Help! A newbie

littlenellies · « **on:** September 12, 2008, 19:55 »

Hi all

I have recently settled in nicely with my new chickens, so now I have taken on a new project. Two days ago I took on a freshly ploughed 5 pole allotment. Now what do I do.

I have already spoken to some of the other allotment holders and they have all given me their advice, so now I'm totally confused. I basically want to know what is my next step. I have already started making plans to erect a shed and some fencing, but what to do with the ploughed field is beyond me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rotovate it, dont rotovate it cause it will chop up the weeds into a million pieces

Dig by hand and remove the weeds, don't bother it back breaking

Cover in black plastic, don't cover in black plastic cause that's not proper gardening

Cover it in cow manure, no! grow green manure and dig in

Just leave it spring

:cherry: :cherry: :cherry: :cherry:

littlenellies x

Ice · « **Reply #1 on:** September 12, 2008, 20:02 »

Three tips.

!. go to information page and buy John's book.
2. Read the excellent article on clearing a new plot.
3. Ask as many questions as you want on here.

This site is like the buses. Ask a question and several opinions arrive at once.

Welcome.

kezlou · « **Reply #2 on:** September 12, 2008, 20:45 »

Hello nellie,

right this is my plan of action so far. I'm a newbie so any suggestions would be amazing as well.

I have done 1/4 of the plot covered it with carboard and put horse manure on top. Then leaving it for next year. No dig approach, just being 'lazy' and leaving it.

1/4 dug over and put veggies in.

1/4 dug over on Tuesday and put leeks in Wednesday.

1/4 cover and leave till next year as soon as i get some cardboard.

1/4 plant onions and garlic in for over the winter.

My plan of action at the moment.

The idea of the cardboard is will rot into the ground, manure will rot into ground, shove a bit of soil over the top and and hey presto raised beds ready for planting next year.

Oh and get Johns book its really good for newbies like us, tons of info all round top notch.

good luck

digital_biscuit · « **Reply #3 on:** September 13, 2008, 12:19 »

I suppose it depends on how much time you have!

I decided i would dig it bit by bit and weed by hand when i started, but havin a job where i can work up to 12 hours a day and weekends, this really takes its toll, this year i couldnt keep on top of the weeds as i had knee surgery, so as and when i remove crops i shall be using my new best buddy - Roundup! I know its cheating, but hey, im a busy man!!!

yummy · « **Reply #4 on:** September 13, 2008, 18:20 »

Hiya

Your post reminds me of when I got my first lottie 18 months ago. So much advice... we were so confused cos everyone on the plot had different ideas about how things should be done.

Personally, I don't agree that covering with black plastic isn't proper gardening and who cares anyway? It makes sense to me to cover up some areas of your plot to start with. Then you have less weeding to keep on top of. As you get one section up and running, you can uncover the next and start on that.

littlenellies · « **Reply #5 on:** September 15, 2008, 16:52 »

Hi all

Thanks for all your replies.

I am a night care childminder so once the kids have gone to school I have the rest of the day. I intend to go to my 'lottie' as you all seem to call them, once a day. I have not done anything yet other than write down all the veg that I like, then crossed out all the ones that my book (The Vegetable & Herb Expert) say are not EASY. I have put them into 3 categories, Root, Brassica and Others with a 3 year rotation plan. However, I have now idea as to companion planting, the only thing I remember as a kid was to plant Marigolds next to Carrots to stop the flies.

I intend to leave my plot for 2 weeks then weed kill it again if necessary, then throw some manure onto it and cover. I have been frowned upon by some of the 'flat caps', and I do listen to their advice, however I do not intend to constantly weed.

I have now managed to beg and borrow, a brand new but damaged shed, some guttering, 12 x 3'x2' slabs, an old fire guard to make a compost cage, and old header tank to sink and make a small pond to encourage frogs to eat the slugs and most importantly a bench to survey my new estate.

CAN'T WAIT

littlenellies x

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