On Fri, 03 May 2013 11:24:13 +0000, Baz wrote:

"David.WE.Roberts" wrote in
:

After being pressured by a couple of old timers on the allotment to
start frantically digging and planting last year when we took the
allotment on, we still have loads of perennial weeds, mainly docks,
grass and nettles.

This year I am going to do what I intended to do last year - that is
clean out all the weeds using Glyphosphate and wait long enough for the
seeds to start germinating again and zap them a second time.

Hopefully this will then give me the chance to dig over and plant
without constantly back tracking to attack the perennials which are
popping up again.

First spraying day today - that is first day with little enough wind
for it to be safe to spray, and also warm enough that everything is
growing actively.

If I treat again in a week or so when I can see the bits I missed in
the first pass, I could have the majority of the weeds knocked back by
the beginning of June.

At that point I could start digging over and raking out and waiting for
the next rush of germination.

So probably no chance of planting anything out until mid June.

So - what can I think about planting out then to crop before the end of
November or after the end of January?

Regrettably not potatoes - I am on a permanent low carbohydrate diet so
the main crop used for bringing land back in production is no good to
us.

Cheers

Dave R


First thing to say is that you will never get rid of perennial weeds.
Some seeds can be dormant for decades.

The things you can plant and crop before November are peas, broad beans,
runner bans, Borlotti beans, tomatoes, courgettes, cucumbers, cabbages,
brussels sprouts, sweetcorn, carrots, swede, turnip, radish, lettuce
etc.etc.

The world is your lobster.
Baz

Really just checking what was too late to plant mid way through the season.

Some things like tomatoes wouldn't really have enough time to get
producing before the blight comes in and wipes them out.

I think courgettes and cucumbers wouldn't get into production when planted
mid June, unless they were pretty big already.

My thoughts at the moment are cabbages, leeks and brussels for the spring.

Yes, short term crops like lettuce would be O.K. although they seem to
need an awful lot of watering to get established on our windy allotments
where the surface dries out very quickly.

Cheers

Dave R