[Paulj]

Being new to this allotmenting thing I am itching to get seeds in the ground and even more so now that my seeds have actually arrived.  

I want to plant my garlic and onion sets out as well as some of the hardier beans/peas, but I am concerned about the soil.  I went down to the allotment at the weekend to check my clear PVC covering which I had put down in an attempt to warm the soil a bit.  Half of it had blown over leaving the plot open, but I think the bigger problem is that the plot still seems quite damp (not waterlogged, but quite sticky).

Should I wait a couple of weeks or would I be ok to plant out?  I have cloches available to use if I need to as well, but didn't they would be a great idea for the garlic and onions.

[strangerachael]

Frustrating isn't it. It does sound as if your soil is still a bit wet and sticky and your probably wiser to wait a bit longer. If you are really desperate to sow something you could always start things off in pots and plant out later?

[mattwragg94]

have you got a greenhouse? if you have you can start them off in there!  - this way it gives your soil a chance to dry out and it gives the onions and garlic a head start.

[Paulj]

I do have a mini Greenhouse thingy in our garden, but wanted to plant everything directly (don't know why, as I have always used it in the past before we got the allotment!).

Can you be too late with onions and garlic, as I guess that's more what I am worried about if I leave it much longer?

[mattwragg94]

i always plant my onions in the greenhouse to give then a head start, if you dont want to do this leave it a couple of weeks, they will catch up anyway (they are fast growers)

[stompy]

Plant your onions out direct into the soil in March they'll be fine.
In my opinion it's way too much faffing about putting them in a seed tray or modules of compost when to be honest it's quite unnecessary!

Use the compost,time and space for other crops that need it.

As for your garlic, pop it in the bottom of the fridge for a couple of weeks and then plant it at the same time as your onions 

[JayG]

Plenty of time left for onion sets, but getting towards the end of the usual slot for planting spring garlic, which need about a month in cold soil to trigger the formation of new cloves.

You could try cloching to stop the soil getting wetter, but would then create the possibility of warming the soil more than is ideal for them.  

On balance, unless your plot really is a bog, I'd just plant them and let them get on with it - they should still be OK if you leave it a couple more weeks but who knows, your soil might be even wetter by then!  

[Yorkie]

If the soil is sticking to your boots then the advice is to keep off - you can damage the soil structure by walking on it.

[bigben]

Onions - As JayG says - plenty of time for onions.

Garlic - I have read that garlic is often planted in slightly raised ridges  to improve drainage (http://organicveggardening.com/how-do-you-grow-garlic/ .

You could create some ridges and maybe mix in some compost etc to improve the soil. Then let them dry a bit and plant?

[Paulj]

Thanks to all.

I shall wait for the onions and hope my PVC covers help to dry it all out a little over the next couple weeks. I'll get the garlic going at home, and as you have suggested Yorkie the soil is sticking to boots so I will keep off of it.

I seem to be quite lucky at the moment that there are no weeds coming through. I think (or rather, I hope) our efforts when we took the plot on last september were quite thorough and so there is not a huge amount of work to be done at the moment. Just wish it would dry up a bit, but that doesn't seem too likely with the rainfall we have just had and seem to be expecting in the next couple of days!

At least this is teaching me patience. I'll just have to focus my efforts on scouting around for bits to make a Polytunnel for the time being.