Hi everyone
I stumbled across this forum a while back and finally decided to register. I've recently taken on an allotment in Horsham, W Sussex (a half plot) which, luckily, already had a shed and was in reasonable condition. I even had some crops left by the previous tenant to harvest. I took it on in November and dug half the plot, which was the half with bare, heavily compacted clay soil. I broke it up into big clods and let the mid December cold snap shatter them into a more crumbly texture. I then covered it with cardboard and weed suppressant and intend to leave it until I am ready to cultivate. My problem is now I am eager to tackle the other half which has the old crops and weeds but the soil is just so saturated I can't do anything but wait and hope for some prolonged dry weather. I have bought most of my seeds plus a few herbs and flowers for companion planting, and am planning to get seed potatoes soon to start chitting. As I don't have a car I've been transporting bags of horse manure to the allotment week by week using my bicycle trailer; I should have enough by the end of the year lol. I'll soon have enough to fill one pallet compost bin, as it is fresh I guess I will have to leave it to rot down and hopefully it will be ready to spread on the plot during the Autumn.
So here I am, eagerly looking forward to Spring and the start of the growing season. I have read some of the beginners advice on here so am going to make sure I don't rush into things too fast, it is better to be a bit late with the sowing that too early and have seeds that rot in cold wet ground.
I do have one question, I have been looking at the seed packets and the summer purple sprouting broccoli looks like it can be started indoors, although unlike the other seeds it doesn't specify the temperature range required. My house is at around 10-12C, is this too cool to start seedlings indoors? Some of the other packets which give instructions for indoor sowing suggest a range of 15-20C, which is quite a bit warmer.
Also, there was an interesting tip about putting reflective foil around seed trays indoors to maximise the light they receive. I've never thought of doing that before.