New Allotment

[Sheneval]

Collected a couple of bales of straw from a local farm today thanks to an introduction from another of my chess playing friends who farmed in the vicinity before his retiral a couple of years ago. Since weather is pretty foul today I'll wait till tomorrow before taking them up to the allotment.

[Sheneval]

New Allotment

Had a good 4.5 hours at the allotment today and filled 4 bags with weeds and rubble taken fron the top path which was overgrown. Also dug up most of the side path but still have to dispose of the rubble/weeds.

Emptied the water butt in preparation for its removal tomorrow.

Laid out canes and string to separate paths and beds. see pics

[Two_Sheds]

still have to dispose of the rubble/weeds.

Aren't you composting your weeds? Whatever they are, they're full of valuable nutrients. They can be rotted down in blacks sacks for a year, then added to your compost heap.

[Sheneval]

Afraid not - I appreciate the point but I don't have the space - I already have 17 bags of leaves in bags and 2 full compost bins plus a large number of tubs used for this year's flowers. The weeds will all end up in the Council's recycling process so someone will get the benefit.

[Two_Sheds]

See, it's how different our methods are.

For me, space is GIVEN to composting, I don't see it as wasted space. Everything that comes out of the earth goes back to the earth, in a virtuous cycle.

Having said that, I am now composting less via the traditional "heap" method. It's proved to be quicker & more beneficial to the soil for me to roughly chop up the weeds and just drop them on the beds. The worms very soon dig them in for me.



This is a pic of an Olde Boye's garden near me. Every year he grows lots of plants, inc. veggies, then every autumn he strips away all the old foliage and bins it (to be tidy, I guess). His soil level has dropped by 4-6" all over his garden, because his plants remove humus from the soil and he never puts it back (in the form of mulch). His lawn appears to be floating high above the soil.

[veggiechicken]

Having said that, I am now composting less via the traditional "heap" method. It's proved to be quicker & more beneficial to the soil for me to roughly chop up the weeds and just drop them on the beds. The worms very soon dig them in for me.
.

And what TwoS calls ^^^ "composting", I, who have been doing this for years, think of as my inherent laziness!! Weed and drop - that's my "technique" Only seed heads and invasive roots get thrown away - sorry, but I don't turn them into weed tea
When I prune the raspberries, I snap up the dead canes and drop them underfoot. Over the years they've created little paths!!
However, I don't have an allotment nor a dedicated veggie plot, nor am I a very good gardener with lots of produce to show for my efforts. So, as usual, don't follow my example unless you want to bring yourself down to my level

[rustylady]

Emptied the water butt in preparation for its removal tomorrow.

Why are you removing the water butt?

[Sheneval]

New Allotment

My garden is fed with compost from the flower tubs every year and the soil is fine and black. The level of the soil is certainly lower than the lawn but this is done deliberately to provide a neat edge rather than because of loss of soil.

This year is my first try at an allotment, a half plot. To store bags of weeds for composting on the plot would reduce the space available for growing and would be contrary to the rules of the allotment - we are allowed 1 compost bin.

I have two full ones in my back garden and as stated have collected leaves and filled 17 black bags with same

However, I am prepared to try everything so today when cultivating the 2nd half of the plot my son in law dug a very deep large hole and all weeds, other than docks were placed in this and eventually covered with soil - see pic Some of my fellow allotmenteers favour this method, so I will see if it works but as their plots are well covered in weeds, whereas my grandkids plots which were hand cleared and disposed of to the dump have been and are completely weed free since June, I will reserve judgement till I see how the first half and second half of the allotment compare in the spring and summer.

[Sheneval]

Why are you removing the water butt?

A temporary measure to allow me remove the weed covered path, which is in the wrong place for my proposed layout - the butt sat astride this path. which will become a bed in future.

Got my first plantings in today - 3 blackcurrent bushes donated by my friend and fellow plothoulder who was tidying up his fruit area where bushes had been planted too close together - I will divide my rhubarb this week and this will go in the allotment also.

[veggiechicken]

You're turning this plot around so fast that this time next week you'll be making rhubarb crumble

[Sheneval]

And what TwoS calls ^^^ "composting", I, who have been doing this for years, think of as my inherent laziness!! Weed and drop - that's my "technique" Only seed heads and invasive roots get thrown away - sorry, but I don't turn them into weed tea
When I prune the raspberries, I snap up the dead canes and drop them underfoot. Over the years they've created little paths!!
However, I don't have an allotment nor a dedicated veggie plot, nor am I a very good gardener with lots of produce to show for my efforts. So, as usual, don't follow my example unless you want to bring yourself down to my level

VC You will certainly get away with doing this for annual weeds - I just hoe these and leave them on top of the soil but to do this with the perrenial weeds I have on the allotment will merely lead to a fresh supply of same and that applies to the shallow rooted ones the same as the deeper rooted ones, although obviously the latter can cause greater problems, although some of the former spread like wildfire.

However, I am a great believer in each to his own - what suits one person does not necessarily suit another and I have never been one to follow the herd I much prefer live and let live!

[Sheneval]

You're turning this plot around so fast that this time next week you'll be making rhubarb crumble

I wish for I love the stuff - as you can see I had a good bit of help today - see pics

[veggiechicken]

Yep, one man's meat is another man's poison - which is why I don't eat it - just in case

[veggiechicken]

I wish for I love the stuff - as you can see I had a good bit of help today - see pics

They look as if they're really enjoying themselves - especially the young un!
I can't believe you've had such a warm dry day - its been wet and cold here.

[Sheneval]

Quite often get good weather here when it is raining a few miles away - I had the two younger ones assisting today - they had a great time - see pics