New to allotment

[SimonA]

Hello!

I got an allotment about 6 weeks ago after being on the waiting list for a year. I'm told it was the wrong time of year to start digging as this is best done in autumn.

The ground had been ploughed with a tractor and left in big clumps. These have set solid and are like concrete. I have managed to break up the ground in one area, which was really hard work. Even a heavy rotorvator didn't break the clods up.

3/4 of my plot is still big clods of earth. I want to grow sweetcorn and pumpkins/courgettes/squash on this area. My question is can I just dig holes and fill with compost for planting these in. That way I can grow something on the area without having to dig it all over this year.

I have put in some raised beds for my salads and am growing French Beans and Runner Beans in the area I managed to break up (they are still waiting to go in as it has been very windy recently).

[indigox]

I was in the same situation as you this time last year, I guess really I should have put all my energy into preparation but this seemed like a depressing prospect - I couldn't wait to start growing! I don't think it is ever really the wrong time of year to do a bit of digging,but obviously when the soil is rock solid through frost or being baked it is no fun.
I started by clearing and digging a small area and planting in it, then gradually did a bit at a time. This year it is a lot better as the whole allotment is now dug over into beds, the soil is still quite lumpy, but a vast improvement on last year. Spuds are quite good for breaking the soil up if you can get some in quick you might still be ok.
Pumpkins and squash should grow fine if you add in lots of compost/manure, or dig holes like you said. Good luck, it does get a lot easier if you work on it regularly, so keep at it!

[Mac]

Hi SimonA

I was in the same situation at the start of this year. Bought a house in December, large garden. Dug up a couple of "veg patches" in the grass area at the back really quickly and put carrots, tatties, onions and spring onion in. Lower bed which was done first (ie done properly!!) is doing well with tatties and onions. Upper bed which was done second (ie after novelty of digging had very much worn away and just wanted to get stuff in!!) I ended up totally digging over this weekend and adding lots of compost (soil was solid as a rock as it's got lots of clay). Have now resown the bed and crossed my fingers. Am also growing stuff in containers which is proving to be a bit more successful. As this is my first year I'll be totally delirious if I get any sort of crop of anything from the garden!!

[Two_Sheds]

I'm told it was the wrong time of year to start digging

Nonsense.
anyway, it's already been dug for you ... you just need to break up the clods a bit. Wait until you've had a spell of rain and it'll be easier.

Just work a small area at a time, and yes, planting into compost-holes is a good idea.

Working compost and manure into the soil every year will improve it no end too.

now get cracking!

[Two_Sheds]

am growing French Beans and Runner Beans in the area I managed to break up (they are still waiting to go in as it has been very windy recently).

Still a bit early, imo.
late May or June is better ... you'll gain nothing by putting them out too early in the cold (nights are still chilly).

[Fluorescent green]

Hi

If there is too much for you to tackle straight away, cover some with manure and leave to rot.

FG

[Paulottie]

Welcome to the Vine Simon.

Ideally you do dig in Autumn then the Winter weather breaks it down for you. No doubt you'll get into a rhythm with it all. For the time being do what you can as Two Sheds suggests....you have to start somewhere.

You are doing just the right thing pumpkins etc will grow very happily just as you intend and smother the weeds for you. perhaps you can get an area prepared for the maize...i should sow those in 3" pots this year. Good luck.

[Dynamo]

I got my allotment just a month ago, but it never stopped me digging it. I've already planted in about a third of it and am now waiting for stuff to sprout, apart from a few beans and peas and lettuce that I started off in the greenhouse which are now doing great outside. I have been lucky though that even though the plot hadn't been worked for at least a year, and probably a lot more, the soil is brilliant and breaks up and crumbles really easily.

[SimonA]

Thanks everyone. Great advice.

Is there a secret to breaking up heavy clay? It seems to stick to everything when it's wet and then dry like concrete. Once dry nothing seems capable of breaking it up.

I brought some composted stable manure to dig in in the hope of improving the soil. I could only afford enough to do a couple of beds.

[indigox]

Adding sand or grit will help a lot. It will gradually improve the more you work it if you are adding compost and manure.
You might want to get chatting to some other plot holders about how they have coped. Most will be friendly and happy to dispense advice!

[Dynamo]

The best way to deal with clay like soil is to work it when its drying out. Its much easier to break up then. If you have time, pick chunks up in your hands and break them up like that. When you do, get as much soil improver as you can lay your hands on, the cheaper the better, and mix it in.

[jenjen]

Just wanted to say, keep on at it! We got our allotment about this time last year and dug it completely (and put up a chicken wire fence etc.) and I'm really glad we did. Still got beans and sweetcorn and a few leeks from it last year and this year its looking much more productive (although the weeds are going nuts...) with potatoes, broad beans, more beans etc. Little by little is th ebest way to do it, honestly...

[NOG]

Add anything organic to it, Grass cuttings, leaves shredded paper. Dig it all in as much as you can get.

Keep it up for 10 years and you will have a reasonable plot.

The Victorian Gardeners aimed to add 1" per year to the topsoil by adding organic matter....but they had 40 men per garden.

[madmum23]

Hi SimonA

I got my plot 16m x 9m in early March this year. It had been abandoned for the past 6 months+ and besides lots of rubbish left on the site, it was covered in weeds (vine weed is everywhere). I just cleared the rubbish and then, starting at one end, have slowly weeded, improved and planted going across the site. I have also built some raised beds just to try and manage such a big plot (having been used to growing only tomatoes and runner beans in pots at home).

I have to agree with the rest, little and often, and slowly it starts to take shape. My soil is clay and is baked hard, I just whack the lumps of soil with my fork. It is a good workout and a stress reliever all in one!

Having cleared over half of the site, at the weekend the last strip that I cleared, I have covered with a weed prevention fabric, cut some holes in it, and planted some pumpkin plants through it adding manure to the hole before planting. And hey I popped to the allotment tonight to do some watering and they are still alive and so are the sweetcorn I planted a week ago. Keep at it and good luck!

[funstuie]

Get yourself a Mattock and go nuts on that hard soil