Well finally this weekend I have made it to the new allotment to start work. Saturday dawned a bit on the damp side but by lunchtime it had cleared and the sun was out.
I had arranged to meet Tony the site chairman to sort out the spraying and to move the tarpaulin from the top half of the plot to the bottom where it will stay until autumn.
We moved the tarp first, plenty of frogs and even a slow worm hiding under it so they should help out on the slug side of things. The growth under the tarp is pretty thin and etiolated though there is signs of bind weed.
I then decided to attack a strip about 2 meters wide at the top edge of the plot. This was not covered by the tarp and was covered in large docks and dandelions. Even if sprayed the roots of these would need digging out. Some of the roots of the docks were easily pushing 3 foot!
The soil is not bad to be honest, on the heavy side but plenty of depth before I hit pure clay. The site has a gentle slop from one end to the other so drainage should not be too much of a problem. As I started to dig out the weeds more bindweed root became obvious and this slowed progress. This first plot will be used for some late potatoes, arran victory, a wigwam of sweet peas and some onion sets. Everything except the spuds will be widely spaced to make hoeing easier this year. The plot was used until 2 years ago so should be in hand in two years from now I am hoping.
Digging will continue down the plot over the next couple of weekends. I have completed a 2 meter strip. 8 meters more until I reach the edge of the tarp. The overall plot is about 20 meters by 10 meters. The next section of digging should be quicker as no massive docks/dandelions. Also there is a section in the middle about 4 meters across that was used as a bonfire last autumn. I have cleared the scarp iron and pottery. This area is devoid of weeds and most of the ash has been carted away. This will dig very well. I am hoping that with the addition of some lime it will be ideal for some Brussels. The reason I say that is that there is club root on the allotment and the bonfire should have had the effect of sterilizing the soil. Apparently it burnt for 3 weeks!!!
So progress has been made, sadly none today as it has been throwing it down here in sussex, mind you the sun has just come out again!!
You can see some pictures of the plot here:
http://community.webshots.com/user/sandersj89Jerry