Topic: Grrr change of plan......

[bupster]

What's happened is the digging has thrown up dormant weed seeds which are now germinating. If you've marked the row where you sowed your seeds it shouldn't be a problem - you'll see the difference as the seedlings grow. Once you recognise which are which, you can just hoe the weeds off.

Some people are sufficiently organised to do a stale seedbed, where they deliberately let all the weed seeds germinate then hoe them off to leave a clean bed. I personally am nowhere near that level of competence.  ;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

That's one reason why I mulch so much, it keeps them down! the quantity of seedlings does diminish with time, as long as you keep on top of the weeds, but they're a major pain. it soon becomes obvious which are the veg, as they'll be growing in a straight line and nothing else will.

Dandelions can be a right pain. they're not too bad where I am now as the water table is close to the surface and they don't need to go very deep. When we lived in Cornwall, we were just above an old clay pit, with the water table way down. Bot long after moving, we had a septic tank put in. The hole was 8 feet deep, and the dandelion roots were still going strong at the bottom, barely thinner than they were at the surface.

[caroline7758]

Feeling better now I've read this.Took my spuds down today and brought them back again because even after a couple of hours digging, I didn't have a patch ready (or the energy) to put them in! Also, I was still digging up old potatoes from 2 years ago so should probably change my mind about where to put them.Think we need a "cream crackered" smiley!

[posie]

Yep I'm with you on cream crackered smiley!  Well so far my spud bed isn't too bed and I've got 8 out of the 10 spuds that I planted coming through, so not a bad result.  Still can't find those darn carrots tho!