[KezMez]

Sooo, I'm quite late to be starting a plot off, but I've left it until next year for the past 5 years. Now is the time!

This is what I have to work with. It's a fenced-off part of the horses field and is approx 30m x 9m. Soil is clay but has had quite a lot of well-rotted manure dug in over the years. It was totally dug over 2 years ago. I've got two large (3.5 x 1.5m) raised beds, a pallet strawberry planter, two rhubarb plants already in and a sizeable muck heap; the rest is up for grabs. The wire to the right is a hen run, not a fruit cage.

I'm quite keen to go the no-dig approach as I have an iffy shoulder and an awful lot of well rotted (2+ years) manure that needs moving. The weeds are not as bad as they look - a lot are long grasses that are laying about like cut hay. I do have some ground sheet down which is killing off weeds, but I assume with no dig that i could do the same with composted manure if the beds are raised enough. I've got a load of pallets which I'm going to try and take apart to make 1m square raised beds. I want the space to be as wildlife friendly as possible, minus rabbits and pigeons, so there'll be a lot of companion planting, herbs and wildflowers going in. As a long-time lurker of this forum, Munty's runner bean frame is on my wish-list!

I have an old marquee I'm planning on fixing up and shoving in the top left corner (not visible) to use as a makeshift polytunnel. Panels are beyond redemption I think so if anyone has suggestions for how I might fix new sides... most welcome. I've got a water source set up which collects rainwater from the stables roof.

I'd love some more suggestions as to what else I can do, on the (very) cheap? I'm open to any and all thoughts. What would you do differently on your plots if you could start again?

Thanks!

Kerry

[snowdrops]

Raised beds are good if you need to up the drainage or have issues bending down. I personally have long narrow beds, approx 5 ft wide, could do with them being narrower but overall width of plot & getting the rotovator in it wasn't feasible. Start by clearing out any rubbish, starting a compost heap, layering with fresh manure will get it working in overdrive. Mark out your beds, cover with cardboard then some of your lovely well rotted manure then if funds allow cover with weed suppressant membrane. Take a look at lasagne gardening & the Back to Eden style of gardening. Build your raised beds as time & pallets allow but if you make the beds narrow enough so you can reach into the middle from each side you might find you've saved yourself a job & just need to create paths in between.
P.s welcome to the site, take a look at others plots on their gardening diaries, there's no right or wrong way just your way & if you're like me that can change as the seasons do😄

[Hampshire Hog]

Planting some spuds is an obvious way to start breaking up the ground. You can just plant them under your cardboard or weed suppressing covering as long as you leave a hole for the plants to grow up and through. Also remember that you can get a fantastic crop of courgettes and squashs by planting them in soils with a serious amount of manure incorporated. You could do that by just adding some soil on top of a pile of rotting horse manure.
What else you do will depend on your time horizon and what you like eating I like asparagus and have a dedicated bed for that which is over 5 years old now so crops well. Also if you like soft fruit you could consider autumn fruiting raspberries they don't need a cage to protect them and they put out so many runners that most allotment owners would have free raspberry runners.
My other tip would be to keep a good portion of your plot covered with weed suppression and tackle a bed at a time rather than feel it all needs to be done at once.
Good luck
HH

[mjg000]

It sounds as though you are reclaiming your "field" land....  Lasagna beds are surely the way to go.  Cover your grass or weeds with cardboard (large boxes available from bike shops) and then build up layers of muck/compost/ manure and anything else you can lay your hands on.  Do a few beds at a time!