Never mind hiring a rotovator

[Mimi]

Finally had a decent day to start digging on the new allotment. The top does look a little stoney but, what the heck, lets get going with the shuvvel  I thinks.   Beloved there with the camera for the'ground breaking ceremony' Get boot behind shovel and give it a bita wellie. :-/  Nothing happens. I can't be that unfit after larding around since November.So I unearthed a bit of what can laughingly be called soil to find compacted gravel,asphelt, rock  and various other natural hard things.  I have gone all over the plot trying to get the shovel in somwhere to no avail.  So I thought lets try the fork  same problems.  So drove home to pick up the mattock.  After hacking away for the best part of 21/2 hours and having dug approx 6'x2'x10'' I have decided to forget about digging.  For the last 2 days I havent been able to hold a cup my hands are so tender.  So I have spoken to our lottie representative,who, is kindly going to check with the council if it is ok to bring in a 'man' with a digger.  Dont get me wrong I enjoy digging as much as the next gardener but there has to be a limit somewhere.

[Mrs Ava]

Oh my god mimi!  Has the plot ever been used?  I don't blame you getting some heavy machinery to give you a helping hand.  My garden is rock solid today, but not thankfully because of hardcore, it has been frozen solid all day!  And your poor hands!  Soak them in something nice, and then a nice glass of something yummy to ease the pain.

[Mimi]

No Emma, It is a totally new site as previous site s lease ran out. Council have made this site.  It used to belong to a builder(explains a lot) and he sold it to the council.  The council wouldnt give him planning permission to build on it, because of no vehicular access, so he couldnt do much with it. The council have apparently rotovated it.HA HA  maybe tickled the top inch but that is about it.The two end plots seem not too bad, but no one else has made a start as yet.  Hope they are not all as bad as mine. You can not believe how bad it is.  So until I hear from the council I cant do any more,except put up the shed which we have started to do this last weekend.

[Muddy_Boots]

Oh Mimi, how dreadful and what a disappointment, so very frustrating.   Hope they agree to the man with a digger as surely they can't expect peeps to be able to use site if they can't dig it!

Good luck

[Mimi]

Just heard from the lottie head honcho who went to see the council chappies today and YIPEE we can have a little man with a digger.  Only thing is now 2 other lottie holders want his services as well.  Cant blame them if their site is as bad as mine.  So just got to sort it out then we can get going.

[Doris_Pinks]

Poor you Mimi......... the back of my site is the same, have decided to go the raised bed route!! DP  

[Mimi]

We have too Doris, but dont you need to break up the soil in the base of the  bed? :-/

[Doris_Pinks]

Depends how tall your sides are! I have been roughly digging over the base with my hoe, throwing in manure, then topping up with clay mixed with sharp grit and compost! If you can get decent topsoil that would be they way to go!! Good luck    DP