can warm the soil by using weed suppressant fabric, cloches, fleece or cardboard.
If you have put down a good layer of organic mulch, such as straw, move it to one side to allow the sun to worm the soil.
Raised beds warm up faster.
Feed Over wintered Crops
Give a top dressing of blood, fish and bone, chicken manure or seaweed based fertiliser to over wintered crops including fruit trees and bushes. All of these are available at The Hut.
You can trim and divide herbs such as clumps of chives and mint. Give rosemary and sage a good trim
Sow Hardy Vegetables outdoors once soil preparation is complete
You can sow outdoors quite a few crops such as spring onions broad beans, peas, spinach, sprouting broccoli , and hardy salad leaves.
If you started your plants earlier, you will need to harden them off by outdoors ensuring the are covered with a cloche or fleece at night or when temperatures drop.
Plant
This is really the last chance to plant bare-root trees and shrubs. Pretty soon, they will not be dormant and it will be too late to plant out.
You should be chitting your potatoes now. The most traditional days to plant potatoes are St. Patrick’s Day (17th March) and Good Friday (3rd April).
Sowing Indoors
There are lots of vegetables that you can start indoors: aubergines, brussels proats, celeriac, cucumbers, chillies and peppers, tomatoes and summer/autumn cabbages
Start the pest protection
Even thought it is early, slugs and snails can be a problem and you should ensure that you protect any young growth from pigeons – netting is quite effective. Check for aphids on all soft fruit bushes and deal with them.