[Windsong]

So, the plot that we were originally going to have we didn't have. It looked okay until we started digging and realised that the person before us just rotovated rubbish into the plot (glass, plastic bags, plastic pots etc). We got a new one but it is a complete mess. We got the keys yesterday and went up there to work it today. Here are the pics:

Before 1


Before 2 - our plot boundary goes all the way down to the metal fencing and the boundary to the right is where you can see that little piece of wooden fencing sticking up but we've been told that we can have everything to the right of that as well.


After1


After 2



We spent 7-8 hours there today; ripping out raspberry bushes, nettles, dock and what I think might be couch grass. I think that we will get very little, if anything, planted this year. Am I being realistic or pessimistic?

How should we proceed with the plot? We were thinking that we'd keep digging things up and covering worked areas with some landscaping fabric to keep weeds from growing while we move to another patch. For the area to the right of our plot we were thinking of spraying some weedkiller, leave it set for a few weeks and then cover it with landscaping fabric until next year. Or at the very least to keep the overgrowth from spilling onto our plot. We wouldn't grow much on that part anyway as there are a lot of brambles and a big oak tree. So how best to proceed? We've never done anything like this before and it feels incredibly daunting at the moment.

[digalotty]

i would look at working a third and covering the rest with carpet or black plastic . and i would use round up leave it 2 weeks and start digging into beds plant it with potatoes and start slowly working down the plot .
dont expect to do it all in one go , anything over a third in the first year is good and if you dont have any spuds go to wilko or a garden centre and get some now

[mumofstig]

as you clear a bed plant it with something, rather than just cover it, then you will be rewarded for your labour 

[harding24]

We had exactly the same problem...and still do. We've had out plot since September and it was in the same state. Even now we are digging up bits of glass bottles, china, rocks, plastic bottle lids etc etc etc. Its a never ending task!

We made a start de-weeding and clearing one half and then planting a few things just to cheer ourselves on. We have just finished  the other half now with some help from weed killer to speed up events. We dont have a shed to keep a rotovator either so we have had to dig it all over with forks and shovels kept at home.

Totally sympathise and I hope someone has some ideas. Thankfully I have a 10 year old step daughter who loves Time Team and loves digging all the rubbish up. She has more or less convinced herself that there is a Roman villa underneath our plot! Did the Romans drink Carlsberg? Answers on a postcard please

[whistler]

I agree with Diggalotty. 
Take your time, get some spuds in, chitting them is not a necessity.   Plant only the things that your family like to eat, maybe start some runner beans off now in pots at home ready to plant out at the end of May beginning of June.  If you like courgettes, do the same with them, they will make a lot of shade and stop any weeds growing up underneath them.  Enjoy, take two fold up chairs with you and don't forget your flask, it's up to you what you put in the flask.

[Yorkie]

Well done for taking the piccies, they are so useful when you inevitably flag termporarily and think you've achieved nothing 

This article is hopefully of some help
http://www.allotment-garden.org/articles/Clearing_a_New_Allotment.php

Please don't use carpet to cover the area, though.  It's not great news for a number of reasons.

[Growster...]

Just don't worry about doing the work - it seems an enormous task, but what the hell, you've got a great opportunity to do what you want here!

The hard bit is realising that gardening actually needs some effort, and you've already done te realising bit!

Keep going, you're nearly there!

[Windsong]

Does it matter that we can still see tons of smaller roots? Are they something that we should get rid of before planting, or should we just dig up what we can and plant? I wouldn't mind growing butternut squash as well as potatoes, would the roots, and acidic clay soil mean we're not ready for squash yet? (I'm not sure what the acidity is but I've read that raspberries, nettles, dock and mint are a sign that the soil is acidic and we had all of those.)

@harding24 - We don't have a place for a rotovator either. We did all that work today with one mattock, one spade and one fork. Our youngest (she's 4) saved all the worms lol. Our 13 year old son came up to help for a couple of hours too. Oh to be that young, agile and fit again lol. We're roping him in again tomorrow and possibly a friend of ours.

@Yorkie - I did see a plot with carpet on it but I imagine that there are chemicals and the like that can leech into the soil. I think we're going to get some landscaping fabric. It's kind of expensive but I don't know of a better alternative.

[Yorkie]

Personally I'd advise you to get as many roots out as possible unless you're sure what they relate to and that they won't grow back 

I'd give the squash a go, I don't think it's that fussy a plant.

