[North Devon Dumpling]

We moved into a new house (an old farm house as tenants)in the spring and have made  a veggie patch from a bit of old ground which had been used for a veggie patch many years ago and was the most availble land we could have (not digging up the nice lawns!).  The soil is in good condition and when dry excellent top soil.

I know we have had alot of rain this 'summer' but the plot is unbelieveably boggy.  We don't really want to create another plot in the garden (no-where else really suitable) so will want to continue to use this plot next year.  Any suggestions on how we can reduce the boggyness?  We have thought about raised beds and also thinking about a polytunnel.

Thanks

[gimli]

im only new to allotmens myself but raised beds sound like a good idea

[Christine]

Not a lot of information to go on. What is the soil like? If it's on the clay end of the spectrum of soils like mine, you need a lot of manure (if you can get it and be sure that it's clear of the chemical affects many people have suffered from this year[/u], this would improve things no end.

You don't mention if it is at the lower end of a slope ... could be a problem.

You'll know by now if the soil is compacted or whether a thorough double digging might help. One of the newer allotment holders near me on the site has spent over a year double digging, taking out clods of clay and adding well rotted manure. He now has half an allotment of good soil which he can use and which can have compost and manure added to it in order to bring the level back up.

I'd go for the digging option on one part to see what's what - you may find that not so far down below the surface is where the problems are. Of course you could also order a drier summer for next year.

[Kate and her Ducks]

I have a bog garden (not deliberate) whenever it rains as I have really heavy clay on a new build house and manage very well with raised beds. Would strongly recommend them. Bought the first one (expensive) and made the second out of free bricks with no experience and next to no effort (God love skip diving )

[lincspoacher]

If it were a field, the farmer would dig a ditch round it to lower the water table in the plot, dont know if its big enough to do that -effectively you turn it into one giant raised bed.