Too late for this year?

[PepperMonster]

You can sow them until about June where I live, but if you start now you'll have some ready to put straight out in a couple of weeks : D

[Chestnut]

You’re a few steps ahead of me- I hadn’t heard of no dig when I first started, so dug over my half plot...
I found starting things off in pots gave me a few extra weeks to get the ground weeded before planting out. I got some decent harvests.

I did cover some with card to exclude light for up to a year when I ‘extended’ my plot and the majority of weeds succumbed - definitely less labour intensive than digging them out from the whole plot!

[SarrissUK]

I'm doing no dig this year on my two plots, both of which I have had no more than since December last year. My biggest 'find' this year was a lady with a few horses that has a heap of very well rotted manure at the back - great for the beds I want this year. And fresh manure at the front, which is great for my heaps for next year, and if I get the chance to do a hot bed. She charges nothing, only asking for veg for the horses as and when they're ready

If you really can't get hold of any compost or well rotted horse manure, I'd cover the land with cardboard, then some kind of cover, until you're ready to either dig it, or cover it with manure/compost.

[PepperMonster]

I found planting potatoes through cardboard and weed fabric was a good way to clear the ground.
I pulled out as many weeds as I could, made small indentations for the spuds and covered them with a bit of compost and then made sure there was a hole over the top.
I had to weed grass out of the slits but not too much. Got a decent harvest but as I was using half black fabric and half cardboard boxes it did look very untidy until the spuds grew enough to hide it.

[mrmauy]

Thanks for the pointers everyone. The site "muck man" can apparently deliver 2 tonnes of what he called field manure (fresh manure with no bedding or straw) to the site and he says can be used directly without needing to rot down (not sure I believe that but I think potatoes, squash, courgettes etc. wouldn't mind).

Unfortunately the drop point is a good 500m away from my plot and I don't have a trailer (or a tow bar) so I may lose half the load before I could barrow it all up there - I don't think useful stuff in a public location is likely to last long on site!

[Snoop Puss]

Could you maybe share with someone who does have a trailer? That way, at least you'd be assured of a certain amount and less trouble moving it.