[rowlandwells]

how are you coping with this wet weather down the allotments if your like us we are unable to start anything because the ground is  absolutely wet to even to push a wheelbarrow over and  unable to spread any manure on the plot and ploughing the ground is a definite no no

if this wet weather keeps going spring cultivation will be set back for the heavier allotments ground the more light soils  may be better to work although we will keep our fingers crossed things mite alter next month
never the less  we are going to start seed sowings in the greenhouse at the end of the month come what may

[grinling]

polytunnel still under water 

[greenjay]

ground is so wet.
overhead conditions dont really tempt me to the plot much.
good thing the evenings are pulling out.
roll on spring!

[Plot 1 Problems]

Thankfully I can walk the paths on my plot because I topped up the woodchips before it got too wet. I'm just going to have to delay direct sowing this year and pot on everything else until the ground is warm and dry again.

[GraciesGran]

When we moved house last year I said my own swimming pool would be nice - we've got one now even if it was lawn in a previous life.  The veg plot is a huge muddy mess, but have decided to start sowing next week.  Any plants I grow will then have their normal two chances grow or die.

[Christine]

Yep rain has stopped play. I reckon I'm a month behind with ground preparation (lime and such, planting out onion sets).

[DHM]

On site we had a lot of flooding over Christmas, though wierdly with Ciara and Dennis bringing lots of rain to the South Coast, it's stayed flood free amd my plastic greenhouse survived the gales with just a few minor rips. Still couldn't prep any beds though last weekend as the hoe just skidded over the wet clay... at the moment I've got everything in cells in the greenhouse, even garlic.

[Silva]

I hear the allotment is flooded again. Guess I will see at the weekend, but I imagine the garlic and onion bed will be underwater again, definitely picked the worst spot to plant those! At least I know which parts of the plot to avoid planting over-winter now. Between flooding and storms at the weekend it has been difficult to get much done.

[Aidy]

Pretty good to be honest, I reckon we will have the best harvest of rice this year!

Everything else is nice n chilled in their seed packets, fortunately for us northerners we generally sow around 3 weeks after the southerners so plenty of chill time for us, now where did I put me beer!

[rowlandwells]

well Aidy its enough to drive us all to drink an old gardener once told me all you do when its raining is make babies not sure if our woman folk would agree with that though 

anyway it sounds as though we are all in the same boat  we have to have a laugh although this weather could make one cry and seriously I feel so sorry for those flooded out there homes but did I see that there going to see some government funding to help these folks and so they  should

[MarkC]

Not just rain, but sleet, hail and gales continuously here. Although the soil is absolutely saturated, we haven't had the general flooding problems that many have had.

Last week was first time I've seen water lying (albeit only a little) in part of my plot, which is normally very well drained. Fortunately got nearly all the digging done, except part of new half plot adjacent to mine which I'm taking over.

Had hoped to get some dwarf fruit trees planted out during Feb but that's been postponed. Along with everything else.....

[Aidy]

We had some propper rain last night and the photos show the extent this morning.

[Stewarty]

Seems like I have accidentally made some right decisions this winter.....   Last autumn I had decided to cover several areas of 3 plots with cardboard, and cover that with the free woodchip that tree surgeons dump at our site gate. I held fire until there had been enough rain to thoroughly moisten the dry ground, then did several rounds of local bike shops, to collect their cardboard boxes. (Small independent bike shops are glad to give it to you, as they would have to pay to have it collected otherwise; but bigger chains like Cycle King want to charge you £3 a box, as they have a central disposal system). I had some larks handling the big boxes in strong winds, especially getting it into the back of my car on a main road, but eventually got a total of 5 large-ish areas thoroughly covered, and weighed-down with some of the many rusting metal poles that have been on my plots since I took them over a quarter of a century ago. In no time at all all the cardboard was soaking wet, and at no risk of blowing away!  Then, over a period of 3 months or so, when it was impossible to do almost anything else at the allotments because of the weather, it was barrowing the woodchip the 100 metres or so from outside the site gates to various spots on my plots. Until, Bingo! - this weekend just gone I bumped into a tree surgeon just arriving to dump another load of chippings, and slipped him a fiver to go on into the site a dump it straight onto the last cardboard area at the front of a plot.....(I'd been fantasisng about this happening all winter).
The plan is, as the growing season goes on,  to plant strong seedlings grown at home straight through the woodchip and cardboard, hoping that there will be less weeding to do - I'm very bad at it, and howl in frustration when I accidentally hoe out a carefully grown favourite vegetable!  I might also water with liquid manure.
This is a method not unlike the American 'Back to Eden' system, with the unexpected bonus of being able to set it up during the kind of wet winter we've been experiencing. Even on our site in Oxford there are some waterlogged areas, where I couldn't have been doing this, so I've been lucky  -  though in part this may be because I've been cultivating these plots for so long, adding manure, compost, green manure, etc...
If all goes well I plan to replenish these areas with more woodchip over next winter, and plant through again with strong young plants, on a rotation system

[goose]

I went to the plot today after hearing that some items had blown around, so thought I better go down and check.....it seems I have acquired an enormous trampoline  which has destroyed 2 raised beds

the plot wasn't too wet tbh, considering the amount of rain we have had and managed to do some weeding and tidying up so im now getting rather excited and may sow some seeds tomorrow

[al78]

I went to the plot today after hearing that some items had blown around, so thought I better go down and check.....it seems I have acquired an enormous trampoline  which has destroyed 2 raised beds

I find it incredible to think that people are so thoughless as to leave light loose objects lying around in their garden when high winds are forecast. Does it really take so much mental and physical effort to note the weather forecast and act accordingly?