Allotment the 2nd

[ina]

Does the black bag in the sun trick work, like it does for other perennial weeds?

Could try that - but I suppose the council will get onto me then because of all that rubbish in the garden!
Somehow I just hate to put anything green into landfill...Which is stupid, because it would kind of dilute other rubbish and speed up re-greening. OK, black bags it is.

[Viper254]

At the moment I'm just piling it up on a concrete plinth and waiting for it to dry out a bit before I take it home for the bonfire!

[Weedo]

Solarisation (AKA The Black Bag trick) can work well for most plants but I have some doubts about with couch; but it would be worth a try. My doubts arise from an experiments carried out by a couple of my staff a few years ago trying to kill other nasty perennial weeds with a bad habit of regrowing from even the tiniest piece of node - After being in bags for 6 weeks in Oz summer sun and on a concrete pad some were still able to germinate even though only a couple of shoots from the whole mass.

Forget trying normal black garbage bags (unless you use multiple layers - bags within bags)- they are too light and are designed to break down in UV light - you need heavy duty industrial type bags.

[ina]

Just read something re allotments in the i:

Doctor and Broadcaster Amir Khan, told BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine: “It’s still perfectly safe (and recommended) that you go out into your gardens and allotments for both the health of your mind and body.”

Although it’s worth checking with your local council, Salford City Council says that those with an allotment, “are still permitted to visit your plot to take daily exercise in line with government regulation,” but is warning people to follow this guidance:

Daily exercise does not mean spending the whole day on the plot, it is recommended that you visit for a short period of time
It is important that any plot-holders over 70 years and those with underlying health issues follow the guidance and information issued by the government
Any plot-holder who is self isolating because a household member is ill with coronavirus must not be visiting the site
It is important that anyone attending the allotment takes care to stay the appropriate distance from others, avoid body contact and wash hands
It is essential that no unauthorised people are allowed onto the plots for the duration of this emergency.”

(There's a bit more on hand sanitising etc)


I find it a bit weird that they see "visiting the allotment" just as daily exercise - no mention of necessary food production!

[Weedo]

I don't know how the wording is there (seems to be almost clonal worldwide) but here, in regards to farming, the rules are pretty well bent out of shape - farms are determined to be workplaces so multi-people gatherings etc. for farming are allowable; farms are also not public places (they are actually "premises" ). Otherwise everything is extremely urban focused with little regards to other pursuits. I guess

[ina]

I think they realise that without allowing people to actually work on farms we'll have a much more serious problem on our hands pretty soon.They are all desperately looking for workers for the harvest, soft fruit and asparagus just starting...

[Viper254]

I've heard this as well. Where I am is big circus and traveller country so many of them are getting roped in. If I were off work I might go for it, but there's no chance of me being set aside in the near future.

I've kept well away from Park allotments for three weeks now. It's just not worth the risk of passing it on/catching it from someone down there. I hope they'll be lenient about progress pausing

[Flo]

Hope that when you get back to the allotment Viper that your digging doesn't turn up this sort of problem -Vintage car dug up in garden

[Viper254]

I have started going back to Park Site as it becomes increasingly clear that this is the new norm for the foreseeable future.

Cleared enough of it to perhaps crop half the half-plot this year, cover the rest and then get the whole lot up and going for next year :)

I'll take some photos when I'm up there on Saturday morning.

[Flo]

Come on - tell us how things have gone Mr Viper. Did you get the promised pictures?

[Viper254]

It went badly. I bit off more than I could chew. I managed to clear about half the plot, get potatoes going, get loads of squash in and removed about three builder's bags of weeds. However, it was at the expense of doing enough work on the allotment in my back garden, which began to suffer.

So I had the Park Road allotment for a total of about 3 months before handing it back, with spuds, squash and courgettes in situ. I was greedy for space, perhaps?

Anyway, apart from the onslaught of weeds it's definitely resulted in better performance of my allotment at the back of the house, which is doing alright.

In all, a bit of a failure story! But I hope somebody else got to enjoy what I did manage to get going :)

[Green Aura]

Think of it as a gift for someone else, rather than a failure. It might help someone without any gardening knowledge to get into growing their own.

[Viper254]

Think of it as a gift for someone else, rather than a failure. It might help someone without any gardening knowledge to get into growing their own.

Yes, I hope so :)

[Flo]

Oh Mr Viper I know that situation only too well. I took on a second allotment when there was no waiting list and am now winding it down as we do have a waiting list. Not sure if we really had more off two than we had off one. Yes and no. It's just going to take some winding down to have the second one fit to hand back at Christmas.

[Viper254]

** Double post - fail **