There are big patches of bare soil turning up all over my allotment. The onions are gone, dried and golden and sitting in big boxes in my kitchen waiting to be plaited up into strings; the peas have gone over and have started to succumb to mildew, so they’ll probably be next; and I’m three-quarters of the way through my second-early spuds now so it won’t be long before that bed is free, too. It’s even getting a bit late for sowing last-minute crops, so this is it: gradually, but undeniably, the plot is falling into winter hibernation. 

It took me ages to cotton on to what a difference it makes if you cover up your soil over winter. It’s one of those jobs which makes you think ’oh, forget it, I’d rather be picking beans’ so you don’t get around to it…. and don’t get around to it… and then come spring, you go to plant something in it in a tearing hurry and you’re faced with a ten-foot stretch of thuggish weeds and a rock-hard pan to break through and/or a soggy slump of semi-waterlogged potmaker’s clay where your soil once was. Sowing your seeds takes three days rather than three minutes, by which time you’re behind on the rest of your sowing…..

I did this every year for years, and wondered where I was going wrong. I tried green manures – those fast-growing crops, like phacelia, buckwheat and grazing rye, which hold onto the goodness in your soil, keep it working over winter and generally look after it. So far, so good, and I still use them regularly. But I’m a bit sceptical about the ‘manure’ bit. To be honest, I’ve never noticed crops are actually fed by green manures: the soil is in better nick after you’ve used them, but if it’s oomph you want, I get better results from the brown type.

So this year I’m trying a fall-back position. I’m starting with my onion beds, which next year will hold the new potatoes. Spuds like it rich, so green manures just won’t cut it: I’ve laid a big, thick mulch of well-rotted stable manure (you can use the un-rotted kind if you’re a masochist but the well-rotted stuff is not only less smelly, it’s easier to get hold of, too). Then I covered the whole thing with a layer of black plastic, bought off the roll at my local garden centre.

I’m keeping off the worst of the winter rain, so the soil doesn’t get waterlogged; weeds don’t get a look-in; and though I suspect there’s going to be a film of green algae on the soil when I uncover it again in spring, it shouldn’t be capped so it won’t be a problem to fork it over. And the soil is warmer, so you can work it sooner. 

If I were into old sayings, I’d be going on about penn’orths of tar and stitches in time right now. Fortunately I’m not, so all I’ll say is my allotment is currently disappearing under a sea of black polythene. It may not look pretty, but I’m looking forward to my best spring ever.