Life on The Weald - March 2026
And springtime deviations.....
Sunday 1/Monday 2 March
The first day of Meteorological spring was as wet and miserable, as was most of January and February - very wet with heavy rain showers. I visited the allotment site to change the notices on the site noticeboards at the three gate entrances but gave up after the first one, deciding to come back when it was dry and not so cold. Apart from the rain there was a very cold wind. Tuesday was pleasant enough and would have been a good allotment day, but a dental appointment in the morning and helping my granddaughter, Tilly, to move kept me away from any meaningful allotment activity, apart from renewing the notices on the remaining noticeboards. Tilly's move, however, did supply me with a lot of cardboard boxes which will be put to good use.
Tuesday 3 March
It was a bright sunny day and felt like spring had arrived. On leaving the house we were greeted by flowering crocuses in a tub by the front door, and the prospect of anemones later in the week.
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| 3 March - Crocuses |
In the afternoon I put the woodchip to good use. I cleared most of the area around our apple tree, removing grass and bindweed roots and the occasional bramble, laying down cardboard and covering with woodchip.
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| 3 March - a layer of cardboard |
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| 3 March - a layer of woodchip on cardboard |
Another trip to Roedale and I should be able to finish the job. Before leaving we managed to pick a good crop of forced rhubarb. We removed the pots that had been used as a cover to force it, but will now leave it to grow naturally.
Wednesday 4 March
In the morning I began to remove the yellow flag irises from the pond-pots that they had been growing in. They had become pot-bound and I had to cut away the roots that had grown through the holes in the pots to get them out. It was necessary to take them out of the pots in order to remove the couch grass that was choking them. I hadn't realised before that couch grass would happily grow in the pond! Having destroyed the pots to get the plants out, I split the rhizomes, quite brutally, in the hope that I can make a lot more plants. I have left them in a bowl of water until I get round to re-potting them.
I placed some canes around two beds of broad beans with string to protect them from predicted high winds
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| 4 March - broad beans |
The afternoon was spent at the Cinema watching the National Live performance of The Audience with Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II, from her accession in 1952 aged 25 up to the 2020s and in her 90s receiving the many Prime Ministers who served through her reign.
Thursday 5 March
With the arrival of the spring-like weather I took the risk of planting a row of First Early Duke of York Potatoes
Whilst Sylvi continued to thin out the raspberry bed, I cleared the beetroot bed (there were still a few beets that had survived the winter), and removed the weeds. There was also a Chard plant that had overwintered, which I left in situ and then laid cardboard around it, ready for a layer of farmyard manure.
Beneath the apple tree, the wild garlic was appearing and I removed as many of the weeds as possible without disturbing the garlic.
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| 5 March - wild garlic |
Saturday 7 March
A reasonable day for muck-spreading! I spread a layer of manure on top of the cardboard where the beetroots had grown last year.
Sunday 8 - Tuesday 10 March
A few days away in the campervan to attend a friend's funeral in Derbyshire. It was quite misty on the journey north but Monday and Tuesday were glorious sunny days whereas I understand Hove was engulfed with Fret
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9 March - farewell to Harry
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A friend sent me a link to view the Fret in Brighton and Hove
But the sun was shining where we camped in the car park of the Arkwright Arms, Chesterfield.
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| 10 March - pub car park Chesterfield |
Wednesday 11 March
It was a bright clear day but bitterly cold. I was pleasantly surprised to see a new deposit of frog spawn in the pond but the earlier deposit seemed to have disappeared without any sign of tadpoles. Could it have fallen victim to the newts? Hopefully this lot will fare better.
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| 11 March - Frog spawn |
High winds were forecast so I thought it prudent to continue weeding, staking and tying up the broad beans. I managed to complete the two small beds which were most exposed before retreating to the warmth of home.
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| 11 March - broad beans |
Thursday 12 March
In the morning I had an appointment at the eye clinic for a pre-op assessment for my cataract, but as the clinic is on the other side of the City at Hollingbourne, we took the opportunity of visiting Roedale Allotments to collect some more woodchip. It was another bright. clear day but with a bitterly cold wind. The air temperature was a surprisingly warm 12C, but with the windchill factor felt like 1-2C.
Overnight there were really fierce winds.
Friday 13 March
The cold winds persisted, but I made a brief trip to the plot to deposit the woodchip that we had collected yesterday, and I picked the last of the Cavolo Nero. We also picked some spinach and chard that had survived the winter.
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| 13 March - perpetual spinach (spinach beet) |
Saturday 14 March
A neighbour down our street had given us two dalek compost bins, a wormery and two water butts which have been sitting in our front garden for several weeks. I just managed to get the compost bins in the car and transported them to the plot. With secateurs I chopped the dead raspberry canes that Sylvi had removed and put a layer at the bottom of one of the bins.
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| 14 March - layer of chopped twigs at bottom of compost bin |
These will provide aeration and good drainage at the bottom of the bin as well as a habitat for invertebrates and will eventually rot down to form good compost.
