help please!

Hi all

I have recently been lucky enough to obtain an allotment plot 'well half plot' for now at least.
We are currently going through the process of digging out all the grasses and weeds and have approx 1/3rd left to clear.

Our soil is clay soil and according to the neighbouring plot holders has a tendancy to hold water. I know adding manure to the soil (along with sand??) will improve it but i am wondering if its ok to do this in winter. We estimate(dependant on weather) it will take approx two weeks for us to be at the stage where we could add manure to the soil but im unsure if mid december is too late and if so is there anything else i can or should do.

The 'plan' was to clear the plot as much as possible then add manure or whatever we need to help the soil.
We would like to have fruit trees and bushes along the perimeter of the plot and then obviously the spaces for the beds, compost heap etc.

In/by? spring we intend to use railway sleepers to create 6 beds, digging out the soil from the 'walkways' to fill up the beds.
Which leads me to another question actually (sorry  ) are there any substrates i could use on the paths to help deter snails, slugs etc? the paths will be surrounding all beds so in theory it would be ideal if there was something they didnt like going on (im sure lifes not going to be that easy though lol)

Anyway i think thats enough of me babbling im sure ive given enough of an overview of the intentions, if anyone can tell me anywhere im going wrong in my plans or answer any of the questions ive asked id be extremely greatful, ive been waiting for this plot for years and now ive got it i feel totally at a loss lol.

thanks in advance for any help
stacey
xx

Dec is fine to spread manure...

Build your beds as early as you can so you can be hoeing off annual weeds as they appear

No path surface will deter slugs much. The usual recommendation is woodchip. Whether to put down weed fabric first depends on whether you have lots of horsetail or bindweed (which run around your site under the fabric - I speak from experience!) or whether you are worried about slugs hiding under the fabric. If neither of those things is too much of a prob then fabric stops the chip sinking into the soil. Chip has the advantage over gravel in that it will rot away if it spills into beds or you change layouts

Remember to think about your fruit trees and bushes shading your crops and taking up water from the soil

Thank you all for your replies!

I live in Manchester and yes our soil is frozen but because of the sheer amount of weeds and grasses on the plot its fairly insulated where they are so the ground is still workable, the ground in the cleared areas is freezing up almost as soon as we take the spade out of it lol.

Ill be honest now and say the main reason for waiting to build the beds is because its just too cold and i dont want to be out in these freezing temperatures too much with my two young sons so im chickening out a little . having said that though theres still plenty to do, the ground that is clear needs levelling out to a fair extent and obviously its not workable at the moment so we thought manuring the whole thing might let it warm up enough to allow us to work on that. which should help with getting the manure into the soil.

We did consider building the beds and just filling those but given the quality of the soil, (its practically solid clay )we wouldve had to buy in topsoil to fill the beds and as a result the 'good soil' wouldve only been to the depth of the sleepers. This way we are hoping to get a better depth of veg friendly soil by buying the much cheaper manure.

Thanks again for all your replies, any advice/tips are always more than welcome lol
I love my theories they work great lol, but i cant wait to see how practicality comes and slaps me in the face lol

My suggestion is, if it is only a half plot I would plant up next year without having raised beds. You will then be able to tell if you have surplus space. Raised beds with paths use up growing space. Also if you are doing potatoes in heavy clay soil, mounding up could be tricky.
If during the year you find it awkward then go for raised beds.

The compromise is to go for lazy beds rather than raised beds...it they work for you they're easy to convert to raised, if they don't you just blend them back into the plot

Thank you all for your replies!

I live in Manchester and yes our soil is frozen

I'm north east Manchester and the temps have been +4oC for the last five days so I am going digging tomorrow. Our allotment soc use scaffolding boards to edge our beds. We put in a bulk order and get them for £1 per 10' board. A lot cheaper than sleepers and no preservatives on them. Scaffolding companies have to sell off their boards at three years old. It's an insurance clause.

Just a word of caution re rotavating.  I would advise against doing so if the soil is rather wet.  You run the risk of creating a 'pan' i.e. hard layer at the bottom of the rotavation depth - which will create drainage problems.