Yippee! Up to my neck in sh*t!

[geoff]

I've had my allotment plot for about three years now, and haven't been able to add as much compost as I would have liked. The previous tennant didn't do much either, so I am told. The soil is quite dusty in summer, and I still have a lot of weeds
The council delivers manure once a year, but that has to be shared between all the plots, about 20
So, I arranged for my very own delivery of manure, onto a corner of my plot. It came yesterday, a whole trailer load, that's about eight tons! And the pile is nearly as big as the shed!
My plan is only to plant about a quarter of the plot this year,at one end where the soil isn't too bad, with something simple like spuds and beans.
The rest I will mulch with newspaper and cardboard topped with the manure, and leave it till spring 2010.
I've cleared this with the council's allotment department, and they are going along with it, as they know the plot has a history of neglect (which is why it became vacant in the first place)
As the work will be spread over spring and early summer, I can do it a bit at a time without it becoming too tiring Well, that's the plan, anyway

[Tori]

The phrase 'happy as a pig in . . . .' springs to mind! Good luck and don't get buried in it!

[zazen999]

That's excellent.


Pop some easy squashes in as well - they will cover the ground and help stop weeds. A few winter squashes and/or pumpkins ought to do it!

[janto]

hi geoff
i think i would put the manure down first then cover with cardbaord i think it will be more secure for the worms to do their stuff. i use old lemonade bottles filled with water to weigh down the cardboard,

[Two_Sheds]

Cardboard first, to smother the weeds, then manure on top to hold it down. They'll both rot and be pulled into the ground by worms.

Good job!

[dexterdoglancashire]

Geoff that sounds a great idea. Don't do too much at once - as I did when I first got my lottie - I've ended up with a bad back and now have to take it easy even when I don't want to. Happy planting! Bernie aka DDL

[lynda66]

I'm so jealous, i'd love to have that much sh*t

[Yuccaman]

One of my colleagues at work has a small holding, and at the moment, every Monday she's bringing me two bags of horse manure and two of chicken. Whilst my allotment is loving it, Mrs Yucca is slightly less approving of the fragant scent of my own answer to my 'Magic Tree' for my car!

[lynda66]

i'd rather have the natural smell of horses and chickens ..... than the awful smell of 'magic trees'

[bubblewrap]

I'm always in the s**t it's just the depth that differs.

[Dobby]

I'm still looking for a Tea shirt that says I'd rather be shoverling ****
do you think I would be alowed to wear it for work

[SarzWix]

Nice to hear someone being happy about the sh*t in their life...

I covered about a quarter of a plot in cardboard topped with muck last year, same as yours, it hadn't had much added to it for a while except growmore (the plot-holder was 82!). Worked a treat - kept the weeds down, increased the worm population, and the soil looks good for planting spuds in this year. I hoped to have gotten another quarter covered by now, to plant pumpkins into come May, but that plan may have to change.

[geoff]

I did a small patch of the allotment with cardboard & newspaper topped with compost & manure soon after I got the plot. That's the end where the soil is reasonable. It seemed to do the job, hence my decision to do the rest like that

It's fairly hard and tedious work though, which is why I'll be doing it over a period of a few weeks. When my small planted area is harvested in the late summer I'll be mulching that in the same way, and it can all stay like that till spring 2010

I also have a couple of Dalek bins for veg trimmings etc.

So, by October, in the best traditions of British Industrial Managemrnt Techniques, everything will be covered in sh*t!

Thanks for all your favourable comments though

[colliebird]

Dog poo wormery

While we are on the subject of s**t, has anyone ever used one of these dog poo compost bins?

Dog Poo Wormery - The 'Worm Tower' Composter on eBay, also Composting, Hand Tools Equipment, Garden Plants, Home Garden (end time 02-Feb-09 20:37:28 GMT)

Having 6 dogs makes for a lot of double bagging and binning, and if this sort of dog poo wormery works and is ok, my life will be a lot simpler. Any comments?

Valerie

[snohare]

Lovely idea, hadn't heard of it though. Hate to poo-poo it....