[rjdiscombe]

Hi

I am also new to having my own allotment. After many years of waiting the parish council have decided there is sufficient interest to convert an exisiting field that it owns to allotments.

The bad news is that a lot of work has to take place, such as ploughing up the existing grass and erecting a rabbot-proof fence.

A good aspect of not taking over an existing plot is that I start with a blank "canvas". I plan to have raised beds that I will rotate. I am also planning to have permanent areas, such as an asparagus bed, rhubarb, gooseberries and possibly other soft fruit. My main questions is should I put the permanent areas between the rotating beds or is it better to have two distinct areas? I thought the latter might be better as I could put netting up if the bird proved a problem for the soft fruit.

As a newbie I would be grateful for any advice.

Many thanks
Roger

[John]

Hi and Welcome!
If I was you, I'd keep all the fruit together because you can build a cage to keep the birds off.

Also, why deep beds?  I know they're popular, but I'm not convinced they're the best solution for all crops / soil types. Just curious.

[Grahame]

Me too. I have recently taken a plot which was cleared and rotovated by the council. I am setting out some fairly low (4") raised beds, mostly 8x4 but some 16x4. Once they are filled I find it easier to work the soil and water and my young kids don't walk on them!!!

I have decided upon a rotation system roots/brassicas/others as usual and I am putting pear trees and soft fruit together but will still have space  to have a go with other bits and pieces during the season:?

[rjdiscombe]

John

Thanks for your reply.

To answer your query "why deep beds"? Reading around, it seemed a good idea as this approach did not require digging the plot every autumn, especially as the soil is heavy.

Roger

[Victoria Plum]

I have just taken on a plot which was ploughed last week. As it's quite a lot to tackle in one go (22m x 10m :?: ) I was planning to cover over half of it to try and keep the weeds down as much as possible. I had assumed that cheap black polythene would be readily available. It is available but not very cheaply.

The turf was not removed prior to ploughing and the plot has not been worked for years so theres lots of nasties now well distributed throughout.

Any ideas?

[John]

You know I'm not so sure you have lots of nasties - surely just the natural balance. Not every bug is a problem!

Try sowing a green manure on half the plot - that will suppress weeds and give you a compost mine.

You will find that you have less room than you think when you get sowing and you'll be wondering how to fit it all in!

[Victoria Plum]

Thanks for that

I could plant a green manure as the plot is now then? If I understand the concept of green manure, I then dig this into the plot. So, weeds supressed for a while, just the couch roots to get out?

Marvelous!

Have just found the thread in the off-topic bit with a link to the Garden Organic. Have had more luck sourcing cheaper polythene through agricultural suppliers and asking for silage sheet.

Thanks for your help!

[John]

Well a bit of heresy here.. John hopes the organic taliban don't get him!

If you've patches of couch grass you could always use a bit of glyphosate.  I'm keen on doing things organically if possible but sometimes it is so much easier to step over to the dark side!

I am very sparing with herbicides and don't use pesticides at all but I do sometimes use urea or sulphate of ammonia to encourage a compost heap.

I think getting masses of couch out is such a huge task and there must be better things to do.

Agricultural mustard is very good as a green manure. Quick and dense cover plus not to hard to dig in. I cut the top half off for the bin and dig the rest in.

After all, what is worse for the ecology? A small amount of weedkiller or a mass of polythene.  Especially as the polythene tends to end up as a mass of torn bits in a year.