Topic: Manure

[cdchater]

Hello all

Borrowed my neighbours strimmer at the weekend and cut down all those nasty weeds on my plot - a good way to relieve any stress!

I know the weeds will be back, but it looks so much neater (the plot has been overgrown for at least 4 years and so the other lottie holders were pleased too!). However, I don't know how best to prepare the soil for next spring? Should I rotavate it now, add some well rotted manure and cover with black plastic?? Or do I need to work the manure into the soil before covering with plastic??

Sorry if this is a silly question - I just don't want to get this bit wrong!! My crops need the best possible start - especially as I'm looking after them!

Claire

[allotment_chick]

Hi Claire - my advice is put that rotavator away girl!  :o
Firstly, get to know what is growing on your plot in terms of nasty perennial weeds.  If you have couch grass, bindweed, creeping thistle, creeping buttercup, bramble, marestail etc, etc, all a rotavator does for you is take gazillions of tiny, weenie cuttings that will probably all root!  Imagine trying to get that lot out!  The only thing for it is to dig it and remove each nasty as you find it!  Not convinced that rotavating is good for the soil structure, either.

Personally, I wouldn't advocate adding manure to the whole plot either.  Better at this stage, I think,  to get the manure into heaps as high as you can manage and watch them gently rot down over the winter.  This will give you some good material to put at the bottom of the bean trenches (or dug in before planting).  I think potatoes like manure too, but I don't bother growing them up the lottie cos the slugs and other rampaging beasties get to them first!
There are also certain crops don't need manure and grow badly when it is present (carrots, beetroot, etc).  

I'm a lover of covering the ground, though.  It protects the soil structure and, over time,  seems to make the digging process a bit easier, too.  Added to which you don't actually have to do anything and the plot still looks neat!   :D  Make sure that it is well weighted down though, otherwise somebody else on the site will be reaping the benefits when it blows on their plot!   ;)

[Ceri]

you need an awful lot of polythene or whatever to cover a plot - don't go to a garden centre or you will need a second mortgage, go to a big builders' merchant and ask for a roll of vizscreen (builders' talk for polythene) - you can buy it by the roll for about £30.  Its too early for me to remember how much you get in a roll but its a hell of a lot!  Travis Perkins is a pretty good national merchant - they'll be in yell.com somewhere

[tim]

just in case you do cultivate, I would say DON't do it while the ground is so dry -  even after last night's rain. You can only damage the structure and give yourself a bad back! - Tim

[cdchater]

Thanks for the advise everyone! I do have quite a few horrible weeds like bind weed, dock etc, so it looks like the rotavator is out. Ok, so here's my plan:

The plot is fairly large (25m by 10m) but I want to split it into 2 sections, about a 1/3 for a garden and 2/3 for my veggies. So, for the time being I'm going to keep the garden side of things as rough strimmed grass/weeds, a few inches max (as it is now). Then I'm going to mark out my veggie beds, and sort out what veggies are going where. Then, I'll dig over just the beds and spread some manure on top (but I won't add any to the beds where I plan to put carrots etc). Then, I'll cover just the beds with vizscreen and let the manure rot down in time for next spring. Meanwhile, I'll keep strimming the paths and garden area as and when they need it.

Does that sound like I'm on the right track? One final question - can I use black plastic bin bags for covering the beds instead of vizscreen or are these to thin and will puncture easily?

Regards,
Claire

[allotment_chick]

Hello Claire - I'd give the bin bags a miss - they are fragile as you've already surmised and blow away in the slightest puff!  Ceri's advice is really helpful (thanks C!) as I do like a bargain...  I find that the voles and mice shred the black plastic over the winter for their nests - so the cheaper the better!  

Once you start growing stuff in the veggie beds, perhaps you could move the black plastic on your garden bit for as long as you can.  In my expereince soil that has been covered is easier to dig.  Try using cardboard if the pennies are short - I get it from work (computer boxes) or the supermarket (the large shallow fruit trays).  Just make sure it is well weighted down as it too has a tendency to fly!  Once it has done its job it goes into the compost heap or on the bonfire.  Or do the skip raiding thing for old carpet.  Works well, but the synthetic ones are a bit of a bind to dispose of, I find....

[Ceri]

Travis Perkins (look in yell.com - branches nationwide) sell vizscreen for £27.00 + VAT per roll -  4m x 25m - I'm sure loads of places do it, but I use TP for work so know about them.

Hope this helps (and feel free to send me your VAT receipts!!)

[Colin_Bellamy-Wood]

Hi CD, can I come back to your subject "manure".   On our Lottie, the local Stables make regular drops of fresh horse manure, which we can either put into piles on our own plots, or it goes on to a spare plot or two, for anyone to use.   One of the things I have noticed is that there is frequently "clean" straw available i.e. no horse droppings in it.   I shall be putting some of this straw only into a separate pile shortly for use in the spring.  

Last year I planted early spuds, and the haulms were coming up in time for the frosts.   I covered them with fleece, but then found I was running out and needed an alternative quickly, so I used some straw.   When the frosts had gone, I realised that those haulms covered by straw faired better than those under the fleece.

You might find this a useful, and economic tip.   Colin.