Well after a hit and miss start I've just about cleared my plot (only a couple of brambles to dig out)! I had a chat with the site rep on Sunday and he gave me some info on the plot, it's not been used in about 3 or 4 years and did have an application of weed killer about 6 months ago.
He did say there is a ground disease that affects onions but every plot seems to have a safe spot I just need to find mine so I won't be holding my breath for a good crop for a few years.
He also mentioned that a guy a few plots down will rotavate for £30 which when I look at hiring a van to transport my Dad's as we don't have a tow hook or a trailer will save me some cash.
I'm back to tackle the brambles on Wednesday, hopefully my legs and back won't hurt so much by then! and after that I good sprinkling of weedkiller just to start me off and before the plot is rotavated.
I'm slug free (some snails) and the proud owner of 2 of the biggest toads I have ever seen and more red ant nests than you can shake a stick at but for the moment the agreement is that they don't bite us and I don't put powder down!
I was worried that I wasn't making a lot of progress but the site rep was really encouraging and I'm almost done so feeling a bit stiff and achy but like I have really achieved something :)
Now I need to decide what to plant first!
Good bit of work done there! I bet you're proud of yourself (you should be!)
£30 to rotovate your plot sounds like a good deal, especially if he's going to do it for you to save you the trouble. Just be aware that you'll still need to dig down if you're going to plant crops that like deep roots (spuds, brassicas etc) otherwise they'll fail if the ground is too hard to penetrate.
Congrats on your toads too!
Congratulations on clearing your plot, it will pay huge dividends when you come to crop next year if it has been cleared well and will be much easier for you to manage. I enjoyed looking at your blog as well by the way and will follow your progress. Depending on how Organic you want to grow you could grow your Onions in a raised bed, when you have made the bed you can water the soil in it with a Armillatox/Water mix which will sterilise the ground at a ratio of 1xtsp to 2 gallons of water, this is used by many of the long serving members of our site to control things such as Onion White Rot & Clubroot and it hasn't done them any harm over the years, you could also grow the Onions in large pots like the ones the Florists usually have there flowers in which most will sell you for about 20p each using multipurpose compost which I know another plot holder does with great success, whatever you choose good luck with your plot regards Steve.
http://www.myallotments.com
Quote from: Esre on October 01, 2007, 22:41:43
Well after a hit and miss start I've just about cleared my plot (only a couple of brambles to dig out)! I had a chat with the site rep on Sunday and he gave me some info on the plot, it's not been used in about 3 or 4 years and did have an application of weed killer about 6 months ago.
He did say there is a ground disease that affects onions but every plot seems to have a safe spot I just need to find mine so I won't be holding my breath for a good crop for a few years.
He also mentioned that a guy a few plots down will rotavate for £30 which when I look at hiring a van to transport my Dad's as we don't have a tow hook or a trailer will save me some cash.
I'm back to tackle the brambles on Wednesday, hopefully my legs and back won't hurt so much by then! and after that I good sprinkling of weedkiller just to start me off and before the plot is rotavated.
I'm slug free (some snails) and the proud owner of 2 of the biggest toads I have ever seen and more red ant nests than you can shake a stick at but for the moment the agreement is that they don't bite us and I don't put powder down!
I was worried that I wasn't making a lot of progress but the site rep was really encouraging and I'm almost done so feeling a bit stiff and achy but like I have really achieved something :)
Now I need to decide what to plant first!
all the best with the plot, we are thinking of renting our rotorvator out to our fellow plotters, give that a go to work the soil. then the dividends will come
just dont try to do it all in a day, if your new, i have taken a year to do basics, and am raring to go next year, from all the help on here i have made planning a priority, as my first year i went at it like a bull in a china shop. lol
But wish you well m8, and as i said lot of help and advice on here.
regards never be afraid to ask
steve
Well done Esre, all the hard work will pay next year, when you stand there admiring your plants growing steadily then you dig out your first spuds and you will know it was all worth them aches and pains. Steve's advise on the raised beds for the onions is well worth thinking about, you could plant a few onions here and there to see how they get on, while you plant the rest in the raised beds. Happy digging. ;D ;D ;D
Be careful with onions, the disease could well be white rot. If you do a search for it on the boards you should find loads of advice.
Cheers for the support and the advice. I did over do it a bit Sunday but the weather was really good and I'm very aware that I'm about out of daylight after work so will be reduced to weekends with the kids.
I'm down again tonight to do the last little bit, digging out the big roots etc. and then a good spray to give me a head start before it's rotavated.
I'll be putting some pics up on my blog in the next few days to show it in progress from covered to cleared and then when it's rotavated I can pop up a coule more.
Feels really good to have a blank canvas to work from at last :D
Quotewe are thinking of renting our rotorvator out to our fellow plotters,
Do not do that. No one will have respect for a machine that is not theirs. If you keep the machine for your own use it will possibly outlive you but when lent out to a few other people the life expectancy can drop to just one or two years. They will not have a whip-round if it breaks.
Quote from: Eristic on October 03, 2007, 13:54:32
Quotewe are thinking of renting our rotorvator out to our fellow plotters,
Do not do that. No one will have respect for a machine that is not theirs. If you keep the machine for your own use it will possibly outlive you but when lent out to a few other people the life expectancy can drop to just one or two years. They will not have a whip-round if it breaks.
no we would do the work for them you see, we know how to respect the rotorvator :-) its only a thought thus far any way.