"Peter James" wrote in message
news:1jhg2rh.1izz5q71pse526N%pfjames2000@googlemai l.com...
The good news is that my allotment has been allocated to me. The bad
news is that it's in an old cow pasture with the old pasture still in
place. My back is cringing at the thought of all that digging.
Shame I can't afford a rotorvator.

Peter

what about starting out with some type of lazagna garden or a modified type.
Mulch over the pasture to create you garden beds and plant into what you
have. Do 1 year of gardening on those beds and move on to another patch. At
the end of 1 year the original gardens will have loose and crumbly soil
underneath and be fine to dig. Break the allotment in a garden at a time and
initially use a no dig approach.

rob