[gillej]

Hello everyone
I am new to allotments and have just been given my new, what looks like massive, allotment by the Parish Council.

Currently it is just grass.....and of course right now the earth is hard and dry.

Can anyone give me some adivice as to the best steps to take to prepare the soil ready for next year ?

I was thinking of killing the grass, covering the ground and then rotavating the land.

Can you rotavate virgin land or do you need to dig first ?

Appreciate any help.

regards
James

[madcat]

When we took over ours three years ago it was on a new site extention, made by taking over a paddock. The parish council/allotment assoc had weedkillered the field grass on the area for the new allotments (inc boundary paths) and when it had died, a local farmer had ploughed it, which was how it stood for the winter.  Ideally the next stage would have been to dig it in the spring, but the reality of time ...  So a careful job with the fork lifting the nettles and docks then a rotivator went over it.  Yes, we have paid for it to some extent with the nettles, but a sharp hoe keeps them set back and over time we are winning.  But in practice, we got crops in the ground, whereas if we had hand double dug it all (and this is just half a plot) ...  would we have finished it in time to get the beans in?  Or would we have lost hope?  Not sure, but don't regret what we did.   

[Christo]

Good luck with the new plot gillej. Sounds very exciting.

[gillej]

Thanks for your comment. Very nice Parish Council!
I have a full 20m x 5m patch so double digging the entire lot I think would me in hospital...

[madcat]

Sounds like weedkiller, second touch on anything that survived (horse radish and dock and nettles being my list, others would add mares tail and bindweed) and then rovatate before the winter.  You shouldnt need to cover, I wouldnt have thought.  The frost will break it all down nicely for you to start in the spring. 

What do others think about green manure for the winter?  I'm thinking about it for my potato patch.  would it help here after the rotivatation?  (Is that a word? - you know what I mean!)

[Ice]

There's some good advice on this link.  If anything is not covered then please ask as many questions as you need to.

http://www.allotment-garden.org/articles/Clearing_a_New_Allotment.php

[gillej]

would you know if a rotavator will work on land that has not been prepared or will it need to be broken up first ?
thanks

[sunshineband]

If the ground is very hard, the rotavator might just skip over the surface I think  

As you plot is currently grass land, you might find you have quite a few wireworms. I only mention this because mine was very infested. Don't be put off by the fact they are virtually indestructable. Just make sure you pick out everyone you see always and if there are masses, you can trap them by burying half potatoes on sticks about four or five inches down and leaving them for a wekk or so -- pull out any wireworms and re-bury.


PS They are thin and orangy brown, about an inch and a bit long and very hard and shiny. Larvae of click beetle and they live in pasture eating grassroots, but will happily eat holes in potatoes, lettuce roots, etc  

PPS They don't bite luckily  

[gillej]

thanks.
Wireworm sounds nasty - will keep my eye open for them.

[sunshineband]

Don't mean to put you off -- just be aware 

[binner]

my plot was just the same, weed killer it again if signs of anything growing back then get stuck in with the spade WHEN it rains lol, the rotorvator will not touch it untill its been broken up with a spade, but once thats done why not add as much well rotted manure as you can get hold of then give it all a whirl with a rotovator.
also dont get too carried away trying to do the whole plot this year. no way could i have done it so i split the plot up into 3, i dug/made 3 beds first year, then this year i have done 3 more and still have one third of the plot to dig over. tatties are good for breaking new ground up but the wire worm will be a menace, however they get less and less each year, and they recon by about year 3 they should have just about gone

[gillej]

@ binner - great advice - thanks

[binner]

no problem, mostly advice i had given on this site anyway

have a look at my blog here, some pics on from the start
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=47682.0

[viettaclark]

I thought I had wireworm in my beds but having Googled I've found they are centipedes (Geophilis) which are beneficial, eating pests not crops. (So I'm not feeding them to the chooks any more)
They are mistaken for wireworms.
Saying that, you will be more likely to have the real wireworms because they love grassland!!!