Starting to panic!

[*Lavender*]

Tomorrow is Feb and now I'm starting to panic as the allotment is nowhere near ready!

We got it last autumn and it was in an overgrown state. My oh worked hard to remove all the rubble, rotten carpets, strimmed the weeds etc, but half the plot was fenced off due to repair work on old mine shafts, then with the ground been covered in snow for the past month we haven't been able to do much.

Now I'm panicking as the beds aren't even dug yet! Is it do-able in a month? Shouldn't the beds have been manured in the winter? And will it be worth me bothering with brassicas this year seeing as the bed won't be properly prepared for them (I read that they should be manured then left to lie after digging for a few months so the brassicas aren't planted into loose soil)?!

I think I need a cup of tea to calm me down!

[Glutton4...]

Steady lass - take it one step at a time.

Dig an area and cover it, so it's ready to plant when you are. Ground can be firmed by stamping on it, so your Brassicas shouldn't suffer. If at first you don't succeed, there's always next year!

[Flummery]

Don't worry about manure. It's a grand thing if you can get it, but if your plot hasn't been grown on for a year, then lying fallow will have done it some good. When you can get onto the soil (claggy wet soil won't take kindly to treading on) clear and plant up as you go. Don't for get that many plants can't go in until after the frosts - climbing beans, dwarf french beans, courgettes to name a few. So you've got MUCH more than a month. You can sow some cabbage seeds in pots in March and plant them out later on. Give yourself a bit more time. Best of luck, and Don't Panic!

[piskieinboots]

Starting to panic!

'Don't panic Cap't Mainwaring!'

[marathon]

Don't panic! You've got plenty of time- why only a month if your starting things in pots then they won't be going in March.

Most people on our site made the first visit of the year yesturday. I normally go up everyday in the spring summer and over the cooler months every three days but even I gave in during the cold snowy weather.

You've plenty of time to get beds dug. As Glutton4 and Flummery have said it's too early to sew/or plant veg yet. You can sew seeds and leave on windowsil etc get a mini greenhouse and keep seeds in there.

[Alison]

I got my plot about a year before you. We didn't have much time to do much more than cut it back and cover in the autumn and this time last year it was still covered in old tarps and cardboard. I managed to do a bit during February but didn't really start proper diggiing until the start of March. Took a week off work and spent it digging the first few beds (worked out which ones I needed first) and then carried on doing more of them as the first ones were filled. Basically if you have a good plan then you can work out what you need to plant and when. For example, I knew I didn't need the bean bed until the end of May but I did want to plant peas out in April. This give you a priority order and a sense that you're following a sensible plan. I've now got 12 permanent beds sorted plus an area for fruit. As soon as it warms up enough this year I'll be digging some more beds and hopefully I'll have it all pretty much in operation by this time next year. Anyway, stop panicking, it doesn't help and you're fine

[geoff]

It is tempting to try clear the whole plot at once and have a new sheet to start on as it were , but that's letting yourself in for some seriously hard work.
It's probably taken months to get into a bad state, so to try to clear it in a couple of weeks is not really on
Just clear parts as you need to; it's only really spuds and onions that need to be planted early. But do plant some spuds; they are easy and robust and produce some impressive vegetation so even if the spuds themjselves are below ground it looks as though you're doing something
Some supermarket potatoes are treated so they will not grow, so getproper seed potatoes. But try some eating potatoes as well, just to compare. Any old or dried ones off your veg rack will do

[Lazgaot]

Depending on your weeds and any couch grass, you may want to consider renting a rotovator/cultivator/tiller to get the digging done quickly. You've got to know what weeds you have though as chopping up bind weed, mares tail etc is not a good idea.

[binley100]

Do not panic .We got our plot at the beginning of March last year and did manage to grow a fair bit of stuff. As Alison said work out what needs to go in first and sort those ones out . We pulled as much weed out as possible and then kept weeding and weeding while stuff was growing.

[*Lavender*]

Thanks everyone! I don't know why I got into such a panic thinking *everything* had to be ready for March! I think I was worrying about getting parsnips in and forgot that everything else doesn't need the beds right away!

So, I need to prepare for the parsnips & onion sets, and then the potatoes in April. At least I already have them, chitting away nicely! Everything else can wait for now!

( I'd been watching the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy before I posted this - I should have known "DON'T PANIC!" !!! )

[gilwrig]

Calm down dear

I agree - I tried to rush my lottie last year. I rotorvated it which just made the horsetail divide and conquer.

I wish I had spent more time planning it on paper and not just got excited and stucjk stuff everywhere. Not sure whether I can name it but Joy Larkcom's growing veg book has some great plans in it for feeding the family - it's all done it 1m squares so you don't get bored of eating one thing.

[chriscross1966]

Definitely don't panic yet..... A list of things that don't need to go in until May or June is enormous (sweetcorn, courgettes, peppers, chillis, tomatoes, squashes, pumpkins)...

THere are some things that don't seem to mind the weeds and will swamp them out (potatoes especially, but if you mow off the weeds and get some pumpkins in there)....

So really you're talking about root veg, onions and brassicas areas..... by the end of March.....

chrisc