Picture posting is enabled for all :)
Amphib If you're aiming to be self-sufficient off your plot you'll need to plan for the hungry gap. It''s a good thing that today we have so many varieties to choose from which make that task easier :) Good luck with it. I only started mine last year and it was an horrendous mess. I'm now harvesting crops despite having not dug due to bad back but that's not been a problem other than I think my celeriac won't be a success. Oh well you win some ... :)
Apparently leaf mould is good incorporated into the soil where you're growing carrots :) When I first got my plot I made myself a leaf mould bin a la Titchmarsh, filled it with fallen leaves from home - two bays that is. It has now gone down to almost nothing. I've had it covered. I think it will soon be ready for use. That's in less than a year. I thought it would take longer. I think you can look forward to short term rewards. A quick catch crop will keep you happy :)
After one year it makes excellent soil conditioner - I put two bags on my beans. After two years it is one of the best seed composts available. Nice and crumbly and not too rich.
Hi amphibianI am another newbie lottie holder, had ours about 6 weeks. It is addictive isn't it?! Not sure what I did with my life before I got a garden / lottie/ found this site.Could you, or someone take a picture of couchgrass for me?! I have no idea what it looks like - the pictures in my gardening books of weeds are not too great really, even the ones I know I cannot identify from the pictures. Interesting to read that it does not respond to the faithful hoe as I had thought this was the key to successful weed management! Good luck with it, hope it makes you as happy as I am ;D
After reading that I have decided that from now on:'I will be mostly growing couch grass'
I have loads of it too then. Feel part of the gang now! The bindweed still out numbers the couch grass though on our lottie. Am in a false sense of security stage at the moment though as our lottie was rotivated last week, so it looks beautiful at the moment. I do know that this has made the weeds 100 times worse in the long run, but try not to think about it.