February brought an end to meteorological winter but March has started on a cold note. February itself was a record breaker. It was the mildest February of the last 14 years and also the driest in the same period.

The mild and dry weather meant that we made good progress at getting the allotment sorted out for the new growing season. The dry conditions meant that we could have a couple of bonfires to get rid of lots of material that was cut back in autumn and that was too substantial to compost. 

However, just as we’re ready for the off, the weather forecast is for a couple of weeks of cold frosty nights with any precipitation falling as snow. It probably means gardening activities will have to be put on hold for a couple of weeks. I’m hoping that the onion seeds that germinated inside the house but that have now been transferred to the greenhouse will survive the frosty nights.

Our winter of 2022/23 came ninth in the list of mildest with an average temperature of 5.3°C about average for the last 14 years. That mild February was offset by the colder than average months of December and January.

Rainfall for the winter was well below average. We’d expect an average of 163.0mm (6.3in) but only received 105.6mm (4.2in) this winter. The ground however is in good condition for cultivating and half a dozen beds have been dug over ready for planting.

Hopefully, towards the end of March we will be planting our first early potatoes. If we do get any snow it will be important to allow the ground some time to warm up before planting any potatoes. The important thing is not to be too impatient to get things planted despite what might be shown on social media posts.