A few Stoopid questions from 40 year old virgin!

[jumpinjackjones]

Well..... I'm actually 37!

Morning team...

I got my hands on an allotment yesterday so am sooooooo excited! My main problem being i know absolutley nothing whatsoever about gardening but have been glued to this computer doing lots of reading and am brimming with ideas,,, This site is ace and i am going to deluge it with daft questions from here on in- please be patient!

The plot is a 'half plot' (Although it seems massive to me!) and has been abandoned with stuff in it. The allotment boss man informed me that the abondoned stuff is leeks and sprouts, which i recognise... And there appears to be a fruit section, which to me, looks like little sticks poking through weeds, spread about around a quarter of the plot in a higgledy piggledy fashion. Apparently, these are raspberrys, weeds, blackcurrents, weeds, gooseberries and weeds. There also appears to be a load of little strawberry plants mixed with weeds carpetting a corner of the plot. there also appears to be a couple of raised beds with stuff in that may just be weeds, and there is generally weeds everywhere else. with weeds in between them. and weeds.

1) What do i do with the leeks and sprouts if they're no good? i assume if i throw them in the compost thing they will just rot? is that good or bad? (the compost thing is on my plot- not communal- and is pallets on their sides with no roof on)

2)When i dig, do i just turn everything over and break it up with my new shiny spade? I surely don't have to pick all the weeds out?

3)If them little stick things are fruit, can i dig them up and replant them in some sort of order?

4)i am planning to grow potatoes but it seems to early to plant them yet... do i need to buy some seed potatoes and have them 'chit' somwhere before i plant them?

Many more question will follow- but the first stage is just going to be digging, i fear.... i will also post some pictures to illustrate some of my questions...

ANY advice greatly appreciated..

Chris

[out in the cold]

Welcome to the forum Chris.

Being a relative newbie myself, I have found the site to be amazingly good at advice.

From what others have said in response to similar questions, the spuds seem to be a good idea as they regenerate nutrients in the soil.

Photos of the site and plants will help identification, and also let folks understand what you are dealing with

[out in the cold]

To answer the compost question, all organic matter is ok as long as it is not diseased

[rustylady]

the spuds seem to be a good idea as they regenerate nutrients in the soil.

Where on earth did you get that idea OITC?

[rustylady]

Welcome to the forum Chris.

Pictures of your plot would be good, then we can see better what you are up against.

I wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to dig up and move your fruit, until you know for sure what is where.

Leeks should still be good for harvesting to eat, same with the sprouts if they look good. If not, chop them up a bit and add to your compost heap.

Same treatment for the weeds, unless they are perennial thugs like dandelions and docks.

Yes, if you want to grow spuds then get yourself to the garden centre, Wilkinsons, or one of the cheapy shops and buy yourself some seed potatoes. If I were you I would go for first and second earlies.

[Linzy]

Hi chris
The leeks and sprouts might still be ok to eat, failing that the compost heap for them

When i dig anything with a long tap root(like a dandlion) i pull out and put in a bucket of water to make a liquid feed in. I turnt the rest over, so all weeds and grass will be at the bottom. They rot in. Then this season you can discover what weeds you hae and next year any perennials you have discovered you can make more of an effort to eradicate.

Yes, i replanted my raspberry canes and they are doing fine.

Some people chit (i do ) but others dont, buy seed potatoes now and plant in a couple of weeks but a spit (lenght of spade) deep it will be a little warmer then so not as much of a frost risk. Keep them earthed up and you shouldnt have too many frost issues.

Good luck, ive found everyone on here really helpfull

[zazen999]

Why are the leeks and sprouts no good? Can't you eat those?

You don't have to dig.

The weeds - there will be some called perennials with deep roots that need digging out. And some called annuals that can be hoed off and left on the soil.

What I would do at this point would be to start getting cardboard/newspaper up there.

Take the first square meter - Id the perennial weeds - docks, couch grass, dandelions etc - basically if it looks like it has a big root then dig it out. Once you have done a patch, lay the cardboard down and weigh down with any bricks/stones or clods of soil. Then do the next patch, then the next and you should get most of half a plot covered in a couple of weekends.

Leave the fruit area until you know what is where.

In a few weeks time, you can plant your potatoes - just use a bulb planter to cut through the [now soggy] cardboard, pop your seed potato in, chits up/belly button down, and plonk the soil from the bulb planter back in the hole.

