What do you do after clearing a plot of weeds when it's the end of May?

Or what should I have done? I took over my first plot Feb 16th - an 1/8 plot I was told - about 13m x 7m - half of someone else's plot who had been badgered into giving it up by the site manager because he had basically done nothing with his plot for a year and because there were a list of people like myself badgering the site manager. The plot was covered in a variety of weeds - marestail for one, couchgrass and miscellaneous others - dandelions, buttercups, grass, etc - I found the soil to be quite deep over the whole plot - say at least 3 spits deep - I double dug it and weeded it at the same time as thoroughly as I could - carefully teasing out the long marestail roots - this was backbreaking and very time consuming - basically as soon as I had the whole plot over (it took weeks) I kept going back to reweed and redig ares where I could see new things coming through as spring arrived and I did a final reweeding and redigging just before planting anything and I make sure I do an hour or more of weeding everytime I go down to the plot (about 3-4 times a week - I'm often down there for 3-6 hours - I work from home and have the time and a certain amount of flexibility to be able to put in the hours). About 4-5 weeks ago I was offered the other half of the plot so I've been doing the same as before - digging out weeds carefully but I was reading about the various herbicides e.g. glyphosate for getting rid of marestail but it seems like you really out to apply this to the weeds above ground - not after you have weeded it - is there something I should be doing to help keep the weeds at bay? Now I have the first plot on the go with things growing I thought I can afford to try and treat the plot and leave it for a while before feeling the need or the pressure to start planting anything.  The 2nd plot has much shallower soil - one 1-2 spits deep - there seems to be a stony layer. I thought about covering it with manure to try and put something back into soil that hasn't been used for at least 18 months but then I thought about the weeds growing back more vigorously so thought this might be the worst thing I could do. I want to put some asparagus crowns in on the 2nd plot - I can order some plants for July 2018 but they are expensive compared to crowns but they aren't available until April/May 2019. The 2nd plot seems not to suffer from the waterlogging that affects 1/3 of the first plot so maybe it drains better - with what I think is a shallower plot are there anything in particular to avoid or select for planting - I thought potatoes might struggle unless I mound them up well. It's late to plant quite a few things so what what would you think about doing now (end of May) with a newly weeded and dug (relatively shallow) plot? Some of my climbing beans and sweet peas haven't been doing very well - there were some frosts and some just didn't germinate - I thought I might plant some more.

Thanks for any kind of reply.

Look at no dig, basically, dig out perennial weeds, then cover with a thick layer of cardboard to exclude light, water well, then cover with well rotted manure or compost. Then if you want you can plant or alternatively just keep hoeing or cover with membrane to exclude any further light or weeds seeds. Charles Dowding has a website, he advocates no dig for better soil & plant health

I want to put some asparagus crowns in on the 2nd plot - I can order some plants for July 2018 but they are expensive compared to crowns but they aren't available until April/May 2019.

I wouldn't be too keen on the asparagus plants-I think there is a high risk of them failing as they really don't like to be moved.

Focus on preparing the asparagus beds and ensuring that any perennials that reappear are dealt with as you really don't want them with asparagus.

You could buy some asparagus seeds (eg from plants of distinction) and sow them now in pots at home and then you will have year 1 crowns next year to plant out next spring at a fraction of the price. You won't be able to harvest them for a couple more years but it's worth the wait!

I did this with my current beds and have just sown some more as I'm likely to have to move allotment sites this year so at least my asparagus will be in progress...

Sounds like you're approaching things well so keep up the hard work and look after your back!

Any ground left to go to seed will have millions of potential weeds in the top layer of soil so when you dig them out it just brings more to the surface.    Stubborn perennials, especially couch grass, will take a lot of time to get rid of. I have couch grass that has persisted in my veg beds despite a good digging then another finer one using a hand fork and am still finding more shoots coming up.  They can also make their way through weed membrane.  Best thing to do at the moment is to let the annual weeds grow a little bit, hoe them off, let another lot grow and do the same. Cover what you're not needing this year by putting compost (including spent mushroom compost), manure, and then add a layer of good quality weed membrane on top, but if you see any grass penetrating the membrane, lift it up and have a look for that damn couch grass! The weed called either Mare's Tail or Horsetail (which I also have) can send its roots down so far you wouldn't believe. There's an old saying that goes: "Never let it see a Sunday" so keep pulling out any growth you see. The main problem with it is that the leaves which look like spines have silica in them which shrugs off weed-killers, but if you tread firmly on the ferns to bruise the leaves, it makes them more vulnerable to glyphosate-based sprays.

its not to late to plant or grow from seed most vegetables.
anything a bit tender is still to go out in my plot. hopefully this weekend.
keep hoeing its the best for the annual weeds.
remember to enjoy your allotment its not all about work.

In terms of the weeds, we have the same as you so we're pulling and digging them out and will just pull or hoe as they return. The back half is where the couch grass is so not looking forward to getting to that! My dad used to take off all the soil, cut the rootmass out like turf into squares, pile it up then burn it.