Finally got my Lottie :-)

[celticmyth]

Hi all,
Not been on for ages due to various stuff,but finally got my offer letter for a plot .........been waiting 16 months and despite bugging the life out of the council had just about given up hope,but came home saturday evening to find letter on mat,went up today to check out the plot,and apart from the really badly placed markers that the council seem to have banged in,in totally random places(supposed to mark out the boundaries,i think)and therefore not being able to really tell which bits were mine and which weren't,i'm gonna take it .Will ask them to clarify tomorrow which bits EXACTLY are mine(do they usually have plans of allotments you can view?)
The bit i've been offered looks like a newly-alotted piece of land,not sure it's ever been worked,no high weeds though,just clumps of grass and small plants/weeds.......Well i'm off to get keys tomorrow............Hope it's not too late to at least grow something decent this year...........Any advice/suggestions on what i'm still going to have time to get in,most appreciated Bearing in mind i haven't even broken ground yet And I was thinking of covering at least half of the ground with black plastic to try and kill off the weeds/grass on the bits i probably won't get round to digging this season........Anyone else had good results from this,or got any better ideas?

Thanks everyone
Celt

[Flo]

Clear a bit, put some compost or well rotted manure in, get a few carrots (compost here and not manure), salad bits in so that you get something to eat.

Clear a bit, put some compost or well rotted manure in, build a raised bed and scrounge some strawberry runners off someone to start a strawberry bed. Ready for next year if not this year.

Clear a bit, put some compost or well rotted manure in, build a raised bed, put some herbs in and hey presto good for this year and next.

Clear a bit, put some compost or well rotted manure in, build a raised bed, scrounge some raspberry runners from someone and hey presto good for next year.

Clear a bit, put some compost or well rotted manure in, build a raised bed, scrounge a rhubarb root or two and get it set as this needs a year to get its feet down before you can use it.

Make yourself a composting area, build a compost container or get a dalek or two.

If you clear a patch and aren't going to use it immediately invest in some green manure which you can turn in later in season to improve fertility.

Now some of that is long term thinking but sometimes it's the long term thinking that makes you more productive in year 2. All the things that I did on the way.

[celticmyth]

Thanks for that advice Flo
I'm off to sign for the keys in a minute,and see if they can illuminate me anymore on which bits are mine and which are not........One thing i didn't check for was where the nearest water was should've thought of it really "Doh"

[Cheezy]

Definitely put some black sheeting down make sure you use landscape material it's woven and allows the soil to breath, as black sheet can make the soil "sweat" and go bad.

Your in the best season, if there is not too much to do you can dig a couple rows of main crop potatoes, they don't need chitting and they out compete most weeds and help break up the soil, and you'll get spuds. You can plant strawberry plants through the black membrane, make a small cross and dig a hole , plant the strawberrys and you'll make unproductive but weed free area productive.

You can plant peas and beans right through till the end of june depending on the variiety, and these will help add nitrogen to the soil.

[celticmyth]

Definitely put some black sheeting down make sure you use landscape material it's woven and allows the soil to breath, as black sheet can make the soil "sweat" and go bad.

Your in the best season, if there is not too much to do you can dig a couple rows of main crop potatoes, they don't need chitting and they out compete most weeds and help break up the soil, and you'll get spuds. You can plant strawberry plants through the black membrane, make a small cross and dig a hole , plant the strawberrys and you'll make unproductive but weed free area productive.

You can plant peas and beans right through till the end of june depending on the variiety, and these will help add nitrogen to the soil.

Def some good ideas there Cheezy Well now got my key it is a half plot apparently(big enough as there's only the two of us though)
I already have some chitted spuds sitting on the windowsil(was going to put them in crop bags as my garden has the dreaded blight!)but now have somewhere else to plant them,lol and have some Aquadulce broad beans,Strawberry plants i popped in pots last year,so the more i think about it,the more i find in the garden that can now go on the plot
Great tip about the weed supressant fabric,as i would've put plastic down otherwise.........Now to think about some sort of shelter!
Spoke to the lottie lady at the council about the lack of clear boundaries of the plot,she's said she'll try and get out tomorrow morning and sort it out,as apparently the plots have been newly split (due to the huge waiting list)and she said they did it in a bit of a hurry lol.
So of to me lottie tomorrow!!!

[Cheezy]

I took a half day off yesterday afternoon and was straight down the lottie, what an afternoon it was almost too hot to dig and I caught the sun! a balmy 17'C in the N.E!.

I got the plot just over 2 years ago and it was very bad with brambles,couch grass and mares tail. So we covered it in black suppressant and have gradually been working our way through it. The bit I was digging is the last , and at the time the worst for weeds. After two years of being covered the soil is fantastically clear of roots. Only big bramble roots remain (but I do keep the brambles at the sides of the plot for the berry's.) A woman commented on how lucky I was as she had been digging the same sized area as me and it was taking her an hour to do one foot, as she was removing the masses of couch roots. I explained thats how this was 2 years ago, but after two years without light nothing will grow.

It's the best advice I can give cover up what you can't dig. There is nothing more depressing than having to continually re-go over area's you've dug but havent cleared of weeds. It stops you doing new areas. Time is limited so take your time doing a small area well. If you've covered the rest it can wait (the longer the better). Don't just think about using the black membrane it is expensive. But you could use cardboard covered with soil. After a year or so it'll rot back into the soil. I would not recommend using carpet. THe amount of chemicals that go into the carpet to help prevent insect attack and mold is detrimental to the soil. And then when you get round to digging that area you have to get rid of horrible stinky carpet.
The second bit is if the area is bad for pernicious weeds DO NOT rotivate, it will only increase the amount.
And don't dig and leave the soil bare. You will turn over weed seeds and these will germinate as sure as eggs are eggs. If you turn it over but don't have anything to put in then and there , cover it up either with a composted mulch, manure or cardboard/membrane. This will suppress the area until your ready.

Finally take your time and enjoy it. Ask the local "old boys" what grows what doesn't. I've since found out the majority of plot holders on our lottie have trouble growing carrots (there are always the exception who'll tell you loudly how to do it). But I have thrown about 4 packets of carrot seed on my plot over the 2 years and not had a single bloody one!. I will of course be having another go this year cos I take it as a personal challenge, but I'm at least not expecting anything!.

[Flo]

Ah well you see you put those carrots in tubs with nice compost and prove everyone wrong then

[celticmyth]

Well,have now dug one small,long bed and got in some Jerusalem artichokes For the crop but also to give a bit of a windbreak on one side (my plot is an end one,with a fence and then a brook,so quite open)The ground is Horrendously full of roots ,but digging over by hand and getting out as much as we can,and although hard work,my partner and i are loving it!
I was determined not to rotivate,apparently the council had already done that about 3 years ago and these plots have been empty for at least 5!(why i had a 16 mnth wait...no idea )so you can imagine the weeds!!!!!
Dug another bed today and popped in some broad beans.I am going to cover at least half the ground while we get to grips with it this year.......Oh and forgot to say,lovely,heavy clay soil lmao.