Sandy soil is very easy to dig and my allotment soil is so sandy I could almost sell it to builders.  But if you do winter digging in the approved manner it slumps into a solid mass by spring and will need forking over to remove compaction.  Instead I leave cultivating until late winter or early spring and do the whole lot in three afternoons using my little Honda rotovator.

The annual muck spreading has to happen first though. On our allotment site we have a vast communal heap of organic matter, mostly decayed leaves, prunings and lawn mowings that has festered for at least a year. It looks rough stuff but mixed into the soil it soon breaks down and it is free. The rain has eased off and a brisk wind had dried the soil surface making barrowing relatively light work.

So this weekend I swung into action with fork and wheelbarrow tipping a barrowful of rotted organic matter, from the communal allotment heap, every 1.5m.  Every 2m seems a bit scanty, a load every metre is more than the rotovator and my unreliable back can cope with.

Fortunately I had a 'manual handling' course at work in November. I now know to be careful to keep my back straight, avoid swivelling my spine and use a long handled fork to avoid using my back to lift, instead letting limbs do the work. Not only is my back still in good shape but also I feel very supple – just as well considering all that muck has yet to be spread out.

Later the hillocks will be spread with a mattock and landscape rake to make a 5cm thick layer. For now the plot is dotted with little mounds of dark (brown) matter that I think very satisfying to look at. The covering of organic matter also suppresses weeds. Annual meadow grass and chickweed have grown into thick mats in some places in the very mild winter weather experienced so far. By the time I rotovate they will be largely smothered and easy to bury. The local robin was also very happy indeed with the sudden feast of worms, woodlice and other tasty nibbles.

Around here the average annual rainfall is less than 700mm and organic matter is vital to hold moisture for the summer. In theory a dressing of organic matter should hold enough water to sustain plants for up to 20 days without rain.  When I first took on the plot in 1994 the soil turned to powder in summer, so I invested in a load of mushroom compost. Good crops became possible after that, even in dry summers.

Leeks and swedes did not do well in the very hot dry weather this summer. Moisture loving crops such as celery, celeriac, leeks and swedes are so difficult to grow in this dry district that I will try and give the patch designated for these a double dose of organic matter.

Some plot holders use really heroic quantities of organic matter. The difference really shows in dry weather but it is very hard work to incorporate the muck by digging and then adding more as mulch and it also promotes soft growth and many weeds in wet weather.  I think a dressing of organic matter every two or three years is enough. If the weather and my back hold up I will spread some more muck yet as winter crops are cleared.

It is around this time of year that you realise just how productive and filling winter veg are. When I sowed carrots and parsnips, planted cabbages and celeriac I overdid it a little – same as last year. They will all start to go downhill next month, so it is time for some luxury consumption turning bucketfuls of these veg into stock, soups and casseroles for freezing for the times of dearth in the veg garden that occur from April until June. Fortunately we have made good progress in eating our way through the frozen broad beans, raspberries and blackberries making space in the freezer.