George Monbiot: A wee bit smug ?

I covered my plot and it even got rid of the raspberries, hundreds of the blooming things.  It rotted them off so they could just be lifted out and burned.  I don't dig or rotovate so not chopping the couch or bringing it to the surface so there's sommat in what he says.  I do find it round the grass paths which are doomed cos I'm sick of em  

I've got an expanse under cover at the moment and last year I sneaked a peak, stuck a fork in and there was couch so I covered it back up and am about to uncover it again to see if it's gone. At least covering the weeds up kills off the surface ones quickly so you're left with bare moist earth when it comes to planting in it.  If I see dandelions etc still living I put a full thickness newspaper over that and then re-cover with the sheet mulch.  It takes time but it saves all that weedkilling etc.  My plot is very large so I can't tackle it all so covering it helps me keep pace with it  

"Before I took my plot over a part of it had been covered in carpet for what the other plot holders estimated was about five or six years"

He said don't use carpet, because of the toxicity. Another reason is that carpet lets in light, rain, and of course, weeds grow through it, and in it. Its a nightmare to clear up, just on its own. I pull weeds because I can do it without investing in any other equipment.

"I do most of my gardening at night. I lie in bed walking, in my imagination, around my vegetable beds, working out what I could do better. I love this strategising. It takes my mind off the bigger issues and allows me to see - when otherwise I feel powerless - that there is something I can change."

I can certainly relate to that

The things I start under cloches do generally do well a lot earlier, but I just don't have the materials right now to make (and store when not in use) more cloches,  so he's at least partly right. If you have a big polytunnel like HFW has down in devon, you can probably start really early, but if you live in a high wind area in the north, then its impractical, and still quite expensive.

Still, he's just saying what worked for him - nothing wrong with that. I tend to like sharing the knowledge I have of what works for me more than what doesn't

cheers,

Derek