"Paul wrote in message
A neighbour and myself are about to acquire an
The allotment is somewhat overgrown and neglected and we are thinking of
hiring a cultivator for the weekend. ((snip))

We started ours with a cultivator and the ground was rock hard clay,
previously used as a car park (unknown to us!).
You will need to clear off all the weeds on top of the soil or at least
strim them down to ground level. Then go over the ground time and again
digging deeper each time. A lot of veg don't need much depth of soil, onions
for example, and cabbages etc like firm soil so don't worry too much. Then
as you crop each thing dig that small patch by hand so that after one season
your plot is all hand dug to one spit.
Then when you realise the crop is no different, don't bother again, just use
a rotovator. :-)

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existance.