[drmoonshine]

hi all first allotment holder here. the place is well overrun   weeds everywhere not just like spotted here and there its like a green ground. the worst i think is the fact there is grass there to and its a right pain to dig my fork just gets stuck lol.

well ive started digging anyway abit a day and i hope ill soon be finished looks like it would take me forever and a day though its gets worse at the back behind the greenhouse its been left for years and about 2 feet high. think ill get get the strimmer in and wizz them all down.

anyway for my question am i best just digging what i can. so far today ive prob done 2x2 meters of ground all lovly and brown no weed in site not growing anyway there are a few leafs in there but i guess they will just die in time? if i keep on top of it now i can see better i can just pull as they come right? is there anything i need to do, to fresh dug grownd or just let it settle? and then plant what i want to plant the soil seems very lose considering its not been grown in for some time but hey im not moaning

thank you for reading

dave

[fatcat1955]

Good luck with the digging, but remember to take it easy. After you have dug your plot you could sow a green manure. when you cut it down leave it to rot down and it enriches the soil, other than that if you can get your hands on some good manure , spread it on the soil to overwinter it and then dig it in  when spring comes.

[drmoonshine]

thanks fatcat. so i would just place it on top and then in spring dig it in? saves me a job now

ive just looked up what green manure is....... i wont say what i thought it was
this sounds interesting but what could i use so late on in the season? ive got 23 chilli plants in 8inch pots i can through on but they aint going to go far for my whole plot but its better then nothing at all 

[Paul Plots]

Try this link - it may help..... Allotment & Veg Gardening - September 

It pays to have a nose around this site - there's plenty of info here.

[Quetzal]

Three years ago, I dug over part of my (new) back garden to put in some vegetable beds. It turned out that there was a builder's tip under the soil, and I spent as much time shifting bricks/scaffolding poles/etc as digging. Never doing serious digging again I said.

Two years ago, we'd enjoyed the gardening so much, we took on a half allotment. It was semi-previously owned, but needed a total redig, so I hauled my fork out from the garage and set to work. It wasn't too bad, but it was ~7 times the area of the year before. Do it well once, and then never have to do any more serious digging again, I said to myself.

Last winter, we were working out what to grow on our allotment, and decided we wanted some more space. So the nice allotment man let us have the space next to our current plot. It hadn't been used in some time, and looked pretty scary, brambles, comfrey the size of trees, and so so much couch grass. I got to work with a sickle, and then out came the spade again. I discovered another builder's tip, and more bricks rocks and so on. Once more into the breach, i said, and then _never_ _again_. People would come and chat to me as I hacked and dug my way across. Typical comments included a woman saying 'i've had an allotment here for 17 years, and I've never seen anyone on that plot'.

Unfortunately, last year I only really got about 1/2 of the new plot done, and even there the weeds were so dense that it needs a redig. So this autumn/spring, I'll be out there again, once more, and then I'll be done with the serious digging, and then i'll only need to do the odd light turnover in the spring. Oh, but a friend of my wife owns a field, and said we might be able to move our growing onto there maybe next year...

I don't know the point of this story , really, but one consolation of digging is that you put in an hour, and you can see the difference, in the slow creep of soil across the plot. I also find I have done a good deal of my best thinking, gloves on, fork in hand, out there on my own me and the mud. And, had I not done it, last year we wouldn't have had six month's worth of potatoes in the garage (don't ask about the potatoes this year :eek:) or this year have a mish mash of different squash drying on the windows of every room in the house.

Anyway, good luck, do it thoroughly first time, and then you never need do that much again

[Fisherman]

Treat it liking eating an elephant - just one bit at a time

I agree with Quetzal do a proper job first time even if it does take you longer in the short to medium term as it will be much better for you in the longer term.

[someoneorother]

Just remember the the organic fairy won't come and take your toys away if you decide to use chemicals just this once to get it under control (even if it is a bit late for glyposate this year)

Good luck and bon chance anyway!

[Puenktchen]

I have an allotment which was not worked for several years and full with couch grass, bindweed, grass and thistle. I dug most of it with a mattock, a bit like a pickaxe but with a broader end. This was much easier as digging with a fork, which I did at the beginning.

Digging with a fork was really exhausting as the soil was like concrete and full of weeds. The fork got stuck in the couchgrass and hard soil and after a while it got bent. The progress was very slow. With the mattock it was so much easier, it cut right through the soil, under the couch grass and I could pull out long roots of couchgrass, bindweed and thistle. Digging  was much faster as with the fork and the allotment is now completly dug after only 3 months.

I can really recommend a mattock for digging an overgrown plot.

[drmoonshine]

well ive been back today. around 6pm i went. no one came to chat to me so cracked on with it like a trooper dig dig dig pull pull....eeek whats that..... i said to myself........ its a grub i hear a voice next to me. yep the old guys watching me again. i think im becoming some what of an attraction now. ''hey fred have you seen that young lad on allotment 3 yes bill says fred he's doing ever such a good job   i can imagine it now. im being watched from afair making sure i dont kill myself. the people around me are like grandad age very wise and curious to what this new kind of young human is..... likes growing veg you say? well dam it im going to have to take a look.

i think there some what pleased on how i have been getting on ive been down everyday for the past week and a bit. only started digging this week though due to what shift i was on at work and also i was masuring things up and making plans.

the man (james) who told me what a grub was asked if i wanted a cuppa.... very nieve i asked where you plug the kettle in. he smiled and said come round here lad you have alot to learn so. off i walked around and in. walked up the garden and shuck his dirty hand.  :happy: he offered me a chair outside his shed. and went into his shed. and like magic he came out with a cup of tea. i smiled said thank you he went back in and brought out a gas burner with a pan on top   . i laughed at myself. He said the names dave aint it? i was like yes sorry i am dave nice to meet you james we talked for abit. it started getting dark so we both headed home

so now what was a 2meter x 2meters becomes 2meter x 6meter

[joyfull]

well Dave it's nice to know they are making you feel welcome at your site 

[drmoonshine]

well Dave it's nice to know they are making you feel welcome at your site 

yes joyfull. i was abit worryed on being an allotment holder never been one myself not really been around one. only as a small child

but its quite different to what i thought it would have been like

[Yorkie]

That's great to hear - so glad to hear of your welcome.  You won't be able to stop them giving you free plants in the spring, I'll bet!

[JamPan]

Yep, I had to keep digging new beds to accommodate the free stuff I got given!  And I kept being advised to "save some for tomorrow" when I went a bit mad on the digging.  Stick at it.  It feels a bit overwhelming at times, but it's wonderful when you see your progress.

[drmoonshine]

Yep, I had to keep digging new beds to accommodate the free stuff I got given!  And I kept being advised to "save some for tomorrow" when I went a bit mad on the digging.  Stick at it.  It feels a bit overwhelming at times, but it's wonderful when you see your progress.

yes ive still got quite abit to dig still but doing more today adding on from where i left off yesterday standing back and looking gave me a smile and a sense of achivment

thank you for everyones kind words

[Paul Plots]

Dave - if you have a camera get it out and get snapping.

In a few weeks time you can look back at the progress you've made. I keep an allotment diary on the computer and add the odd picture as the year goes on. It helps me remember what I planted where and how the crop did. (Useful reminder the following year to keep a track of crop rotation).

You could also share your successes on here