Here are the links to Mr. Middleton's tasks for the month of March:
Below are the above tasks set out as if they were a MOA fact sheet:
✤✤✤ MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE ✤✤✤
MARCH ON THE ALLOTMENT
DUTIES FOR THE INDUSTRIOUS PLOT‑HOLDER
Issued for the Guidance of the Allotment Holder and Cottage Gardener
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CLEARING & PREPARING THE LAND
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[ ] Clear land as crops are used; heel in leeks and celery in a sheltered corner or frame.
[ ] Clear Brussels sprouts as used; save the tops for spring greens.
[ ] Fork soil only when dry; avoid working heavy wet ground.
[ ] Complete any remaining digging before growth begins.
[ ] Work sandy soils now: add manure, dig, and lime.
[ ] Prepare trenches for peas and beans (18 in. deep), lining with cardboard, manure, peelings, then soil.
[ ] Prepare outside seed bed with superphosphate (3 oz per sq. yd.); rake fine and remove stones.
[ ] Attend to asparagus beds; lightly fork in winter manure.
[ ] Make new asparagus beds (5 ft wide for 3 rows).
[ ] Case mushroom beds once spawn threads radiate; maintain earlier beds at 75°F for spawning.
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PEST & DISEASE WATCH
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[ ] Watch for cabbage aphid; use peppermint‑based spray or strong mint tea with a little soap.
[ ] Remove swollen buds on blackcurrants (big bud mite).
[ ] Watch for fruit diseases; lime sulphur or Bordeaux mixture historically used.
[ ] Freshen greasebands on apple trees; do not remove too early.
[ ] Attack apple pests with nicotine spray (historical).
[ ] Spray apples and pears for caterpillars, scab, or mildew (historical materials).
[ ] Manage Tarsonemid mite on strawberries (historical burning method described).
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SOWING OUTDOORS
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[ ] Sow parsnips without delay; intersow lettuce and radish to mark rows.
[ ] Sow onions outdoors promptly; spring onions also.
[ ] Sow spinach outdoors; also sow leeks, cabbage, cauliflower, sprouts, peas, and broad beans.
[ ] Sow carrots, beetroot, and turnips outside.
[ ] Sow outdoor tomatoes now.
[ ] Sow parsley, sage, thyme, and celery outdoors in patches or drifts.
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SOWING INDOORS, UNDER GLASS & IN FRAMES
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[ ] Prick out leeks, onions, and celery; move to cold frame to harden off.
[ ] Make another sowing of tomatoes indoors.
[ ] Sow celeriac in trays.
[ ] Sow brassicas indoors; prick out and transfer to cold frame.
[ ] Plant out lettuce seedlings or grow under cloches.
[ ] Plant out overwintered cauliflowers from frames.
[ ] Sow sage and thyme in trays.
[ ] Sow sweet corn indoors.
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HARDENING OFF & EARLY PLANTING
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[ ] Harden off onions and leeks in cold frames; give leeks plenty of air.
[ ] Plant out early potatoes 6 in. deep; continue planting as weather allows.
[ ] Reduce sprouts on seed potatoes to two for larger tubers.
[ ] Plant shallots, garlic, and horseradish (3 in. pieces).
[ ] Plant out autumn‑sown onions, cauliflowers, and early cabbage.
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GREENHOUSE & COLD GREENHOUSE WORK
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[ ] Pot tomatoes into 5‑inch pots.
[ ] Use cold greenhouse for winter lettuce followed by early cauliflower, then tomatoes.
[ ] Sow tomatoes for outdoor and indoor crops.
[ ] Sow celeriac, herbs, and brassicas in trays.
[ ] Train cucumbers up wires or canes in heated greenhouse.
[ ] Stake cucumbers as needed.
[ ] Ventilate greenhouse fruit and spray with water (historical nicotine wash).
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FRUIT TREES & SOFT FRUIT CARE
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[ ] Feed fruit trees with general fertiliser or sulphate mix (historical).
[ ] Complete planting of fruit trees before growth begins.
[ ] Support raspberries; prune gooseberries.
[ ] Cut back autumn‑planted raspberries to 1 ft.
[ ] Examine blackcurrants; remove big‑bud‑mite buds.
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MUSHROOM BEDS
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[ ] Spawn mushroom beds when temperature falls to 75°F.
[ ] Case mushroom beds with poor, weed‑free soil once spawn threads radiate.
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✤ DIG FOR VICTORY ✤
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1st No allotment visit today as work from 7am -8:15pm
2nd Rain today, no allotment visit but did arrange for the neighbourhood watch to check the allotment site in the evening.
3rd visited the allotment, completed 2 hours of weeding and pruning. Planted up a row of Swiss chard. Harvested rhubarb and some salad leaves.
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14th Submitted my application form to continue on the allotment committee to the secretary. I've been the chairman for over a decade now despite having a very busy job and having taken on several volunteering roles in between. Managed to get two other plotholders to propose and second my application. Visited the allotment, weeded a row of leeks and removed a strawberry barrel from the plot after several years of limited success.
15th Potted on the tomato plants from seeds sown in January. Sown Welsh onion, French beans, gherkins, winter squash and peppers.
16th Sown marigold seeds this morning ahead of setting off on holiday.
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