[Jeanieblue]

Hi, I'm Jeanieblue, and am new to this site and new to growing veggies. My pal Julia and I have taken on a very weedy neglected allotment site and we're compromising on how to clear it.  I'm digging half the old fashioned way, spit by spit and pulling out the wicken. She's covering her half with raw horse manure and leaving it for the winter. My half of the manure will sit and rot down, ready to be dug in next spring.  I need the challenge, having just given up nursing, but if it carries on raining like it's done this week, I have this feeling she'll win!  Except that I'll have muscles like Popeye and hers will still look like sparras ankles !!  Wish us luck. :D

[Aidy]

I think not there Jeanieblue my money is on you, if there is horsetail and redshank you really need to dig these up, I have yet to see the no-dig style work with these pesky weeds, keep digging and do what ur doing and I bet you have a better plot come the summer. Good luck

[Jeanieblue]

Thanks for cheering me on, Aidy. Would have gone digging today, honest, but it's rained steadily. Am out all day tomorrow - it's my birthday - so fingers crossed for a fair wind over the weekend so that I can go digging again on Monday. Never thought it could be so ad 'dig' tive !!!!  Jeanieblue

[muntjac]

you pal will love the lovely crop of real thick rooted weeds that pop up .and she will love having to dig them out thorugh all that nice manure . my money is on you jeanie .

[Flying Cyril]

G'day,
I joined this group about a minute ago and the first post I've come across is about weeds. I took my allotment on last November so I'm still on l-plates but learning fast, but I've got as many weeds as when I started, if not more. I dug every weed out on the 1st quarter of my plot and dug the rest in, I was told they would rot down. I've re-dug parts and pulled every weed in sight and still they grow rampantly, about 4 times faster than any veggies. I have now got myself a Sheen flame gun which I have used a couple of times on the same patch. The weeds grow back. Now then, I want to be as organic as possible so weedkiller is out of the question, so what I'm going to try is use the flame gun and rotavate the area. Wait for the weeds to grow back and repeat the process. Carry on doing this until the weeds stop. They can only be growing from dormant seeds, cant they ?? I've got some impressive brussels and savoys though.

[John]

You never win with the weeds. Some seeds lie dormant for seven years before bursting into life. Then the wind blows seeds in from far and wide.

The weeds to worry about are the perennial ones like docks and dandelions. The annuals aren't so much hassle and you can dig them in

Don't forget that a sharp hoe is your best weapon.

[muntjac]

so your going to be a lifelong weed burner then cyril . werk the plot as you would with veggies and hoe hoe hoe .you can turn the ground over for the next hundred years and weed seeds wil still come up. just stya on top of them with a hoe

[Gwiz]

hoe hoe hoe!
( in keeping with the season )
when you get your mind into it a good session with the hoe is quite satisfying.
i aim to hoe my plot all over once a week in the summer. its quicker than any other weed control method. remember to hoe the bits that haven`t got any weeds showing as well as the bits that have.
all the best.

[noshed]

File your hoe to keep it sharp - very satisfying to use then.

[Flying Cyril]

There's a lesson learn't then, I'll be bringing me hoes home and giving them a good sharpening. The flame gun can be used as a quick lighter for me BBQ.
Ta lads.

[cornykev]

  I'm with the others Jeanie your on a winner with the weeding.Your friend won't believe the hard work ahead, but at least if there's a drought you can use her tears to water your lovely vegies. I was the new boy last year and all my fellow lotties advised me Hoe Hoe Hoe did I take any notice no i was on my hands and knees pulling out these small weeds. Did I learn, you bet I did, can't believe I had a hoe in the shed and was not using it.    

 So remember this.  Hi ho hi ho its off your knees you go, it's easier with a sharper hoe hi ho hi ho hi ho.

[GrannieAnnie]

If I hoe and leave my weeds on top of the gorund to rot down or act as a mulch, OH tells me off and says they will only root again, but I keep trying to tell him that if they are annuals, they will die off.  OK, they might be replaced by a new weed, but the old ones usually stay dead!

But then he keeps on about rotavating instead of digging the weeds!!!!!  :?

[Jeanieblue]

Thanks everyone, for your encouragement and advice and thanks for making me so welcome on this site. I have a nice hoe, a three pronged affair and I'll be using it on the first plot I cleared. Am halfway through a second plot, and that's been easier because my kind hubbie markedit out, stripped the 'turfs' off the top and then rough dug it. I'm getting some lovely lengths of wicken out, as easy as you like. Happy digging and weeding, everyone.

[John]

You mention a three pronged affair - we're talking about what they call a dutch hoe -

[wellingtons]

... I spent weeks on my hands and knees weeding the whole shebang.

Some of my neighbours offered the advice to rotivate, but I didn't want to.  I don't think it works as a long or medium term solution to weeds.

This is my second year and my plot is less weedy than my neighbours.  I hand weed out all the perennial weeds (the blighters do come back tho!) and hoe every thing else, the whole plot gets the once over once a week and it really keeps it down.

So the advice the others have given is good ... pull up da nasties and hoe da not so nasties ...