Hello everyone...
We have just acquired our first allotment
It has certainly been used in the past to grow potatoes, onions and corn as we are finding these as we dig!
It looks like quite good soil, finding some clay, but not much, about 1ft down.
There is a lot of very long beige, thick straw like stuff on the plot, am I right to assume this is couch grass?
We have started by digging about 1/3 of the ground over (using a fork, not a spade) and removing a lot of the 'very long beige, thick straw like stuff' by hand. The next step is to build three 6ft sq beds this week, then sift the soil into them to remove any weeds we may have missed by hand.
We plan to grow both directly into the ground as well as into the raised beds (with the likelihood of building more beds in the future). What do you suggest we grow in the beds, and what out of? We know the rules around crop rotation year after year. Does this apply to all crops apart from permanent crops? Which crops are permanent?
Definitely hoping to grow the following:
White onions
Red onions
Spring onions
Potatoes
Carrots
Cabbage
Brocolli
Green beans
Tomatoes
Peppers
Chillies
Cauliflower
Garlic
Salad (of any and all kinds!)
Fruit (of any and all kinds!)
Which items should we grow in the same beds or should all items be separate?
Do we use manure on both the raised beds and directly on the ground?
Are we too late in the year to do certain things, use certain things/grow certain things?
Are we too late to use manure?
Is the Groworganic fertiliser which we have seen mentioned on these forums a substitution for manure?
When you buy manure, is it generally already rotted or will we be buying it 'fresh'? I appreciate this may vary from supplier to supplier but I just wanted an idea of how it 'usually' works.
I have attached a picture of the allotment when we first got it, then one after we had spent a couple of hours on it, we have since spent a couple more hours on it.
We're based in Hillingdon, London.
Thanks for any advice, happy allotmenting!!
Katie&Seb
We have just acquired our first allotment
It has certainly been used in the past to grow potatoes, onions and corn as we are finding these as we dig!
It looks like quite good soil, finding some clay, but not much, about 1ft down.
There is a lot of very long beige, thick straw like stuff on the plot, am I right to assume this is couch grass?
We have started by digging about 1/3 of the ground over (using a fork, not a spade) and removing a lot of the 'very long beige, thick straw like stuff' by hand. The next step is to build three 6ft sq beds this week, then sift the soil into them to remove any weeds we may have missed by hand.
We plan to grow both directly into the ground as well as into the raised beds (with the likelihood of building more beds in the future). What do you suggest we grow in the beds, and what out of? We know the rules around crop rotation year after year. Does this apply to all crops apart from permanent crops? Which crops are permanent?
Definitely hoping to grow the following:
White onions
Red onions
Spring onions
Potatoes
Carrots
Cabbage
Brocolli
Green beans
Tomatoes
Peppers
Chillies
Cauliflower
Garlic
Salad (of any and all kinds!)
Fruit (of any and all kinds!)
Which items should we grow in the same beds or should all items be separate?
Do we use manure on both the raised beds and directly on the ground?
Are we too late in the year to do certain things, use certain things/grow certain things?
Are we too late to use manure?
Is the Groworganic fertiliser which we have seen mentioned on these forums a substitution for manure?
When you buy manure, is it generally already rotted or will we be buying it 'fresh'? I appreciate this may vary from supplier to supplier but I just wanted an idea of how it 'usually' works.
I have attached a picture of the allotment when we first got it, then one after we had spent a couple of hours on it, we have since spent a couple more hours on it.
We're based in Hillingdon, London.
Thanks for any advice, happy allotmenting!!
Katie&Seb
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