Diary of an allotment virgin

[andy_j]

Take over this half size allotment on October 1st. My pal has given it up as it was the other end of the site from his main lottie and he only used it to grow spuds on.

Therefore ive had access to it for most of August and Sept so ive been steadily spot spraying the perennial weeds with roundup as they appear.

it was finally cleared of the remaining potatoes this week so i started digging it over. The soil is light and loamy and probably slightly alkaline due to being at the foot of the south downs, although i didn't see a single stone in it let alone any chalk.

Im going to start to set out my Brassica cage too as the site is a haven for large white butterflies. The rest of the site will be dug and heavily manured (except the carrot and parsnip section) and left for the winter. Might just try a small row of garlic for the winter.

I'll replace the old corrugated iron shed with a nice one and might even get a greenhouse one day.

Anyway, i'll keep the blog going with photos

[Aberdeenplotter]

You're very lucky taking over such a clean, well fenced allotment. Doesn't happen for most of us. I'm not anti glyphosate based weedkillers but in such clean ground, forking out the perennial weeds might be a better option.

[WendyC]

Congratulations on the new plot. My in-laws live near you and your soil looks similar to theirs. They've given up on brassicas as the soil was so light they never did anything.

[Bill HH]

I cant imagine having no stones, i think my garden is the tail end of a glacier that dumped all its stones on my plot, i think in the middle ages it was used as a site where they stoned witches, then when the victorians built my house they used my garden to deposit all there waste material. It looks a lovely plot, good luck with it.

[Mikey]

Perhaps you need to learn how to do a bit of stone walling Bill.

[andy_j]

Congratulations on the new plot. My in-laws live near you and your soil looks similar to theirs. They've given up on brassicas as the soil was so light they never did anything.

Where are the inlaws Wendy ? The plot is at the top of Malling in Lewes on what's called "Earwig corner" as the road splits either to go to Ringmer or on the A26 to uckfirld.

[WendyC]

In-laws are further along towards Eastbourne, at the foot of the Downs. That's when they are not off holidaying!

[Two_Sheds]

in such clean ground, forking out the perennial weeds might be a better option.

Exactly what I was going to say.

Our worms need all the help we can give them: they don't like being glypho'd

[Two_Sheds]

My pal has given it up

Andy, have you acquired it by official means then, as in have you got a legit tenancy agreement? If not, you may get turfed off and all your hard work gone to waste

The rest of the site will be dug and ... left for the winter.

Don't tell Snadger

Seriously, bare soil will just attract weeds. The soil is full of weed seeds and if they're able to see daylight they will germinate, plus seeds get blown in on the wind all the time.

Lots of people think bare soil looks tidy, but Nature doesn't like tidy. If you can't fill the plot with overwintering crops (garlic, Jap onions, Chinese veg, hardy brassicas, leeks, broad beans) then get some green manures in.

A mulch (could be living, as in crops, or inert like cardboard or straw) will also protect the precious topsoil from erosion: winter gales & rains wash away nutrients and topsoil

[andy_j]

Thanks two sheds.

yep, all official and paid for.

As for bare soil, well i was hoping that the weeds will come back and germinate...that's the general idea of it. i can then hoe off the seedlings, fork out the perennials or spot spray if needed. Personally, i use lots of glyphosate at work and never had any problems with it affecting any wildlife. There was a lot of bindweed before i took it over officially and you know how bad that gets.

Just on a different note, i might be getting a second "half plot" which is a hell of a lot worse than this one....but i love a challenge and would use it for potatoes, strawberries and raspberries and maybe cut flower.

[andy_j]

Bit of an update, Just got the second half plot (pics to follow). Got 2 tons of cow poo for the first lottie coming sunday week as well as a new shed and hopefully a greenhouse.

2nd plot will be for spuds, carrots and parsnips, most soft fruit and cut flower

All looking rosy in the garden :-)

[andy_j]

So, from a lovely clean lottie, to this Lol









Bit of work there but a strimmer and a bit of roundup should sort this out !!!!! lol

[andy_j]

Gave the new lotty a strim, a spray and a bit of a tidy up and made a start digging. The weeds are showing signs of dying off and ive removed the carpet that was covering every bed.

One thing i found when digging was the noticable absence of any worms....not good.

Anyway, hope to get most of it dug this week weathger permitting then i'll be sowing lots of green manure on it.

[Martin H]

Well done, that's a decent start you've made.

The worms will soon find their way back and if there's stuff for them to eat they'll soon multiply.

Don't forget to keep us posted on progress!

[Two_Sheds]

One thing i found when digging was the noticable absence of any worms....not good.

That'll be the spray then

Effects of glyphosate and 2,4-D ... [Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI

http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/History/2009/Projects/J2316.pdf