I saw my new lottie this morning. Its a very old allotment site that has benn pasture for probably a couple of decades, its now to be allotments again. The allotment assoc have put glycophosphate on the whole area, which is now a mass of brown dead stuff ( so much for organic) and are about to plough it - not rotovate it - then I will have access. So, its totally vigin ground - no paths, no nothing. I will be able to get a load of manure dumped on i t - what now. Have made a plan - do I need to double dig the beds? Should I mulch most of ittill spring with plastic or manure? use a green manure to breakup the soil (heavy clay..)? wot would you do?
thanks, emma
If they are going to plough it I would break up a small strip so you could start planting straight away. Leave the rest uncovered as it has already been weedkilled. If it is ploughed right, the winter frosts should do a good job in breaking it up and if it is cold enough will part sterilise it and kill a lot of the tender roots that are still in there.
Ploughing does the same job as digging so save your energy and just break the top up into a fine tilth for your first strip. You can enrich your soil but if it is virgin ground it will not need much.
Put your manure in the furrows and as the lumps break up with the frost it will be where it is needed the most.
we're raised bed fans, put a path through the middle, work a bed at a time, decide on a plan,draw in on paper, the rotation, where fruit 'n' stuff's going, lovely thing to do over winter and get excited about the possibilities
Hello and welcome to allotmenting!
How lovely to have a 'blank canvas'! I am not experienced in these matters at all(!) only having my own half plot since Jan this year but when I got on there I did cover the top half of it with black weed fabric (I got some fairly cheap big rolls on e-bay). This was mainly because this end was so overgrown with weeds I couldn't bear to keep looking at it and I knew I wouldn't have time or energy to battle with it this year. Once it was covered I could forget about it and concentrate on the area I was actually using - this was much better for my sanity! Of course as someone said above you have already been sprayed so this might not be necessary until the Spring - see how big your plot looks when you get on there and what you think you will be able to manage in the first year.
Are you allowed a shed? If so I would get one. I had just a small B&Q one for my birthday - managed to salvage some patio slabs from a neighbour as a base. It has been invaluable to me as I only have a Mini and getting my tools to and from the plot each time was putting me off going! And it's a great place to shelter and sit and have a coffee whilst surveying your 'estate'!
I did start doing raised beds but couldn't find enough wood as was reluctant to buy it. Also my plot is very thing and narrow and I found I was wasting a lot of growing ground as pathways which weren't always necessary. It is of course up to you but I have found I actually quite like the digging element (especially on a cold day - very warming and great exercise!).
Have a great time planning and growing and don't forget to post some before and after photos! ;D
wow, lucky emma!
good advice above, here's my two pennorth:
Lay out paths first*, and cover/mulch those - then you can move around the plot in winter (search on 'paths' here for loads of different ideas)
If it's been ploughed, no need to dig imo but mulch with anything organic, or sow green manure, to keep the weeds away
Plant what you can NOW - good for morale! ;D
No need to edge your beds* - the first few years will be trial and error as you find out how wide they should be to reach comfortably
Take a look at the wiki here - more advice on starting out :)
*buy plenty of BRIGHTLY COLOURED string, it will be your friend lol
good luck, look forward to your posts - remember those 'before' photos! :D
congrats emmak.
I can only sit here being extremely jealous and maybe throw off an email to my association to see how far up the list I have crawled.
enjoy !
Great advice, and yes, I am planning a shed! Cannot wait...
Welcome aboard EMmak... you can't beat a good allotment or five..
;D