[Mike the Postman]

As I have just mentioned in the garlic thread the village I live in is basically built on what used to be a peat bog.Here's a link that explains it in way more detail than I ever could!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chat_Moss

What I'm wondering is are there any types of veggies/fruits that thrive in damp moist soil and are there any varieties I should avoid like the plague?

I'd ask my fellow allotmenteers but after being on there for a week I am yet to see a soul.My allotment is situated away from the bigger main part,I've seen signs of life on there but none where I am.Also the patches where I am look like they have all been cleared and left for the winter.Oh...I tell a lie..somebodys got some sprouts and the biggest pumpkins I have ever seen!

Cheers in advance.

[peapod]

The peat is fab! But if its boggy can you put drainage in? Itll be a pain, but pay off in the long run, as you can grow a lot more types of veg.

[gillie]

Lazy beds, a type of raised bed culture where you dig out the paths and heap the spoil onto the beds, was originally invented for damp peaty areas.  However from a labour point of view lazy it aint!

The soil will probably be rather poor and acid, so plenty of compost or manure and lime (but not at the same time) will be required.

Cheers,

Gillie

[peapod]

Sorry Mike, Gillie is right about the soil (must remember what Im actually teaching - got a brain freeze lately!) Lazy beds are a good way, but it depends on how boggy your ground is, or you could put in 'normal' raised beds. A lot of expense but so drainage can be.

As with any imperfect soil, loads of organic matter will always improve it, perhaps thats how your neighbour has been able to grow?

[Mike the Postman]

Cheers for the replies

So Its looking like I have to raise my planting beds higher than the surounding ground?

I did something similar in my back garden.When we moved in it was 6ft high in bramble,it was an overgrown mess.When I came to clear it I uncovered a huge concrete garage base.Rather than go to the trouble and expense of ripping it all out I built some raised beds out of scaffolding planks.

Maybe something like that would work?

[savbo]

The carrots off Carrington Moss (just over the river) are aways big and healthy

M

[Mike the Postman]

The carrots off Carrington Moss (just over the river) are aways big and healthy

M

They used to do loads of arable farming this side of the water,there used to be fields and fields of spuds and carrots etc.. You still get the odd field of barley or wheat but now they all seem to have ditched the veg and gone in for growing turf.One farmer has even turned his land into a golf course!

[gillie]

It should certainly be good carrot soil - no stones and almost 100% organic matter, so there is no real need to add more, you could concentrate on adding fertiliser alone at first.

I guess the arable fields have some kind of drainage, but that would be difficult to do on a small scale as you would need somewhere for the water to drain into. 

I would go  for some kind of raised bed system.  It need not all be done at once, as long as you planned where the beds are going to go.  Meanwhile on the rest of the plot you could experiment with crops that like lots of water.  Courgettes, pumpkins and the like should certainly enjoy it, and salads should do OK.  Potatoes were grown all over the boggy parts of Scotland and Ireland, so blight not withstanding they are worth a go.  I am not too sure about brassicas though, they need an alkaline soil and to be planted firmly.

You may find that the bogginess is more of a trial for you squelching around than it is for the plants.

Cheers,

Gillie

[Mike the Postman]

Cheers Gillie,thats a great help!

[gillie]

Another thought... Do you like blueberries?  Down South people find them very difficult to grow, but they would love your soil.  Raspberries would  probably do well too.

Gillie

[Salmo]

Much of the area south of Peterborough is peat fen drained about 1850s. Crops that thrive are potatoes, onions, carrots and celary. By celary I do not mean the stringy apology offered in supermarkets but the real stuff earthed up and tasting really nutty. 

[Mike the Postman]

I love blueberries,Not quite as much as the missus though,she's addicted to blueberry muffins.I'd get shed loads of brownie points if I made me own!

I've got blackberry and raspberry bushes in the back garden.I only put them in last year and I've had a load of fruit of them already.The soil in my garden is a bit drier than on my allotment though.I live in an end house so I think mine was the dumping ground for all the left over rubble and sand.

I dont think I've ever had the pleasure of tasting 'proper' celery.I'll look forward to giving that a go as well as the spuds,carrots and onions.I must spend a fortune over the course of a year on those three vegetables alone.

[Faz]

Chat Moss celery - thick as a navvy's arm! World famous (well maybe across the North West and probably years ago now it's no longer being farmed so much!).