Day two on my allotment... and not a good one lol

[mr tiler]

hi guys, went down to the allotment late afternoon and got started again.. whilst I was putting down my potatoes someone came along and told me I hadn't gotten enough weeds out of the soil so started to take out the grass and more weed roots... really struggled and basically didn't really get anywhere with it. then someone told me because I strimmed it all down I am going to have a nightmare getting all the weeds out etc??? what do you think? does this soild look good enough to start planting?



also I had a little dig around the plot to see what I could find and while digging I came across this plant now to me it looks like a pea plant if that's what they are called lol... but unfortunately they already came out of the ground so I have put them into some of the fresh soil I dug over what do you think they are and will they survive?



and lastly I am generally just a bit down because I ended up standing around looking at my plot in the end I just came home because I felt I had no idea what I was doing lol... on the plus side my lettuce seedlings are coming through that will be nice on a cheese sandwich when its grown lol... any advice on what to do tmoz evening after work would be very greatly appreciated sorry for the long winded post but I need some advice lol cheers guys

[Bal]

Hi Mr Tiler don't give up, I asked questions about 10 times an hour when I first started on this forum. Some one with more experience will come along soon.

[Greenleaves]

Chin up Mr Tyler....there are always those that know best...well in their mind anyway. I was in the same boat and took the same approach as you are doing, remember what it look like when you started yesterday. The roots are the important bit to remove and trust me you will never get it all first time.....

I am sure they were trying to help you and yes it can sometimes be disheartening but dont look to bad to me. I dont really think there is a wrong way just better ways. And remember its what works for you

[21up]

You have done a good job there get planting its as good as some and a lot better than most near me
font be put off you will get a lot more weeds before you have finished.
You will learn and if people cannot say good things to help let them keep away.
i personaly think it looks ok for planting where its been dug.
Just turn it over hit it with fork to break it down and weeds will come out easy with your gloved hand.
cheers Peter

[Hazel at the Hill]

Oh deal, Mr Tiler - I know that your fellow plotters were trying to help, but they've ended up being a bit discouraging, haven't they!

Now then - let's buck you up! The first pic you show is good enough for planting spuds, I would say - hardly 'fine tilth', but good enough for spuds. Can I suggest that you put a string line across where you plant each row of spuds, and leave a good distance between rows (2 to 3') so that when the weeds come up again (which they will) you can easily get between where you've got the xpuds in with a hoe, without the danger of disturbing your emerging spuds.

The second pic shows lots of lovely grassy weeds, and what looks suspiciously to my inexpert eye as goosegrass or 'sticky willy' - it grows like topsy and sticks everywhere (uh - yep) but can be yanked out easily enough.

Going forward, your patch WILL be hard work and this time of year as everything (weeds!) are growing like mad - for every row/patch/sq m you dig and get all the weeds out of, you will either have to plant up straight away, or the weeds will just come back. I'd get yourself a couple of pumpkin plants from the garden centre and get them in and they will cover loads of ground and keep the weeds at bay. Even better, get cardboard to cover the plot and plant the pumpkins through and the cardboard will smother the weeds and rot down too.

Use this 'half season' to see suss the plot layout - where it might be convenient for a shed, where the water is, and you can plan beds for permanent/fruit crops, then beds and paths for the rest.

Apologies if you've covered this stuff in another post.

Above all, don't feel disheartened - bit at a time is the way to conquer.

[Hazel at the Hill]

PS - why is everyone else so much quicker at typing than I am?!

[greenishfing]

Actually the ground around your potato trench looks awful yes, but, my first year on the plot I just bunged potatoes in holes in the ground among thick weeds and then weeded around them, I earthed them up a few times after the tops appeared and every time I moved the soil around more weed roots came out. I got a half decent crop and by the time I dug them up I had very few weeds left.

Ideally you would get rid of the weeds first but we don't live in an ideal world.

[mr tiler]

thanks guys... what do you think about picks 2 and three? look like pea pods to you? certainly looks that way to me lol.

another thing that got me down too was the one ripe strawberry that was growing on my plot had been half eaten!

but onwards and upwards I suppose... will get thos spuds planted tmoz cheers

[greenishfing]

They don't look like peas to me, sorry.

[21up]

PS - why is everyone else so much quicker at typing than I am?!

I WISH I COULD TYPE HALF AS FAST AS YOU
AND I WOULD WRITE MORE ,
TO DO WHAT YOU DID WOULD TAKE ME AN HOUR
CHEERS PETER LEEDS PS sorry left the caps on

[Bigmallly]

I'm sure all the advice from other plot holders although helpful may be a bit daunting. Get your spuds in, concentrate on a small area at a time & you will get there, it's a busy time of year for growing weeds so just do your best to keep on top of them. Next year will be a lot easier as you will have time to prepare the soil as you want it.

[Raybon]

Hi Mr Tiler.
We're all still learning. Advice I got was to put cardboard down, wet it thoroughly, and plant through the holes, the weeds should die/ weaken. I might turn over the soil a bit first, not worrying too much about the roots....and you've done a bit of that already! Cardboard and plant through!
Potatoes and courgettes would be a good start.
Usually fellow allotmenteers are only too happy to give you a few 'spares' - got to know anyone yet?
While you are waiting to dig over the rest, put down as much magic cardboard as you can to soften the soil and kill off weeds and grass, before they make seed- heads if possible.
You will feel much better once you have cleared and planted a little space, you are being too hard on yourself to be looking at the whole thing at once.
Give yourself a pat on the back for what you've achieved already, tomorrow is another day!

[Martin H]

Hi Mr T,

You've made a great start. If you're sowing small seeds direct in the ground you'd probably need to get the soil a bit "cleaner", but for planting from plugs or as others have said, potatoes in the ground, you've made enough space to get them started off. However many roots you get out there will be weed seeds already in the ground waiting to take off, so you'll be fighting them the first season or two whatever you do. Dont get discouraged!

The pea-like plant looks like vetch to me, a common enough (and pretty enough) weed that won't be a problem. It's related to the garden pea which is why it has seed pods that look a bit like pea pods. Just stick it on the compost heap. Vicia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[mr tiler]

ahhh that's great il chuck them on the pile tmoz... starting to wonder if all this green will actually fit in my compost bin... when I finally get through to it! lol cheers people feel a lot better about it all now... will update tmoz may even go there before I go to work lol cheers

[Martin H]

ahhh that's great il chuck them on the pile tmoz... starting to wonder if all this green will actually fit in my compost bin... when I finally get through to it!

Mine started overflowing months ago...

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...7-weedheap.jpg