Earlier in the year, I had rescued some Longor shallot bulbs that had begun to sprout and had planted them in pots at home. Today I planted them out in the bed where the spinach had overwintered.
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| 14 March - Longor shallots |
Sunday 15 March
It was a bright sunny morning but still with a chilly wind. Despite the temperature not dropping below 3C overnight, there was evidence of ground frost. Sylvi sorted out the worm bins and provided me with two trays full of compost which I laid on cardboard in the veg cage, having removed the now flowering broccoli stems. Sylv chopped the broccoli stems and added them to our new Dalek compost bin.
I drilled several holes in the sides of some old plastic flower pots and repotted the yellow water irises (flags) with aquatic compost. I replaced two in the pond, leaving the others standing in a bowl of water which I will keep for our plant sale (if they survive).
Together we re-potted one of the blueberries which had become engulfed with grass, weeds and even a bramble. It was difficult to remove the plant as it was completely pot-bound. Having managed to get it out, we rather brutally chopped the roots and removed the invading grass and weeds and then re-potted in fresh ercacious compost. Blueberries do not like our soil at the Weald which tends to be on the alkaline side of neutral, whereas Blueberries are acid-loving plants, which is why we grow them in large pots with special compost designed for Azaleas and Rhododendrons.
The greenhouse had suffered in the recent winds and Sylvi replaced some of the plastic sheeting that had blown off and then continued removing the dead raspberry canes that had fruited last year.
Tuesday 17 March
Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh ☘
A good way to start St Patrick's Day was to plant some potatoes. The Duke of York which I had planted earlier were not yet showing but as there had been a few warm days, I thought it safe to plant some second early Nicola which had been chitting at home. Ideally they like a soil temperature of 10C and although it might not be quite there yet as it has been very wet, it is drying out and warming up so fingers crossed. I took the strimmer and thoroughly cleared the area around the raspberries and along the path which we share with our neighbour to the west, ready for a layer of cardboard and mulch.
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| 17 March - raspberry canes |
Wednesday 18 March
I laid cardboard around the raspberries that Sylvi had cleared and topped it with a layer of the remaining soft and green wood chippings.
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| 18 March - raspberries mulched |
Thursday 19 March
Sylvi continued to chop the dead raspberry canes and I planted out some Meteor peas which had been growing in seed trays at home. It was the hottest day of the year reaching 15C in Hove. We spent the afternoon in the garden doing a general tidy up.
Friday 20 March
In the garden, the Hellebores were still in bloom and looking very healthy.
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| 20 March - Hellebores at home |
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| 20 March - Hellebores at home |
I began to dig out one of our brick raised beds, which we had started off as a herb patch with winter savory, oregano, thyme and chives. Unfortunately the thyme had died, the chives had been taken over by bluebells, the oregano was spreading and straggly and a lemon balm plant was beginning to take over. We have decided to grow our herbs separately in containers and turn this raised bed into a decorative bed with ornamental perennials. It is directly overloked from the kitchen so is an ideal place for a colourful floral display.
Saturday 21 March
The Spring weather seems to have gone and it was a very cold start to the day.
Some kind person had donated some wild garlic plants to the shop. Ours, growing under the apple tree, were doing well but a few more would do no harm so I bought a couple of pots.
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| 21 March - wild garlic for sale |
Sunday 22 March
Sunday was another cold day with a biting wind but I was pleased to see that the Red Duke of York potatoes had begun to appear.
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| 22 March - Red Duke of York first early potatoes |
In view of the cold wind and forecast of another cold spell, I raked some soil to cover the newly emerging leaves - a practice known as earthing-up.
The tarragon and winter savory growing in an old wheelbarrow were looking good.
Tarragon is a wonderful herb to accompany fish, chicken and mushrooms with its very slightly sweet aniseed taste. Winter savory, on the other hand is intensely aromatic, much stronger than summer savory, with a spicy, peppery taste with hints of thyme and marjoram - great with pulses and stews and in stuffing with strong gamy meats.
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| 22 March - Tarragon and Winter Savory |
The bees love the white flowers of the winter savory in the summer.
I had seen a post recently on WhatsApp about sowing seeds in "seed snails" and when I got home, I made my first two using bubblewrap layered with a mixture of potting compost mixed with vermiculite and perlite and then rolled and secured with tape.
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| 22 March - bubblewrap with a layer of compost, vermiculite and perlite |
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| 22 March - my first seed snail |
I sowed some I rhubarb chard in one, and mangetout peas in the other and placed them on trays in our unheated conservatory. I say "unheated" as the radiator is turned off in the conservatory, but it does benefit from the warmth from the adjoining room - over the past fortnight it has had a maximum temperature of 21C and a minimum of 14C.
