Easter Sunday has seen some remarkable progress at the Bresnen plot. Dry, if not particularly sunny, weather meant we could spend some serious time down the allotment getting everything ready for spring. If B+Q had been open, or I had the presence of mind to have bought what I needed in advance, we could have made even better progress.

Charlie and I headed down first, and he helped me sow a row of baby carrot seeds, radishes and garlic. He was really keen and engaged, and worked well for about an hour. After this he wandered off to play with my electric screwdriver and some scrap wood, but I was delighted to have his so keen to help- an hour is a long time when your are eight-nearly-nine years old. I can't wait to see how he will be when we actually start pulling veg out of the ground. The radishes we sowed will crop in just four weeks, so I wont have to wait too long.

Eleanor and Corinne came down later. They sowed another row of carrots (Autumn cropping this time). Eleanor's seeds were widely broadcast, to say the least, but she was keen to help too. I was disappointed that I didn't take the camera so I could take a rare photo of Corinne with her hands dirty!

Later Eleanor 'helped' by sitting on a deck chair eating a hot-cross bun while supervising Corrine plant a row of onions. These are the ones I started off in the propagator on my window sill, and which are now very health looking. I received envious looks from fellow allotmenteers, who said that it quite difficult to grow onions from seed.

Corinne wore her new wellies today, for their inaugural allotment session. They're a strikingly fashionable duck egg blue with a pattern of red Labradors all over. For Corinne it is important to look good at all times, even when your grubbing about in the mud.

I extended my rhubarb bed, to accommodate a new plant my mum and dad bought me for my birthday, and added another row of beetroot too.
In theory at least, by summer we should be feasting on radishes, baby carrots, beetroots and new potatoes. I can't wait!

A momentous week this week. We have planted things in the allotment!

Saturday was the eventful day. I dragged the family down to the allotment for the grand ceremony. There, amongst showers of stinging hale and driving Arctic winds we planted two rows of first early 'Rocket' seed potatoes. Eleanor, perhaps wisely given the inclement weather conditions, chose to remain in the car and watch through the window and beep the horn in moral support.

The hale stones and a bitter frost proved to be winter's last spiteful sting. Spring has sprung here, and the weather has turned notability warmer. By Wednesday (my birthday) Corinne and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed down to the allotment for some serious digging. Following some expert advise from an old hander I dug over the seed bed again with a strange hoe, which looked like something quite medieval, rather like the sort of thing you expect to be wielded by and angry mob of peasants. This hoe made short work of the solid soil, enabling me to dig in more compost and sand to improve the clay soil. It was hard work but I confidently expect it will be ready for seeds with just a few more digs over. We also planted a crown of rhubarb.

Good news today. My dad delivered six lengths of old scaffolding planks for my raised beds. I am looking forwards to getting started on the next set of raised beds.