Published: 6 March 2026 - Watch on YouTube
Welcome back to My Windy Garden. In this sunny afternoon allotment vlog from West Sussex, I am making the most of a rare dry window to plant more than 100 onion plugs into my raised beds, check on the garlic, and share an update on the faulty compost complaint.
After a week of mixed spring weather with alternating sunshine, rain, wind, and cold, I finally had a short window to get back to the allotment. The main goal for the day was to bring my onions from home and get them planted into the prepared raised beds.
The garlic is still alive, even if it does not look particularly strong. At this stage, I am choosing to focus on the fact that it has survived everything it has been through so far.
One of the beds with the better compost and John Innes mix looked ideal for sowing carrots and parsnips because the soil structure was loose and crumbly. I considered doing it that day, but decided the onions were the priority.
I also reflected on how much pressure there can be online to sow seeds very early in the season. For my own garden, I prefer a more practical approach and usually wait until conditions make sense rather than rushing and then struggling with weak seedlings.
Even with a membrane and woodchip path in place, the allotment remained extremely wet and boggy. The paths between the beds were so soft and waterlogged that they no longer held their shape properly.
I started to regret using membrane under those smaller paths and felt that cardboard might have worked better as a base. Still, the path has at least made it possible to move around the plot and keep working.
Before planting, I checked the raspberry canes I had moved earlier. Both the younger canes and the older ones showed new shoots, which was reassuring after all the bad weather.
The late planted daffodils were also starting to come through. Even in heavy clay soil, the raspberries appeared to be settling in, which was encouraging to see.
I brought several trays of onion plugs from home and used four raised beds to plant them all out. The roots on many of the onions looked healthy and ready to go, although some plugs were wetter and more fragile than others.
I paid close attention to spacing so I would not repeat the mistake of planting too closely, as I had done earlier with the garlic. In the end, I managed to fit nearly all the onions into the beds, with only a few left over to take home.
I also shared the full update on the faulty compost complaint. After a frustrating process involving repeated explanations, photos, and several conversations with customer service and the store, the provider finally agreed to give me a full refund.
The process was not straightforward at all, but I was glad that in the end they did the right thing. Considering the amount spent on the compost, getting that refund mattered.
Although it often looks quiet in the videos, there are other people working on nearby plots. Many are simply waiting for better weather before taking on the physical challenge of building up plots on this heavy clay site.
Looking ahead, I want to improve the plot paths with more woodchip and possibly switch from membrane to cardboard underneath. I also plan to sow carrots and parsnips next time, once I have something ready to cover the bed and protect the seeds.
Thank you so much for watching this sunny allotment update. I hope you enjoyed coming along as I planted the onions and shared the latest progress on the plot. Let me know what is growing in your allotment right now, and I will see you in the next video. Bye.
Tags: #AllotmentLife #Allotment #GardeningUK #GrowingOnions #MyWindyGarden