Potatoes

You are taking one very big risk with those spuds!

Regarding the peas, I never soak them. I just throw them straight into the ground. You will need a lot more than 12 pea plants for a half decent crop. At the spacing I use, 12 plants would make up 1 foot of row.

That's pretty early for spuds Colin, are you going to be able to keep them protected against frost in April?

If I have to I will build a wooden box around them with a glass top, have loads of wood and glass, but they are nice and deep wrapped around some nice compost so should be fine, plus they are in the corner at the back of the allotment.

Potatoes are not a root vegetable. They are a tuber. Manure is good for spuds.

The problem with manure for root veg is not so much its strength, but the tendency for the root to fork when it hits a lump of it.

I have put them in deeper ...

I'd be interested to know how deep (roughly ) and, if you remember, could you update the thread when they break through the ground? Always helpful to advice folk in subsequent years, particularly as you are in an urban island where you will have more mild temperatures than I could ever dream off in East Anglia!

If manure was no good for spuds how come they grow from peelings with a vengeance out of the muck heap?

I haven't got a lot of time in the next two weeks, the weather is dull, oh so dull, so today and tomorrow are big on my plot, including the potatoes... a week earlier than is normal for me down here.  My soil was also perfect for digging today, given the last few dry days, so an absolute must. I shall be planting Foremost, Swift, red Duke of York, Charlotte and Desiree. The weather forecast looks reasonable with only the odd few hours of proper rain in the next 10 days... which is good for the early weeks of potatoes.
As said above, the black plastic dpm I have been using to warm up the soil will be to one side like a cricket square cover, ready to drape over the top for any frosts when the spuds break surface in late April.
My first sowing of outside soaked peas will also be going in tomorrow where the soil has been covered. It's nice to use the vacant ground asap, and allows a second crop of something later in the year. The peas are more of a risk than the potatoes, but overall, everything should turn out fine.