Allotment Diary: First Day Back Outside

After a very long Danish winter, I finally made it back to the allotment garden for the first real working day of the season. The grass had barely started waking up, the soil was still cold, and I am pretty sure I spotted exactly zero signs of the strawberries I planted last year. It was great to be back.

The Winter Damage Report

Every spring starts the same way: a slightly anxious tour of the garden to see what survived. This year the news was mostly good.

• The rhubarb has already started pushing up. It's one of the first things to come back every year and it never lets me down.
• The red currant bush looks completely fine. Some new green buds are already showing on the branches.
• The Jerusalem artichokes: still there, probably in places I didn't plant them.
• The cherry trees look healthy but haven't leafed out yet.
• The strawberries: still no sign of them. Giving it another week before I start worrying.

What I Got Done

The main job for today was clearing out last year's dead plant material and loosening the soil in the kitchen garden beds. The soil was pretty compacted after sitting through the winter, so I worked through it with a fork to let some air in before adding a layer of compost.

I also set up the support structure for the peas — some bamboo canes and netting strung between them. The pea seeds I started indoors last week are already showing tiny sprouts, so they'll be going outside in a few weeks once there's no more frost risk.

What's Going in First

Based on my sowing calendar, the direct outdoor sowing season is just about starting. The first things going in will be radishes and spinach — both are cold-tolerant and fast to germinate, so they are a good way to test whether the soil has warmed up enough. If the radishes come up, everything else can follow.

The tomatoes, chilies, and cucumbers I started indoors are still on the windowsill. They won't be going outside for another month or so. For now, they are just growing tall under the grow lights and waiting for warmer nights.

The Best Part

Honestly, just sitting on the covered terrace afterwards with a coffee was enough. That was the whole reason I got the allotment in the first place. The garden was quiet, the air smelled like damp soil, and for an hour or so, the city felt pretty far away.