New Allotment plot that's covered in weed and grass.

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Eristic

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New Allotment plot that's covered in weed and grass.
« Reply #15 on: February 07, 2007, 19:14 »
For my 2 pennyworth, the only proper use of carpet on an allotment is either on top of the compost heaps or as a cosy lining for the shed.

Due to the succession of highly respected plonkers on the television over the past 30 odd years desperately avoiding any task they cannot do, the population at large has lost the understanding of how to dig and consequently get into a pickle when faced with reality.

On the allotment there is no 'cover with carpet, cut away to flower show for 3 mins while contractors dig it, return and sow some seed'. You throw a carpet on the plot and think 'one year and no weeds' but nature thinks one year to breed 3 million slugs and another 6 weeks to put the weeds back'.

The best allotments grow the best weeds. There is no winning here, just control. You clear the weeds and dig. The weeds regrow you re-weed, the weeds re-grow.

Get used to it.

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ytyynycefn

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New Allotment plot that's covered in weed and grass.
« Reply #16 on: February 07, 2007, 19:45 »
Good point, and well made - but I still feel that if you're clearing a plot from scratch, it can't hurt to cover the weeds you can't manually dig just yet - if for no other reason that to reduce the amount of weed seeds flying into your freshly dug soil - just until you can get to that spot with the spade and then keep them under control by using a hoe.  

Fertile soil is always going to give a fab crop of the *, you're right there!  I'm not anti weeding - far from it - I got to quite like going round with a hoe, and hand weeding, as it gave me chance to really get to know my plants and spot any problems before they get too big to handle.

Top idea for lining sheds though - definitely going to do that!  :D

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Axe Victim

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New Allotment plot that's covered in weed and grass.
« Reply #17 on: February 07, 2007, 22:46 »
Quote
I got to quite like going round with a hoe, and hand weeding, as it gave me chance to really get to know my plants and spot any problems before they get too big to handle.


Me too...someone on another thread called me a nutter for this! :shock:  :D  :lol:
If life gives you lemons...wrap a dog turd in newspaper and set fire to it on Life's doorstep.

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muntjac

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New Allotment plot that's covered in weed and grass.
« Reply #18 on: February 07, 2007, 22:48 »
tale i always folow is  nettles mean fantasticly fertile  soil for some reason
still alive /............

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Bigbadfrankie

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New Allotment plot that's covered in weed and grass.
« Reply #19 on: February 07, 2007, 22:55 »
the weed seeds can last 7 years in the ground, just keep encouraging them and killing them before they seed you will never win but you can reduce there numbers :twisted:
always have a target
and an objective.

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Bigbadfrankie

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New Allotment plot that's covered in weed and grass.
« Reply #20 on: February 07, 2007, 22:56 »
also weeds do not like good soil as Shaun says feed the soil

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John

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New Allotment plot that's covered in weed and grass.
« Reply #21 on: February 07, 2007, 23:11 »
Once again, bang on Eristic. I moved a folded piece of thick black plastic that had appeared on my plot. It was about a square foot and had 13 slugs on the underside.  At a slug every 11 sq inches that indicates I have about 19,636 slugs on my plot.  :!:
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milkman

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New Allotment plot that's covered in weed and grass.
« Reply #22 on: February 08, 2007, 17:02 »
Like the post Ertistic.

If you are after an easy-going Tichscmarsh-Groundforce-like life, having an allotment isn't gonna fit the bill.  There are no quick fixes, there are always new challenges to be faced, it involves hard work (particularly at the beginning) and there will always be slugs.  The reward is in the eating.
Gardening organically on chalky, stony soil.

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Eristic

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New Allotment plot that's covered in weed and grass.
« Reply #23 on: February 08, 2007, 19:47 »
Television has completely corrupted the minds of new gardeners now for two complete generations and while there is good technical knowledge, the practical side has been completely lost. I doubt very much if there is even a single teacher left in horticulture that knows how to dig properly. Digging is an artform previously handed down through the generations. Do it right, it is simle and uses low physical effort. Nowadays, everyone wants to avoid digging because it is percieved as hard work, so instead of  getting stuck in to a few weeks digging they expend enormous amounts of time and energy trying to cheat.

In case anyone reading this thinks its easy for us old hands because we've got all the best plots, this is what my plot looked like last March.



And here is work in progress last week. The overgrown bit at the back is not my plot and is currently written off as unlettable. We shall see.



This is my idea of a raised bed but I am not advocating that anyone should double-dig like this.

As for the weeds, there has been a lot of grumbles in here about weeding. The difficulties encountered by newcomers with weeds is exacerbated by the poorly cultivated soil. As us old mangel worzel growers used to say, "The answer lies in the soil". I can pull any weed on my plot out by the roots, by hand, and hoeing and cultivating is painless, but when the ground is set like concrete you have no chance.

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muntjac

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New Allotment plot that's covered in weed and grass.
« Reply #24 on: February 08, 2007, 19:47 »
at the beginning) and there will always be slugs. The reward is in the eating.


snails on the council housing waiting list  :lol:

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frazzy

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New Allotment plot that's covered in weed and grass.
« Reply #25 on: February 08, 2007, 20:45 »
:lol: actually thats how i catch the slugs on my allotment .
pieces of old pond liner weighted down with a few stones slugs love the damp plastic just lift peel off slug and there ya go.
mind you i have a small pond on my lotty that attracts birds and other slug eating animals that also help.
if your a once a month allotment person then No carpets wont work but i go to my lotty daily and used in the right way carpet does have its uses
i have to say that actually now my whole plot is worked there is little use for it i now use mulches usualy wood chippings surplied by my local council i must get a digital camera i am proud of my plot carpets and all.
Nature teaches more than she preaches. There are no sermons in stones. It is easier to get a spark out of a stone than a moral.  byJohn Burroughs:

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muntjac

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New Allotment plot that's covered in weed and grass.
« Reply #26 on: February 08, 2007, 20:53 »
i actuallylike digging myself as seen here
http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?t=1690&highlight=back
 but i use the rotavator as well i double dig every third year ,single when needed ,as you say mate digging is really a dance  taking the first spit turning it over on the top then the second lower spit ends up being on the surface. i had to show my sons how to do it .i see on the other plots guys using a fork to dig a winter bed .pointing out it is easier with a good spade usually gets me told to f off n mind my own  :lol:

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frazzy

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New Allotment plot that's covered in weed and grass.
« Reply #27 on: February 08, 2007, 20:59 »
beautifull pics

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wellingtons

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Whilst some television ...
« Reply #28 on: February 09, 2007, 09:58 »
... gardening programmes have given new gardeners unrealistic visions of how to achieve the perfect garden in a weekend, there is absolutely no question that they have played their part in bringing gardening back into the mainstream.  It is no longer seen to be the domain of dippy old dears and grumpy old men, or those with the money to pay for a gardener.

I'm all for getting people back into gardening.  It makes the world in which we spend our 24/7 a better place!

Personally I'm hoping that the BBC Grow Your Veg is going to have the same effect.  I know it isn't useful to most of us here, but it might just encourage younger people to get into growing veg ... I'm probably the youngest allotment holder on my plot, and I'm seen as novelty value by some.



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