Hiya!
This will be our 3rd season as allotment holders. Our site is on a hill which had been overgrown for sometime and we have managed to produce some reasonable terraces for growing. Potatoes,broad and runner beans ,courgettes and radish were our best crop last year...peas were a disaster..carrots and parsnips were tasty but tiny. The soil quality varies as you go down the hill from quite thick and sticky to sandy. Any tips for this forthcoming season would be much appreciated!
Pol.
sounds like you had a great harvest, I think we all had our disasters in 06, we never got a single parsnip and, as for the swede, don't ask!!, it's brilliant that you've got all that different types of soil, we mostly have to adapt the soil to the crop, ligten for carrots, lime for cabbage, etc, as far as I an think, it's just rotation, and if a crop needs it, treat the soil with, sand, lime, compost, manure..anyone else? :)
Hello Pol
We took on a weed-infested plot on a hill last year, although when I say 'hill', it's more like a relaxing slope.
We had most success with large plants - courgettes, squashes, borlotti beans, dwarf french beans, chard and sweetcorn. The smaller plants such as carrots and salad leaves were a pain, because they needed constant weeding and fell victim to hundreds of pests and diseases.
Did you grow any tomatoes last year? I'm a huge fan of outdoor tomatoes. We grew ours in rather unfertile soil, but we plonked a bit of bagged compost by the roots and fed them enthusiastically with organic tomato food. This seemed to make them happy.
What toms do you grow? At least your plot won't flood if it's on a hill. My peas were a disaster as well, I assume due to the drought.
Hi Pol and welcome.
Your plot sounds just like mine except mine is sandy at the top and heavier at the bottom. The heavy soil is good for rhubarb and beans and anything that needs a lot of moisture and the sandy part should be good for carrots, at least that's what I'm hoping. I've only just finished digging at the top where the sandy soil is, so I'll let you know.
Hope you have a good year growing lots more things.
I'm with manic' on this one.
I would treat each bed as a seperate plot by adding what it needs most, in your case I think loads of manure/compost are required.
Have a look in here for some info' on soil types; http://tinyurl.com/yeg5lr
Then I would grow for example such things as potatoes/ brassicas in the 'sticky' areas and 'root crops' in the lighter areas.
In the fulness of time you should be able to get some consistancy in to your soil types.
I hope this helps
Thanks folks! some good advice there. Yes daninlondon we did grow toms,our tastiest year actually but we grow them at home in pots...some in a little greenhouse thing and the rest just at the front and back of the house. The covered ones obvoiusly bigger and quicker but the ones outside still did well and tasted good. We tried some cherry toms in hanging baskets this year but they were a bit of a disaster.
another question.. slugs in the compost bin..harmless or not to be trusted?
Thanks again and hello to you all!