What I did on the plot today 2020

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Subversive_plot

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Re: What I did on the plot today 2020
« Reply #225 on: October 11, 2020, 13:08 »
Today I set up our new compost bin - it's one of those dalek things.   Now we're  thinking about what to put in it! Food waste from home is easy - but that about the weeds and other stuff from  the allotment itself?  In particular what about couch grass and bindweed? 

We have had a couch grass problem ever since we started on the lottie - after the parish council helpfully rotovated the plot before we took it on.  This meant they cut up all the couch grass roots and spread them over most of the allotment.  I've spent the last 12 years digging out the couch, with help from glyphosate at times.   But there are still couch bits on almost every bed, and bindweed roots as well.  Can I compost these?  or should I keep them apart from the ordinary chickweed and other annual weeds that appear all the time?

Where do I get advice on what I can tip into the dalek?

Cheers - Neville

I'm curious if your community does municipal composting. These large municipal systems compost at much higher sustained temperatures than you can sustain in a dalek or compost pile on your plot (this is to kill off pathogens). Those temperatures will also kill live seeds and roots of most plants. If your community has such a system, and accepts yard waste, that is a good place to compost your weeds.

My leaves and limbs (at least some of them) go to municipal compost, and I get the finished compost for 20 dollars a truck load.
"Somewhere between right and wrong, there is a garden. I will meet you there."~ Rumi

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mumofstig

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Re: What I did on the plot today 2020
« Reply #226 on: October 11, 2020, 17:04 »
I throw couch grass roots ( or any other perennial weed roots) onto a path and let them dry out/die off, before putting it into the compost bins - alternatively you can drown them in a bucket of water first.

Here's an old thread with another idea https://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=33334.msg399033#msg399033

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CHRISDONOHUE

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Re: What I did on the plot today 2020
« Reply #227 on: October 16, 2020, 13:05 »
Many years ago, I had so much work to do that I neglected a section of my allotment which got covered with couch grass.  I thought couch grass was dangerous.   So I dug it up and left it in a pile well away from my compost heap.   When I got enough time to return, to my surprise it had rotted well, so I transferred it to my compost heap where it rotted much more efficiently helped by the specialist worms and other creatures I had recruited there.   Subsequently, I simply toss any couch grass directly on my compost heap - it does not need to be first either dried or heavily soaked - and the exclusion of light - whether the heap is covered or not - kills it anyway.   My advice it to try this - if you are extremely doubtful and prefer the advice of people who are willing only to follow dogmatic advice rather than experiment themselves, you can always dry or wet it to kill it first.

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Aunt Sally

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Re: What I did on the plot today 2020
« Reply #228 on: October 16, 2020, 14:38 »
You’re quite the gardening rebel aren’t you Chris  ::)

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mumofstig

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Re: What I did on the plot today 2020
« Reply #229 on: October 16, 2020, 14:39 »
I don't consider my advice dogmatic, I just speak from many years of experience. Your experience may be different, that's all.

Quote
the exclusion of light - whether the heap is covered or not - kills it anyway.
Is it not strange then, that any bits of root left underground, thus also excluded from light - continue to grow and thrive?

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rowlandwells

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Re: What I did on the plot today 2020
« Reply #230 on: October 16, 2020, 16:21 »
having sprayed our couch grass several months ago and then sowing a crop of mustard the ground is clear of couch grass and because the ground has dried up some this week here i was able to plough both our allotment plots and another friends plot today so everything looks quite tidy now just need to dig over a couple of raised beds also  have some spring cabbage plants to plant out in the beds next week weather permitting

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New shoot

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Re: What I did on the plot today 2020
« Reply #231 on: October 16, 2020, 16:40 »
I don't consider my advice dogmatic

Given you offered 2 different solutions - dry out or drown, plus a link to a thread with other ideas, neither do I  :)

I dry out roots of perennial weeds before they go near the compost. It is an easy way to make sure they don’t regrow. 

One of my plot neighbours has a sealed bin with a base that they use.  As it is totally dark and just weeds rotting together, that does kill them all, but it don’t half whiff when they open it.  You can do the same in a normal compost heap, but you would have to manage it carefully.  As had been pointed out before, we have readers of all levels of experience, so I could see people blithely chucking all sorts in an open heap and ending up with a right old mess.

