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# ​Plot Update: Speculative Cauliflowers & Dodging the Committee
- URL: https://after-hours-allotment.ghost.io/march-allotment-update-uk/
- Published: 2026-03-10T07:27:41.000Z
- Updated: 2026-03-10T07:27:41.000Z
- Description: March on the plot is 50% optimism and 50% mud. Between dodging the committee’s 'prowl' and unearthing a single 'volunteer' potato that’s pushed my harvest over the 1kg mark, it’s been a busy weekend. Here’s a look at brassica cages, saved seeds, and surviving the 9-5 gardening life.
- Author: Sam Bailey
- Tags: Allotment Life

​It’s early March, which means the allotment is currently running on 50% blind optimism and 50% mud.

​If you read the glossy gardening magazines, you’d think this is the time of year to be lightly hoeing a perfectly dry seedbed. Back in the real world, I spent most of this weekend trying not to slip into a puddle while side-eyeing the grass. Here is what actually happened down on the After-Hours plot this week.

### ​1\. Building a Brassica Cage

​Historically, my plot has functioned as a high-end buffet for local wood pigeons and cabbage white butterflies. Not this year.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e7/cc/e7cc17a5-f252-40bb-acf5-644a57939618/content/images/2026/03/20260308_112126.jpg)

​My biggest win of the weekend was finally getting a proper brassica cage built, along with the netting for the peas. For the first time ever, I am actually set up for my plants to ​[survive before they go into the ground](https://after-hours-allotment.ghost.io/low-maintenance-allotment-crops-uk/). To celebrate, I’ve planted out two highly speculative cauliflowers. Will it be too cold for them? Maybe. But they are currently the safest cauliflowers in the county.

### ​2\. Committee Fear

​The plot desperately needs a mow. The problem? It’s far too wet. If I take the mower over that grass right now, I’m just going to create a mudslide.

​Of course, early spring is exactly when the Allotment Committee starts doing their prowling to see who has abandoned their plot over the winter. To keep them off my back while I wait for the ground to dry, I spent an hour doing a highly visible "scrap clearance." Hauling old wood, broken plastic, and mystery junk off the plot was incredibly cathartic—and hopefully, it proves to the committee that I do still exist.

### ​3\. The "Volunteer" Potato

​While clearing up, I unearthed a completely random, surprisingly good-sized potato left over from last year.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e7/cc/e7cc17a5-f252-40bb-acf5-644a57939618/content/images/2026/03/20260308_103557.jpg)

​I weighed it when I got home. With this unexpected bounty, my total harvest for the year has officially crossed the 1-kilo mark. Just the 99kg to go to hit my target. Small victories, right?

### ​4\. Saving Beetroot Seed

​This week’s sowing consisted of a batch of beetroot. But I didn't buy these—they are seeds I saved myself from last year’s crop.

​There is a weird myth that saving seed is only for master botanists. It isn't. Some seeds (like peas, beans, and tomatoes) are incredibly easy to save. I have no idea exactly what these beetroots will turn out like—probably red, hopefully decent—but that’s half the fun. Don't be afraid to let a plant go to seed at the end of the year and scrape a few into an envelope. It saves you money and you get plants that are genetically adapted to your specific, muddy patch of earth.

​*(Note: If you want seeds that have already passed the survival test on my plot, you can always check out* [*Pippin Seed Co*](https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PippinSeedCo?ref=after-hours-allotment.ghost.io)*).*

​**What did you manage to get done this weekend? Let me know in the comments, or just tell me I’m not the only one hiding from the committee.**