[Windsong]

Okay, that's what I figured. What is the best way to go about it? The soil is quite heavy, damp and compact, so I don't think that we could sift it (maybe I'm wrong). We're picking out as much as we can by hand; turning the soil and picking out more, but is there a more efficient/effective way?

[bigben]

Pick a bit your unlikely to be able to dig this year. Hack everything down and cover with decent quality weed control fabric - a fairly large area. You can then cut a hole every meter and plant squash or pumpkins. Dig out a planting hole with a trowel as large as possible thru the fabric and fill it with manure or decent quality garden compost with some chicken pellets added. I did this last year a got a great crop on ground I did not not even have to dig. 5m by 4m. I lifted the fabric and dug out all the roots this year but am repeating the process on the last bit of my allotment to be cleared this year.

[pete1977]

the diffence in especially pic 1 before and after is already massive - so well done lots of hard work done already...

I agree with big ben.  hack back clear and plant through weed fabric so you have little reweeding to do giving you more time to tackle the rest...I think being methodical is the best appoach set yourself a realistic targets then double what time you think it will take you...

like you say cover, but you don't need expensive weed fabic for this as anything that will supress the weeds newspaper split rubble sacks, damp course membrane, visqueen, old ground sheets, old cover from a gazebo are the many things i used as a free alternative. The added bonus is the lack of water getting to the soil really kills off the grasses and weeds quickly but as mentioned by yorkie don't use carpet - thought it was banned on most lottie sites?

 rolls of weed fabric are cheapish on ebay but you want to get the best quality you can reuse this for a few seasons the thin stuff just doesn't stand up to the weather.  then the weathered holey stuff can be folded up to put under paths etc. 

Spuds are a great way to break up the ground but don't be fooled in to thinking it the spuds that do all the hard work it just you have to cultivate the soil well in planting and digging up spuds but at least you get a nice reward for your efforts.  all legumes do well through fabic but i've found onions don't like it - but I think I cut my holes too small so prob just me...

[katiekate]

I found that one moment I thought I'd never get anything to grow, and the next that it would just take a few days, and back again!

I liked using black plastic as the fabric degraded quickly in the sun and stuff just grew on through it..

Potatoes, squashes, courgettes will all be fine.

I found a petrol strimmer useful for and a mattock invaluable.

Good luck!

[impossible5072]

You know what sweetie I have had a garden like that with permission I will post photees another time but we went from trees and shopping trolleys, it had been a dumping ground for the council for 15 years, we found the old windows before the double glazing, and I mean loads of them, and a full garage size shed,  shopping trolleys mirrors bits of house moves concrete slabs all sorts but buried under the surface 2 foot down as well as on the top, we have taken a piece at a time and made beds so we can separate bits.  We have a massive pile of junk but my beans, peas and sweetcorn areas are done also my brassica patch and my roots plus lettuce etc and i have a fruit garden we have worked like trojans, your patch is much bigger but i would take your time i have my pots in a builders tonne sack and they are coming through nicely, I wish you lots and lots of luck.

[potatogrower]

Hi,

that's a lot of land, you'll have a lot of fun growing there 

i guess everyone here will give all sorts of advice how to tackle this. on a plot this big there is no shortage of soil and you want to save yourself the effort of painstakingly separating weeds/roots and soil.

I have a small plot in my garden and it was all covered in grass, huge dandelion, trails of nettles.

the best advice i can give is separate the land into sections you can work on each day.
to dig out those weeds and grass, best would be to get the fork, dig huge clumps of soil out and turn it over exposing it to the sun. don't spend time separating the soil and roots, do that later. quickly work your way from each clump to the next.

once the sun dries out the soil then beat the clump of soil with the back of the fork and hopefully it will loosen the roots and weeds and you can bin them all or just beat the dry soil off and as one big clump of weeds and roots just bin it in bags. alternatively to save time doing this you could just put the lot in black bags, on a trailer and take it to the local recycling centre. i know its a lot of soil to throw away but there is plenty there anyway. if its clayish then you can get sharp sand and hire a rotivator, work it in and hopefully soil will be workable over time.

in terms of roots you can pick them out with a rake but if there on the surface then the sun would do the job of drying and killing them off.

Huge dandelions may not come out with ease so spray weedkiller on them.

Health wise ensure you and your kids drink plenty of water and cover yourself from the sun, as its getting quite warm out there.

Good luck and have fun