My job today was lift all the dahlias and get them drying out in the shed, plus more clearing and weeding.  The soft annual weeds have gone straight in the compost bin and the nasties are drying out nearby   :)

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Thrutchington

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Re: What I did on the plot today 2020
« Reply #232 on: November 03, 2020, 08:40 »
Sunday morning, before the rain started, planted out a batch of keepwell over wintering onions that I started from seed in September.

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Bhilton

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Re: What I did on the plot today 2020
« Reply #233 on: November 07, 2020, 06:46 »
well, technically yesterday...Racked up millions of damp leaves and stuffed them into bags ready to be prepared for the mulch bin.
Removed a lot of fallen branches from the trees lining the west side of the garden and stacked them ready for firewood...one of the most satisfying jobs  :wacko:
« Last Edit: November 07, 2020, 06:55 by Bhilton »

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Aled

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Re: What I did on the plot today 2020
« Reply #234 on: November 10, 2020, 15:33 »
Compost, and wood ash dug into the veg patch. i don't grow winter veg so that's it closed off until the spring.
Cheers
Aled

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New shoot

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Re: What I did on the plot today 2020
« Reply #235 on: November 12, 2020, 17:31 »
Walked over to the plot to get some fresh air and exercise.   It was a bit of a mud fest, but I paddled around and tidied up a bit.

Harvested cabbage and chard and then walked home  :)

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snowdrops

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Re: What I did on the plot today 2020
« Reply #236 on: November 12, 2020, 20:04 »
Trundled my trusty steed over to the plot (wheelbarrow, lol) full of the spent plants from the pots on the front. Added those to compost bin no.1 along with a bag of fresh manure. Then I took 2 barrow loads of leaves from bin 5 to the leaf mould cage.
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Bhilton

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Re: What I did on the plot today 2020
« Reply #237 on: November 28, 2020, 12:47 »
So I finally finished my leaf mulch cage and put the flippin' rake away thank goodness.

Now I'm onto the next piece of the jigsaw, ...raised beds. I had 5 new steel raised beds delivered and I've unpacked them to see a beautiful neat set of long-lasting beds. So what have I don't today. Screw the things together  :lol: my hand and wrist are about to fall off

I will get some images sorted and post them maybe next week and give some feedback on the raised bed quality and if they would be recommended. At face value, they look and feel great, but I need to finish them off and move them into position to get a feel for their overall stability

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Subversive_plot

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Re: What I did on the plot today 2020
« Reply #238 on: December 05, 2020, 00:16 »
The last of the tomatoes and peppers finally succumbed to a hard freeze earlier this week, so today I pulled plants and piled them to go into our city compost system.  (The city has a compost process that operates at a much higher temperature than my compost pile, so it's best to leave composting garden waste to them, in case there were any plant pathogens).

After clearing a couple beds, I started preparing beds for planting.  There are some things that can still be planted in December here. Only seeds I got in the ground were turnips before the rain came in.  I'll try more planting tomorrow.

One of my more amazing discoveries today: last spring I was clearing a lot of Nandina out of my plot.(the stuff is planted as an ornamental but becomes an invasive weed, and is toxic to birds as well).  It makes woody canes, so I set some canes aside to use as plant stakes, after leaving them in a pile, leafless and rootless. They were put to use during our very hot, and sometimes dry, summer weather. As I was pulling those old stakes out today... SOME WERE SPROUTING!!!  I admire the tenacity, but I'm getting rid of the stakes just the same.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2020, 00:35 by Subversive_plot »

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rowlandwells

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Re: What I did on the plot today 2020
« Reply #239 on: December 05, 2020, 17:24 »
haven't been down the allotments for a couple of days took a load of horse manure Monday need to finish of a new gate I've made and put up on one plot it just needs a catch but the ground is like a WW1 battlefield also need to cut back some branches that are hanging over the allotment and catch your face when passing had permission from the farmer to carry out this work as a hedge layer for many years he's quite happy for me to do this then we should be almost finished on both plots till spring  :D



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