[greenfingeredmum]

Hi

We've just taken on our first allotment (have grown veg in garden but not on big scale) and it is well overgrown with everything from nettles to brambles and lots I dont know!

We have also inherited some very strange features - 5 3m long trenches that are around 3-4ft deep and the massive piles of soil that had been taken out.

We cut all the weeds etc down at the weekend and they're currently filling the trenches. But on doing so we discovered an underground wasps nest (problem no 1). We haven't located an entrance but are thinking the petrol route.

The weeds are trickier. We obviously need to fill the trenches and get rid of the mounds and get rid of weeds. Im against wide spread weed killer (too pricey) but obviously we don't want to wait ages to start getting it cultivated. I'm thinking black plastic in sections then dig each in turn. If we do this, how soon before we get stuff in the ground.

I've heard people mention potatoes as good crops for new sites, would this help?

Any tips greatly received 

[mumofstig]

unless you wish to clear/dig a space quickly to get some overwintering onions in, there's not much else to plant now!
There's no hurry at this time of year as you've got from now to march (when the spring sowing/planting starts) to clear it

Potatoes don't in themselves clear the ground, but the deep cultivation involved in growing them, means that you do the work to clear the land. 

[Stevens706]

You could use one of the trencehes as next years bean trench, fill it up with green bin waste and carboard then in the spring top it with soil and plant your beans.

[Yorkie]

Do not use petrol.  Apart from the very obvious safety issue, do you really want to contaminate your plot with this?

[sunshineband]

You can buy aerosol wasp killer in DIY stores that is safe to use 

[compostqueen]

When I moved into my current house it came with a huge wasps nest. The pest control guy told me to wait til evening when the wasps were in bed and then dust the entrance hole with a new puffer spray of ant powder. It worked first time

You could leave the wasp nest alone if it's not in the way as they will clear off when it gets cold.

[simonwatson]

The wasps should be slowing down now it's getting cold. Once the activity stops, you should be able to just dig the nest out. They only operate once it gets really cold so you just need to time you digging so that it's cold but not frozen.

[Ricey]

Once you have a section prepared, you can sow green manure which conditions soil, supresses weeds and can be dug in for fertilizer come spring.
There's plenty of info in this forum on green manure and a google search throws up lots of links.
Good luck with the new lotty .
(And don't use petrol)