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#1
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New Allotment
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 |
#2
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New Allotment
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 |
#3
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New Allotment
"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. |
#4
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New Allotment
"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. |
#5
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New Allotment
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 |
#6
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New Allotment
"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 |
#7
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New Allotment
"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. |
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