[Digger Parsnip]

Hi , Ive only owned my allotment for a year but ive been a bit lazy lately and havent seen my allotment since oooohhhh ... way back , in fact my bean sticks are still up  :oops:
i was going to hire a rotovator this weekend and clear the lot .
Is this a good time to be doing this or shall i wait til its a bit warmer and drier  ? i need to get me spuds in soon me thinks !?
Anyway any advice would be good ,

cheers  

[Novice]

I tend to think you should get up there and start working ASAP, then it will all be ready for planting time.
Have you got your spuds yet ? You'll really need to get those "chitting" so they'll be ready when you need to get them in.
Ha ha - sounding like a non-novice now after all the advise off John on this site, and Old Ron ( not to be confused with Big Ron, or the other one who is just called Ron !! Honestly it's true ! ) from the allotment

[kooringa]

Hi , Ive only owned my allotment for a year but ive been a bit lazy lately and havent seen my allotment since oooohhhh ... way back , in fact my bean sticks are still up  :oops:
i was going to hire a rotovator this weekend and clear the lot .
Is this a good time to be doing this or shall i wait til its a bit warmer and drier  ? i need to get me spuds in soon me thinks !?
Anyway any advice would be good ,

cheers  

I don't know where you live - but you will have to make sure that you take down your bean stalks - you can't just rotorvate over all weeds and dead debris from last years crops - they will get tangled around the rotorvator as it turns.

You will also have to make sure that the soil is right - you can to work on really wet soil.  The rotorvator will get bogged down or clogged up or both - and you will compact the soil by walking on it behind the machine - undoing anything you have done.

Sorry to sound like a kill joy - but you have to do a bit of work first and check the weather conditions too!

Best of luck

[Digger Parsnip]

Novice: yes i have my 'earlies' busily chitting away in the greenhouse,
 
yes i know i should be 'getting up there' , stop bullying me  
my point is should i be digging up the soil now?
i was going to hire a rotovator at the weekend but its absolutely tipping down at the moment , im worried it will be too wet and be a waste of time.

Ah but what will they call 'Ron' when he gets fatter or older?


kooringa: i live in Gloucester , do i still need to take down my bean stalks ?

actually i was going to clear the area of weeds , bean sticks and debris before i rotovated. how dry does the soil have to be before you can rotovate?
how many days after rain ?
what happens if you arrange the hire of the rotovator a few days before the weekend  because the weather forecast was 'supposed'to be fine ,
then when you have just picked up the rotovator on the saturday morning it begins to rain ?! are you allowed to rotovate or would you advise on taking the rotovator back to the hire shop and asking for a refund even though it says in the contract you signed just ten minutes earlier that you wont get a refund?  :?:

[John]

Come on Digger, you know you won't get a refund on your rotovator hire!

It's hard to answer though, some soils dry quickly some hold the water. If it sticks to your boots, probably not best.

Once you have it cleared, it's a lot less work to keep it under control. A sharp hoe is a joy to use and you'll be amazed how much you can weed in a short time.