[Folderol]

Hello - I'm Folderol - my wife and I have just started renting a plot in a neighbouring village. It's a farm field that used to be under wheat etc and was taken over as allotments only two years ago.
We're the first tenants for this plot so it is virgin farm field with mainly grass. It's heavy-ish soil with clay and the odd loamy patch.
We've recently retired so it's to be one of our main leisure (!!) pursuits although in time we intend to set up a couple of chairs and a definitely a kettle and gas ring. It's a full 10 pole plot so we know our work's cut out.

First thing is to get it Round-upped to kill off what's there although I've been told Round up isn't 100% on brambles etc - so I have been warned - luckily other than grass there only seems to be a few nettles and not much else. Whether there's any couch I don't yet know, but there are a few very clean plots around so here's hoping.
After Roundup, rotavating - all in hand - and then acquire a shed and erect that.
That would seem to be the summer sorted as we'll be away a bit too, so I hope to get seeds/plants in in the early autumn.

Rabbits may be a bit of a problem so I will be putting round some wire netting although rabbit proofing I know has to be very substantial to be guaranteed. I'm hoping that the local buzzards and foxes may help me!

Questions:

1 I know potatoes are good to break up soil - and I do realise that it's not just the potatoes but also the digging that does that, but what major crops do you recommend?

2 It's slightly sloping ground with the slope facing south. Is it best to grow in rows across or up and down the rows?

Thanks

Folderol

[arugula]

Hello and welcome Folderol! Great introduction, but I'll move it to the grow your own board for some expert advice.

[totalnovice]

Hiya and welcome to the site - you will get some fantastic advice here - I always do!

Leeks are good for breaking up the ground as well as potatos, and quite conveniently they make really good soup together too. You could also try a quick growing green manure crop too. I would stick to rows across the plot, but thats only personal preference, not sure if it makes a difference which way they grow

Good luck and keep us updated with how you are doing.

[Ice]

On your heavy clay I would add as much sharp sand, manure, compost and spent compost as possible to break it up.  The rows would get maximum light going across the plot E/W.

[Jay The Digger]

Welcome to the highs (and lows) of growing your own.

If your plot was once a field with crops that is good news.  For a start it must be fertile, and has been tilled.  Secondly farmers grow for a profit, so that means it has probbaly been systematically sprayed in the past, so hopefully nasties like bindweed, wild horseradish or couch grass do not have a foothold.

If it is covered in grass at the moment, then for the first season or two you may suffer from leatherjackets and wireworm.  However you say it has only been grassed over for a couple of years, this shouldn't be too much of a problem.

As far as cultivation is concerned, I agree with totalnovice, that potatoes are great way to break up the ground.  Obviously a bit late for this year though.  When you clear a patch, you can go for overwintering onions and garlic in about October.  Right now you can still plant a whole host of leafy veg and salad, and you might even be able to squeeze a frame of beans in.  You can also go for tomotoes (if bought as plants rather than from seed).  There is still a fair bit of he season to go.  If you can get a courgette plant or two these too will produce a crop this year.

I have had my current plot for 3 years and this is the first year that the whole plot is being worked. Go at a pace you can manage and it will eventually all get cleared and nicely tilled.  A thick dressing of manure over winter will do it a world of good.

Good luck and enjoy.   

[Christine]

A warning against rotovating till you have moved out all the nettle roots. Rotovating will chop them up small and give you even more in the future. Same problem with brambles. Get every last bit out the hard way with these blighters. 

Sit down and decide what you like to eat and only plant what you like. Get a good basic book such as The Vegetable & Herb Expert by DG Hessayon which has pretty pictures, is fairly specific on the likes of each vegetable and gives a good guide as to the things that can strike each crop.

Like others say - get the salad stuff in as that is expensive in the shops anyway and will give you good cheer by getting something growing.

Take the rest of the season to get the soil right, a composting area built, water butts installed and get to know where you can get the necessities of gardening as cheaply as possible. The first year is a learning curve as you can sit and look at the plot to see where the sun goes.