I’ve done my first direct sowing at the allotment for 2026, with a couple of short rows of beetroot ‘Bolthardy’. I’m not sure they will come to much as it is using an end of line seed tape I bought last year and even last year results were disappointing but I figure it is better to throw seeds in the ground than throw them in the bin!

I also chopped down a couple of kale plants that were showing signs of wanting to flower and where the stalks were falling down and got some bonus harvests from parsley (a weedy little plant I recognised and moved last year, which has bulked up over the winter) and dead nettle (often regarded as a weed but it makes a pleasant brew in hot water).