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Hello one and all, I'm Barking by name and barking by nature ....
This year I've created a new allotment plot in the corner of what is a farmer's pasture field in Wiltshire. It's been under grass since time immemorial, and I didn't get confirmation I could have the land until the beginning of April. As you can imagine, it's been a bit of a struggle! I laid out an area 15m x 9m, weedkillered the grass and created beds / trenches by removing the turves with a mattock and digging only where I needed to. A lot of crops I'm growing through plastic mulch - potatoes, sweetcorn, courgettes, squashes, cabbages and broad beans - but I do have seed beds (mainly carrot, beetroot, radish, lettuce), and some open areas for onions, leeks and peas. Weed suppression has been pretty good, although I am troubled by bindweed and thistles which hadn't emerged when everything was sprayed.
As everybody knows, its been a difficult year. The soil is a clay loam and very moisture-retentive, but I've been pleasantly surprised how well root crops like carrots and parsnips penetrate, and mange tout and broad beans in particular have cropped really well. Onions, leeks and sweetcorn all look good although the weather has meant that few cucumbers / courgettes / squashes have set, but I'm hoping next week's forecast dry, warm weather might yet save the day. Peas have been a disaster (I'll get back fewer than I put in), and the maincrop spuds have already got blight (which is rampant in the village this year). At least being a new plot there are comparatively few pests and diseases, but using plastic obviously does magnify whatever slug problem you do have.
I'm fortunate that my wife is a former lecturer in horticulture, so I don't lack for technical advice (both welcome and unwelcome). It's my project, though, and I'm enjoying making my own mistakes!
This year I've created a new allotment plot in the corner of what is a farmer's pasture field in Wiltshire. It's been under grass since time immemorial, and I didn't get confirmation I could have the land until the beginning of April. As you can imagine, it's been a bit of a struggle! I laid out an area 15m x 9m, weedkillered the grass and created beds / trenches by removing the turves with a mattock and digging only where I needed to. A lot of crops I'm growing through plastic mulch - potatoes, sweetcorn, courgettes, squashes, cabbages and broad beans - but I do have seed beds (mainly carrot, beetroot, radish, lettuce), and some open areas for onions, leeks and peas. Weed suppression has been pretty good, although I am troubled by bindweed and thistles which hadn't emerged when everything was sprayed.
As everybody knows, its been a difficult year. The soil is a clay loam and very moisture-retentive, but I've been pleasantly surprised how well root crops like carrots and parsnips penetrate, and mange tout and broad beans in particular have cropped really well. Onions, leeks and sweetcorn all look good although the weather has meant that few cucumbers / courgettes / squashes have set, but I'm hoping next week's forecast dry, warm weather might yet save the day. Peas have been a disaster (I'll get back fewer than I put in), and the maincrop spuds have already got blight (which is rampant in the village this year). At least being a new plot there are comparatively few pests and diseases, but using plastic obviously does magnify whatever slug problem you do have.
I'm fortunate that my wife is a former lecturer in horticulture, so I don't lack for technical advice (both welcome and unwelcome). It's my project, though, and I'm enjoying making my own mistakes!
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