[wombling2006]

I can but try my best anway ...I'm hoping it will make me alot fitter in general and who knows, I may take after my Gran and be singing karaoke on my hundredth birthday....I will, to quote a wigan phrase, "keep gowin wit yed daan"...I have an idyllic idea of raised beds, free range chickens and various fruit trees in abundance ...whereas at the mo I have an abundance of broken glass, car parts and giant versions of the worst weeds in circulation :shock: ...Is ground force still going??? or any other makeover programme??? nominations please, pretty please???!!  :cry:

[John]

You'll get there - can't repair years of neglect in weeks. I think it took me a year to clear my first plot but I was very unfit . By the time I finished, I was a lot fitter and so was the plot.

I get a bit irritated with people who take on an allotment and think it's just a matter of plonking some seeds in the ground and they can walk home with champion veggies.  They don't even bother investing a fiver in a book or reading the back of the seed packet.

Those who do actually put the preparation in, like you are, end up with a sense of satisfaction way beyond the 'players' When you finally have that plot cleared you'll feel like you are on top of Everest.

[wombling2006]

I probably will feel like I'm on top of everest..the mountain of rubbish  will be that high!!!
I do feel a little more excited every day though...Even though some days the plot looks worse than when I started with pulling the sheds down...Its like having my own secret garden...A film that influenced my childhood along with the wombles and the good life with Tom and Barbara...A prime example of how we all should live
Well in theory anyway
Off I go ..into the breach again...I will get more pics taken as a progress report..

[Annie]

Any chance of an update,I`m sure I`m not on my own wondering how you`re doing and hoping you haven`t been overwhelmed.

[John]

It was when the tribe of bushmen started shooting poison darts as the jungle was cleared that wombling wondered if this was the best hobby to have.

[wombling2006]

:shock: ...ahhh yes those darn knot weed bushmen...

It creeps and grows like nothing ever has or will....that and the mares tails :evil: ...I have been very busy pick- axing concrete up, of all things as I discovered, amongst the car parts, an inspection pit/concrete ramp structure...Gosh the fun Ive had....Ive lost half a stone in the past 2 weeks!!!! Ive managed to get around 20 car loads of rubble broken glass,soil etc shifted and countless amounts of weeds burned on campfires..I know the recycling centre guys on a 1st name basis now..and they are convinced the allotment is the size of a footy pitch with the amount of stuff Ive taken there...The local kids have been great though..especially the ones deemed by neighbours as "troublemakers"..they have helped me the most and have got stuck in chopping the sheds up and digging up concrete...its done everyones heart good to see them and has renewed trust of teenagers within the immediate area...I feel posh now as well as I have acquired an 80's caravan as yet another do it up project..brilliant to use as a hideaway and brew van...and for mini breaks away from the weeds of course..
I have 3 cats who visit us on the allotment, the eldest one stays there with me most of the day and into campfire time at night...curling up on my lap as I watch the weeds burn...bless her...I have treated the knot weed and mares tails new shoots with glyphosate mixture, which doesn't seem to have worked at all so far....I shall resort to digging out again now though as most of my blisters have healed  :roll: ... manic organic!!! I'm in need of a cunning plan I think..or a bomb...

[John]

I keep telling everyone - horsetail  is best done with Amicide. Glyphosate doesn't get it  unless repeated about half a dozen times whereas amicide takes one or two goes at most

Involving the local kids - brilliant.  You are turning potential vandals into actual security guards and showing them something better in life.

As for the cats, glad I'm not there..  we have 3 already and left to me that would be 30!

[mellowmick]

They had a feature on this morning's BBC News on Japanese Knotweed in Cornwall. They were cutting it back, then injecting something lethal into the hollow stem: It seemed like the stem was in hollow sections (like bamboo) and they needed to actually inject it down through the bottom of the section wall. I assume otherwise it would just pool in the top section and either evaporate, get rained out or just not penetrate. The roots apparently go down 10ft. :shock:

[wombling2006]

10ft???  :shock: good grief :shock: yes I can believe it.....Its a complete hassle and one of those creations that makes you wonder what its point in the big scheme of things is...like wasps....My youngest is now pointing out all the knot weed out she sees when we are out and about in the car...That, mares tails and ragwort, she is now expert in spotting from miles away...  :roll:  I dread to think what she will be write in her "what I did in summer hols" essay..... :?

[wombling2006]

Hi all...Still not much further on really.....still battling with the weeds on a weekly basis...no sign of being able to grow anything until next year really....Lots of things seem to have happened past couple of months preventing me from spending the time I wanted to in the allotment...par for the course I suppose most of the time....Haven't lost sight of my organic allotment dream though...will just take me bit longer to get there at this rate...still having battles with the knot weed and mares tail...just on my way over there now though to treat them again...heres hoping 3rd time lucky....I keep chopping crushing and spraying them...they start looking brown and crinkly..then they bounce back.... :evil:

I would love to hire a mini digger and blitz it all down a good few feet!!! :evil:

Been attacking the overgrown garden at my mums newly acquired bungalow....There are alot of rose bushes I've had to chop right back....will they be ok taking them and the rest of the garden green stuff to my allotment for the compost bin ?
I haven't been able to compost anything from the lottie its in such a state..
If so...how long would it take to rot etc to be useable as compost???

[milkman]

Yup I would put it all in your allotment compost bin - you can never have too much composting material - if you get time (when not battling with the knot weed) to chop the chunkier woodier stuff into smaller bits it will compost quicker.

[wombling2006]

Great stuff....Rather put it to use on my lottie than put it in the green bin....
Might look for a second hand shredder as well as I have lots of trees at home and at the lottie, the flotsum and jetsum off those would prob be good shredded and composted...

[trapper]

Wombling ,had my lotty for 3 /4 years havnt a clue well just abit . I clear the ground then throw it in . If it does well I do it again , (ha for the experts ) I then plant in another spot the next year)  . Best thing I had was instinct ! take advise then just go with it,. I mucked up on some things , but generally I  got what I wanted . JUST STAY WITH YOUR PROGRAM . Adapt as you see fit.
cheers Trapper

[wombling2006]

I live in hope of the days I will finally be able to grow something apart from  the Knotting knot weed :evil:

Still can't put it to rest...mind you Rome wasn't built in a day and this allotment has been left to rack and ruin liberally sprinkled with car parts for years so I am in it for the long haul....My latest cunning plan is something advised by a friend who works on the chemical bit of council parks and gardens. :shock: ..Its a chemical called "finale" I think...They have a patch with knot weed which they experiment different weed killers on...They said this seemed most effective...Tried glyphosate, sodium chlorate,amicide and just ripping the darn stuff up...Yet up it comes like some kind of Audrey 2 plant :evil:  (If you have seen little shop of horrors musical film you will know what I mean) :evil:
You can actually cook the stuff  and eat it..heaven knows what it tastes like...with the amount I've got growing in there I could open a chain of gourmet knot weed restaurants and be well supplied!!! :evil:

[milkman]

Hallo Wombling glad to see you're still at it - see the horsetail topic - Muntjac recommends mixing glycerine with the weed killers - here is his quote:-

"Can i just add a little note here .if you use shop bought glycerine and mix that with weed killers etc it acutally sticks and does not get washed off and the weeds actually feed on the glycerine taking the poison in faster . as sold by monsanto ,we use it on the farms on the estate here"

It might help speed the end your knot weed situation?