It's going to be cold this weekend. I didn't get to my allotment all last week and I am getting distinctly twitchy wondering how things are faring up there. I know the chard and leeks will recover fairly well even to harsh frosts, but I am not so sure about some of the lettuce, particularly the lollo rosso.
I will have to don my padded shirt (in homage to the Monty Pyton Lumberjack sketch) and trudge up there for some bracing fresh air this weekend. As always I'll bring you the latest news and pictures from the plot as I have them (you'd never know I was a journalist, would you?).
In the meantime, a few tips for protecting your garden or allotment from the worst of the weather:
- Don't walk on your lawn while it's frosty if at all possible as you'll damage the grass. If, of course, you think it looks like delicious cake icing and you (or your children) can't resist having a jump about on it, I say go for your life!
- Protect more tender plants such as passion flowers by packing straw, hay, newspaper or fleece around the base. Tree ferns and bananas can be swathed in an old sheet with straw packed inside to fend off the frost
- Cover the more tender salad crops with a cold frame or fleece: if you can't afford a cold frame some old window frames propped against each other will do
- Tuck up your compost heap with a good covering of carpet or newspaper and don't disturb it during the coldest months: you can trench compost instead by digging a hole in a spot where you're planning to plant beans or squash next year and dropping in the kitchen waste and covering it over
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