Hello all

I was due to get an allotment this month but they have closed until the
second half of January. If I get it then, the allotment will have been
overgrown and it will require 'digging' (I guess). Will the digging process
be too late? How long do you hav to let the ground 'settle'?

I have never grown anything before and am new to this.

Thanks

On 16 Dec 2002 19:16:51 GMT, Simon Diaz wrote:

Hello all

I was due to get an allotment this month but they have closed until the
second half of January. If I get it then, the allotment will have been
overgrown and it will require 'digging' (I guess). Will the digging process
be too late? How long do you hav to let the ground 'settle'?

I have never grown anything before and am new to this.


I think your biggest problem is more likely to be that the ground will
be so wet as to be almost impossible to work with.

You might be better off considering using mulches for the first year.
A mulch covers the ground, blocking light to the weeds - which then
die.
Black plastic is very effective, but old carpet ( not foam-backed )
from your local tip does just as good a job - and allows the soil to
breathe ( and it makes the veg patch look nice and cosy! ).

Lightly fork in some manure before you lay the mulch down.

If you then sow your crops in pots or 'propapacks' you can cut slits
in the mulch and plant through it when the time comes. I've found that
this is a very effective means of growing crops on unprepared soil -
though it does limit what you can grow ( onions are fiddly as hell
using this method! ).

Spuds do well under a mulch - even with an unprepared soil you'll
still get some sort of crop...probably best to stick to a small sowing
of 'earlies'.

If nothing else, laying a mulch 'suspends' the state of the plot -
i.e. it won't get any worse ( which it will in Spring...once the weeds
really start! ) and gives you time to focus on a small areas at a
time..say to get it ready for a salad crop.

Come the end of the season in Autumn you'll be able to lift the mulch
to expose an almost completely weed-free plot. It should then be easy
enough to dig over ready for the next season.

Regards,







--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

"Simon wrote in message
I was due to get an allotment this month but they have closed until the
second half of January. If I get it then, the allotment will have been
overgrown and it will require 'digging' (I guess). Will the digging
process
be too late? How long do you hav to let the ground 'settle'?

I have never grown anything before and am new to this.


Welcome to the allotment world Simon, it's hard work but fun, even exciting,
especially when you first start.

Not being a lover of the mulching system or carpet etc, bloody mess it
looks, I would simply go for the digging routine.
You don't say the area you are in or the type of soil you will have and both
those will make a significant difference to how you garden.

Your problem is one we are all suffering from at this time, that's too much
rain resulting in high water tables and sodden ground. If like us your
ground is clay it's impossible to dig now, and one foot on it and it
compacts and will be as hard as a brick when it dries out.

The digging process won't be too late even if it's delayed 'till
February/March. You will still be able to plant most crops, even some Broad
Beans and "Feltham First" peas. Too late for Garlic already.
Once dug and raked we find you can plant immediately and I often go over
with the rotovator and then rake before planting to put some air in our
soil.
One thing, you don't have to dig it all to start planting, do just enough
for each crop and you'll have it all dug by the end of the season.

--
Bob

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

"Victoria wrote in message

Not being a lover of the mulching system or carpet etc, bloody mess it
looks,

Doesn't have to.

I mulch with cardboard or newspaper, then stick a layer of compost over
the
top. Paper/card breaks down and joins the soil, and you can plant
straight
into the compost. Does need more weeding (but no more than if you dig).

Couldn't use that or carpet etc., if you intend to garden organically.
Papers and cardboard can contain bleach and printing ink which has some
nasty chemicals. Goodness knows what's on old carpet, flea killing
chemicals etc ?, if it's very very old could even be DDT! :-(

I have a neighbour on the allotments that loves carpet, a strong wind and I
have to retrieve bits from our plots, off our plants. The local wildlife
seems to love grubbing it up, tearing bits off and chucking it about,
presumably looking for what's underneath .....slugs,snails, frogs,
mice....and it then gets caught in the mower when I'm mowing the grass on
the entrance/carpark, mumble,mumble.....

I've never seen the need myself but if it works for you, great. :-)

The only "mulch" we use is on the strawberries which we grow on a hump
covered with strong woven plastic landscape fabric, anything less and the
foxes tear it to bits. (cheap thin stuff from a GC didn't last 24hrs!)
--
Bob

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

On Thu, 19 Dec 2002 17:15:46 -0000, "Sue & Bob Hobden"
wrote:

Couldn't use that or carpet etc., if you intend to garden organically.
Papers and cardboard can contain bleach and printing ink which has some
nasty chemicals. Goodness knows what's on old carpet, flea killing
chemicals etc ?, if it's very very old could even be DDT! :-(

Judging by the wildlife that thrives beneath the carpets that lay on
my plot, I'd say that any noxious chemicals have long since dispersed.
I also now have a rather large colony of slow-worms which take up
residence beneath the carpets in the summer, not to mention some
sizeable beetles.
As regards inks etc... well, the cardboard tends to be a one-off mulch
- but your garden compost will often be continually topped up with
kitchen vegetable waste... much of which will have been treated with
pesticides and herbicides if bought from non-organic sources.
On balance it's hardly likely to be an issue.

I have a neighbour on the allotments that loves carpet, a strong wind and I
have to retrieve bits from our plots, off our plants. The local wildlife
seems to love grubbing it up, tearing bits off and chucking it about,
presumably looking for what's underneath .....slugs,snails, frogs,
mice....and it then gets caught in the mower when I'm mowing the grass on
the entrance/carpark, mumble,mumble.....

That's never been my experience - quite the contrary in
fact....lifting a carpet at the end of the season if often a two-man
job. Such is the condition of the carpet that it is turned over and
used again the following season.
Mind you, I do tend to go for Wilton type heavy weaves.
Even after a strong wind the most I've ever had to do is turn down a
corner or two.
Perhaps your neighbour is using small sections of carpet?


Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

"Sue & Bob Hobden" wrote in
:

I mulch with cardboard or newspaper, then stick a layer of compost over
the
top. Paper/card breaks down and joins the soil, and you can plant
straight
into the compost. Does need more weeding (but no more than if you dig).

Couldn't use that or carpet etc., if you intend to garden organically.
Papers and cardboard can contain bleach and printing ink which has some
nasty chemicals.

Hah, you think that bothers me? I live on top of an old arsenic mine!

Though in fact having rabbits is the main motivating force - I have an
everlasting supply of damp newspaper that needs to be recycled somehow.
Burying it on the beds works well for me.

Victoria

"Victoria wrote in message .de:
Couldn't use that or carpet etc., if you intend to garden organically.
Papers and cardboard can contain bleach and printing ink which has some
nasty chemicals.

Hah, you think that bothers me? I live on top of an old arsenic mine!

Hope you don't grow Lettuce then!

--
Bob

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