For your other veg, get a cold frame, and sow into modules, so that when you come to plant out, you can use the bulb planter again, same process, make a hold, plant the seedling, use the soil to fill the hole and it will just carry on growing.

This will suffice for this year - and you can then work out what to do with the fruit, and make plans about your layout so that when winter comes you can get cracking with shifting anything that needs shifting.

Get hold of a dalek composter or just some wood and make a compost bin, and throw everything in there that is green that you dig up.

[weekendwellies]

Welcom to the Vine. Sounds to me like you have got a really good plot, although right now you may feel as though it isnt, trust me, mine was nothing more than a bit of waste ground when I got it. any reason why you cant eat the sprouts and leeks? if you cant then, yes, chuck em on the compost heap, thats what its there for. (Almost) any organic matter from your plot can go on it, to rot down and eventually get spread around on your plot to enrich the soil.
Digging is a good idea, but dont try to do it all at once.. you can dig a patch and then plant something, then dig another patch and plant something. You can also get some weed control fabric or similar or cardboard, and cover up half the plot so that the weeds can begin rotting down underneath due to lack of light. Then it will be easier for you to dig over when you get to it, in 6-12 months time.
Its a little late now for moving the fruit, November-Jan is better for that.
Have fun on your new plot, doing a little often is better than doing a lot all at once. So many people give up because they go at it full on, then get back ache and blisters etc and leave it for a few weeks, then go back to see that what they did has grown full of weeds again.

[out in the cold]

Local farmers RL. The kids from a couple of the local farms were discussing crop rotations during a biology please take. Spuds come first and carrots are last in the cycle due to the way they use different nutrients in the soil. Thebspuds deposit nitrogen back into the soil as part of their growth cycle.

Anyway, JJJ here is a wee video on no dig beds that you might find useful No dig garden construction - workshop - YouTube

[zazen999]

Local farmers RL. The kids from a couple of the local farms were discussing crop rotations during a biology please take. Spuds come first and carrots are last in the cycle due to the way they use different nutrients in the soil. Thebspuds deposit nitrogen back into the soil as part of their growth cycle.

Que? First I've heard of this...have you got a link?

[out in the cold]

No link zazen.

Just info from fairly reliable and smart kids doing avanced higher biology which is equivalent to first year uni stuff

The lad I was mainly talking to has an unconditional offer to study land management so I have no reason to doubt him.

He said it was whyvlots of gardeners started veg plots with spuds tobsort out the soil and sounded feasible as I had heard that before

[zazen999]

No link zazen.

Just info from fairly reliable and smart kids doing avanced higher biology which is equivalent to first year uni stuff

The lad I was mainly talking to has an unconditional offer to study land management so I have no reason to doubt him.

He said it was whyvlots of gardeners started veg plots with spuds tobsort out the soil and sounded feasible as I had heard that before

I work with a bunch of fairly reliable geeks/research soil experts who have spent 30/40 odd years investigating and testing exactly what plants do and don't do to soil - and I've never heard any of them, nor spotted any of them writing about potatoes adding nitrogen to soil.

Potatoes are put in first because people traditionally manured soil and they are so greedy.

I'm more than happy to be educated, but there needs to be some sort of link to some research, rather than just overhearing some people talking.

I'll ask them when I see them tomorrow whether this has ever been suggested...

Are you sure they weren't talking about peas?

[out in the cold]

Chances are my intelligent 6th year is the one that is wrong. Or possibly I have misunderstod him.

I am basing this on the fact that yourself and RL seemed surprised and you guys know a helluva lot more than me when speaking about gardening

[Newton]

Welcome J3. I bet your not a virgin either........good luck with the plot.....take it one square meter at a time. Cover with cardboard in the meantime.......

[Aberdeenplotter]

OITC, you have been sold a pup by your farmer contact. Spuds do not put nitrogen back into the soil. As Zaz indicates they require quite a lot of feeding. The main benefit from planting potatoes in a new plot is that it is probably the best crop to use as an aid to cleaning the soil of weeds. It isn't the spuds that do the trick, it is the constant movement of the soil. You dig the soil, you set up ridges and plant in between, you pull the soil back down over the spuds, you pull soil back up again several times as you earth up as the shaws/haums develop and finally you move the soil again as you harvest the spuds. Additionally because of the dense top growth, any weeds beneath the shaws/haulms are deprived of light and thus don't develop.

The soil is then dug over before the next crop.

Any fertiliser unused is available for the next crop.