March is a great time of year to get onto the allotment, depending on the soil temperature now is the time to get sowing.

With the recent cold snaps the soil temperature may still be very low. Frosts are important to maintain the soil quality, to breakdown large clumps of soil, and improve texture. As a consequence, you must allow exposure of your soil over winter, but late winter/early spring is the time to think about raising the temperature back up for sowing. Seeds need warmer soil to help them germinate. Until the soil warms sufficiently seeds will remain dormant, awaiting a warmer spell.

It is possible to raise you soil temperature prematurely by covering your soil with fabric, fleecing or cloches for a couple of weeks prior to sowing seeds.