[Shamps]

Hi folks,

can you please tell me if we are wasting our time digging the rest of our plot now (the area which has been treated with roundup that is),  are we to wait until autumn?

ta

[mumofstig]

No keep digging, there's still loads of stuff that can be sown or planted. Have a
look here http://www.allotment-garden.org/vegetable/general/sowing-harvest-vegetable-chart.php

[andyandyjohnson]

Hi folks,

can you please tell me if we are wasting our time digging the rest of our plot now (the area which has been treated with roundup that is),  are we to wait until autumn?

ta

You still have time to start things in pots whilst you prepare your soil. Try planting some beans, sweetcorn, lettuce and brassicas in trays or pots whilst you carry on digging. As long as you plant them out in the next six weeks, you will get a crop.

[peterjf]

go for it champs , the more you dig the more you have to plant in ,

you can start digging the plot after spraying with round up after only 48 hours , so ive been told ,

nice thin spades full of soil maybe 1-2 " thick so when they dry out in a couple of days they will crumble to very small pieces

[Shamps]

thanks folks, just needed a bit of motivation after a bit of conflicting advice/reading up etc. 

please don't think I'm daft but could you just give us an instruction on your digging method (Peterjf- that bit about you say about a thin spade full etc), I want to get a bit done tommorrow, but I want to go armed with a proper detailed method if that makes sense.  I still have the dead weed on top do i just trench and turn it face down

again, im just unsure on the no dig v single dig v double dig etc 

argh 

[peterjf]

just did as normal but turn the soil over ,

dig a full spade length but only dug 1-2 inches thick on your spade , instead of like winter digging , dogging over and leaving the soil in big loads for the weather to break up

[Shamps]

Ok thanks for that,  I just needed a bit of a confidence boost in what I am doing after getting in a tizzy reading up and getting conflicting advice (I was thinking, I didnt mean to say motivation in my last post as in Im too lazy to do it, it's just I'm lacking in some confidence in myself).

I really want to get stuck in with my allotment, I just dont want to do it wrong or make a hash of it.   

Heres a photo of it before I go down there tommorrow and get stuck in some more bearing in mind I will have my littlen in tow too, I'll try to do my best! 

[Rangerkris]

Digging me plot over is done with a fork less breakage of roots and you can move soil around easy enough with a fork.   I dig a trench one end of the bed and put the soil to one side turn the next row into dug bed and so on and on and on hehehe. 

I would go for as much digging getting done while the weather is good for it you can always cover it if you dont have crops to plant in it.

[paintedlady]

If you have recently had rain, it will make digging so much easier!  Spade versus fork - I found my spade much more useful on the really heavy clay soil that had not been touched in years but it does slice through roots.  The fork has proved much more useful when the soil is a bit more workable (and I usually use this to loosen the surface before the sun bakes the clay clod into terracotta bricks LOL  ).  Also, I found a borders spade much easier to use - because it is smaller (narrower), it went through the soil much easier, and when turning the clod over was a lighter load than a normal sized spade.

[savbo]

we've been finding one pass with the spade (2-3" slices) then another with the fork works well. Spade is quick at getting area broken up, fork breaks down to crumbly bits (hit the clods with the side of the fork if they won't break up) and brings most of the roots to the surface...

Actually cos ours is full of bindweed, horsetail and ground elder we've gone over a third time. Get more rrots our

Then run the 3-prong cultivator to bring more roots to surface.

[paintedlady]

(hit the clods with the side of the fork if they won't break up)

Perhaps do this cautiously - you can actually damage (break off) your fork tines if you catch the clod wrong! (speaks from experience  )

[Shamps]

Thanks everyone,

going over there shortly to have a right good go at it!

[Shamps]

Hi folks,

attached is a photo of my attempts at the digging, I was there for about 3.5hrs, got about a 6ft x 5ft area done, I did the whole single dig (thin slices thing), it wasnt as immaculate as some of those digging diagrams you see are  it was more of a slopey trench dig. 

Did as much as I can, it's not the easiest thing in the world with a bambino in tow, but I look at him and think I am doing this for you 

[Jay The Digger]

I always take my small helper whenever I go too.  Give him a little bucket and make it his job to "find stones for daddy".  I find that I am slowed by having to constantly keep an eye out for him, and go looking if he is gone for longer than a few minutes.

Still, digging is digging, and it all needs doing eventually, so enjoy yourself and take your time. 

As far as digging goes, I would whip through a failrly large area with a fork, remove as many roots and large stones as possible, then go over smaller areas more carefully.  If you can borrow a rotavator after initially digging, that gets it down to a fine tithe in short order.

[BigPaddy]

Hey Shamps - I'm three plots along from you! I'm big and I'm called Paddy!

I saw you on Sunday night leaving for home after all day there. You have no lack of motivation that's for sure.

I dont think you can 'do it wrong or make a hash of it'. If you dig and plant you will get food or not. If you wait until autumn you will get nothing. If you dig and things dont work as well as they could the autumn digging will be easier anyway.

Regarding plant, if you havent tapped into the plant exchange come and ask and I can get you started. Everyone starts too many seedlings and most are happy to pass on small seedlings to pot on.

Jay bambino is a bit small for a bucket yet - mind might fit in a bucket?