Tuesday 24 March
Sylvi continued the unenviable task of weeding around the raspberries and removing last year's fruiting canes. It will not be possible to get rid of the bindweed and couch grass completely without digging up all the existing plants and either re-planting or replacing them - perhaps a task for next year! I continued clearing the raised bed near the raspberries. Raspberries have a habit of wandering and throw up shoots several feet away from the parent plant. On a recent BBC Gardeners' World, Monty Don described raspberries as shallow rooted; on our plot, the roots go down a foot or more! It was quite an effort digging them out to remove them from nearby growing areas.
Wednesday 25 March
There were cold showers first thing in the morning and later it brightened up but, despite the sunshine and clear blue skies, there was a fierce cold wind and the temperature felt like 2C. I weeded the last of the broad bean beds and as it is still March, sowed a few more in the gaps in planting where the original sowings had been eaten or damaged by pests or killed off by the cold winds. I managed to do a bit of strimming around the dividing path between us and our neighbours to the west.
Thursday 26 March
Thursday was a glorious day in the morning with bright sunshine but still a bit chilly with the wind.
Our neighbour's plum tree was in blossom, possibly a fortnight ahead of ours.
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| 26 March - a neighbour's plum tree in blossom |
Sylvi continued clearing further along the raspberry bed (which seems a never-ending task) and revealed a couple of goosberry bushes that had been overwhelmed by couch grass and bindweed which together we removed and dug out invading raspberries in the area between the raspberries and the brassica cage. It feels like progress!
The Meteor peas looked healthy, and I put in a few pea sticks and tied some string to afford support.
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| 26 March - Meteor peas |
Friday 27 March
A cold drizzly day but we made trip to another site to collect some woodchip followed by a drop in to a nearby garden centre to collect some cardboard which we delivered to the plot in the rain! This batch of woodchip is mainly hard wood chipping better suited to paths than the earlier supply which contained a lot of green material and was more suitable as a mulch.
Saturday 28 March
It was another cold day, with a biting wind, a bright blue sky and fluffy white clouds. Our neighbour's plum blossom was looking beautiful against the sky.
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28 March - our neighbour's plum tree blossoming
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I resited our second new compost bin in a gap in the raspberry patch that Sylvi had cleared and laid cardboard and woodchip around the area and then began clearing the raised bed that had been invaded by raspberries. After laying down some cardboard in the bed, I topped this with some well rotten manure and will add a layer of compost before planting some peas.
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| 28 March - re-locating the compost bin and preparing a raised bed |
Before retiring to bed, we did remember to put the clocks forward an hour
Sunday 29 March
Whilst Sylvi was at our Community Food Project, I planted the Charlotte potatoes that had been chitting at home. The ground was very dry on top but still very moist underneath. Apart from a layer of manure before last season's planting of sweetcorn, squashes and beans, we had left a layer of leaves on the surface last autumn and on turning the soil it was full of small red worms, known as Red Wigglers (Eisenia fetida), also known as tiger worms or brandling worms (the ones you can buy when establishing a contained wormery) as well as traditional earthworms which are usually found much deeper in the soil.
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| 29 March - preparing the bed for Charlotte potatoes |
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| 29 March - Charlotte nicely chitted |
At home, the Mangetout peas sown in my seed snail had germinated, but no sign yet of the rhubarb chard.
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| 29 March - seed snail with magetout peas |
Monday 30 March
A bright sunny morning with occasional clouds but still a cold wind. I did some work renovating the central path, removing grass and weeds, laying cardboard and a layer of the new wood chip.
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| 30 March - existing path weeded |
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| 30 March - a layer of cardboard |
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| 30 March - a layer of woodchip |
About a week to ten days behind our neighbour, but one of our plum trees was beginning to blossom.
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| 30 March - the first plum blossom |
I began to weed the autumn planted onions, but then the temperature dropped suddenly and it began to rain, so I retreated home.
Tuesday 31 March
The morning was spent at home. The first tulips (Dow Jones) planted in November were in flower in the back garden, but there was no sign of the Fireworks that had been planted in an adjacent planter at the same time. They had been dug up by squirrels a few times so I think they are now gone. Next time I will spread bramble cuttings or holly on the surface to keep squirrels away.
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| 31 March - Dow Jones tulips |
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| 31 March - Dow Jones tulips |
The leaf buds on the quince tree were opening
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| 31 March - Quince tree Serbia Gold |
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| 31 March - Quince tree Serbia Gold |
The fig tree was in leaf bud...
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| 31 March - Fig tree |
...and the Chinese Mahogany (Toona sinensis), that I had bought at Wisley, and which I thought had died over winter, was coming into leaf.
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| 31 March - Chinese Mahogany (Toona sinensis) |
Despite some very cold days recently, it did feel like spring at last, and with the clocks having gone forward there will be lighter evenings.
The afternoon was spent in surgery having a cataract removed and new lens implanted, so I may be out of action on the allotment for the beginning of April.
John Austin
Hove, March 2026
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