My new allotment was recently home to a large pig. This has left huge problems with the soil. Some of it is smelly and green and I cannot get a spade into it though I guess it is very nitrogen rich. Some of it is covered with a huge pile of straw etc. Any suggestions about how to cope with it would be welcome. What will grow in a mixture of 95% straw?
First few things are beginning to grow in one corner and they are all looking remarkably healthy.
Welcome to A4A Digeroo, if I'm not repeating myself... it will be very rich with all that pig muck. You can grow toms in Straw bales but I've never tried... I'd use the straw as a mulch, for paths and so on... it will soon degrade if spread out... :)
hiya, digeridoo, welcome to the site ;D
I'd make bean trenches and bury some, put weed control down and grow squash etc in it, don't know how' hot' pig muck is but I bet you've got a very fertile plot there ;D
I think I will try the tomatoes, the straw will not have any blight on it. But the path idea is a bit of a problem becuase it is well laced with 5% etc and smells rather ripe.
Smells etc will soon disappear, and you have a priceless asset there; your soil will be the best on the site when it settles down! Meanwhile grow squashes, toms, and anything else that likes lots of nitrogen. Within a year, it'll have sorted itself out.
I grew pretty much everything over the past two years in fresh manure which had a pretty high mix of straw.
Tomatoes love it, as does sweetcorn, potatoes etc.
I'm jealous - I wish I could have had a pig on my plot...
If a pig's on its own in a pen, it usually always poos in the same place, so you might find quite significant variations in the soil. Welcome to the site.
(in case you're wondering I wasn't always a Londoner :) )
if you rotovate it won't that help break up the compacted bits and also help to mix it in easier.
i have never used one but think it would be the tool for the job, if you haven't go one you could always hire, i just googled rotavator hire and there are loads of places to hire one from.
Many thanks for all your suggestions and welcomes. I have gorwn veg at home on my own for years, really loving the sense of community that an allotment brings.
Not allowed livestock on allotment but pigs now down one side of about 30 new veg patches, and beyond that sheep, lambs and pony. Idyllic. :) :) :) :)
No shortage of manure then :)