New no dig allotment

Community Community No dig gardening Preparing the ground New no dig allotment

This topic contains 4 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by  Pete Budd 12 years, 7 months ago.

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  • #21144

    Pete Budd
    Participant

    Our Town Council has opened up a new virgin allotment site and I have taken a plot. The site has a chequered history, including aggregate/mineral extraction, (that failed to succeed). It has not been used for agricultural purposes for a long time and has been weed infested for years. Weeds are coming up like mustard and cress; fat hen, thistles, nettles, docks and many i cannot name. The land is a sandy marl with lots of flint, chalk, stones and a good helping of other man made rubbish. However; I have a 20m x 10m plot and have made a start by dividing it up into 6 x 10mtr bays. Each bay is 2.4mtrs with paths inbetween.

    #22484

    charles
    Moderator

     Hi Pete

    You like a challenge! I would be encouraged by all those weeds, the soil has some life in it at least, and nettles are a sign of some humus and fertility. 

    Keep us posted about your progress, I wonder if you can get hold of some organic matter to make an easier layer on top, and bury the stones?

    #22485

    Pete Budd
    Participant

    Thanks for that Charles. I have already planted up 2 bays with alfalfa, 1 bay with Phacelia, 1 bay with Buckwheat and 1 bay with Comfrey. The alfalfa will be left to grow for at least 2 years and the comfrey will be permanent. Surprisingly everything came through in the dry weather and is now growing strongly, (I only watered the alfalfa seedlings once). The buckwheat somehow missed the sharp frost on the 4th May. I do not propose growing much veg this year as I am looking on it as an experiment to make an allotment self sufficient regarding fertiliser. The green manure means I am left with 1 empty bay and I have sown 1 x 2.4m row of parsnips and planted 1 x 2.4m row of onions grown from seed. I was very surprised when the parsnip came through in a couple of weeks, they should do ok without feeding.
    The remainder of the empty bay will be planted up with leeks, (I have never grown too many leeks!)

    Pete

    #22486

    Stevie342000
    Member

    Frankly your are lucky ours used to be a municpal tip/domestic waste site back between the wars and was probably turned over to alloments during the Dig for Victory campaign.

    Thankfully although the soil is clayey, suffers from waterlogging and there has been 60 years of growing on that site.

    At least I have some soil to work with and it has taken 2 years come November to get it into a fit state to cultivate it all.

    Why has it taken that long, well firstly I had to finish my degree, then being unemployed and not being able to get any benefits whatsoever because of living with a partner at the time who was additionally a student. No money….that has changed we are currently living apart and I have access to benefits whilst looking for a job.

    It takes not just time but money in the first instance to get an allotment or growing space fit for purpose.

    Dread to think what some of us are growing our vegetables on it is probably a health safety logistical nightmare in terms of contamination. But we have to be thankful for small mercies it took 2 or 3 years to get my allotment. There are 25 sites with 659 plots and a waiting list of 359.

    My advice add some muck then some more muck and then more muck and you will get there. You need to develop some humus through addition of organic matter, I found just covering it with manure helped a great deal, any grass that got through pulls up real easy. Another layer of muck killed of the rest, prior to this I used a systemic herbicide (not organic I know but given history of site does it matter).

    This initially killed of the dock and severly weakend any that survived, any seedlings that now come through are small and pull up easily. Answer keep on top of weeding whilst moving on to the next plot and then go back add some more manure/mulch and weed again.

    It’s never ending with the weeding but over time it should disappear. I have a standard size allotment plot with 14 x 4′ x 33′ plots with one foot paths between the wheel barrow fits through as well, contrary to what I have been told (the paths are lower than the growing plots they are in effect areas that collect water and keep the raised beds (plots) moist.

    Its been a lot of hard work, crops I put in late last summer are now ready for harvesting or not far off. Crops put in this year are being harvested, the salad leaves are ready, as are the spring onions. I pick the salad leaves as I need them, peas, beans, potatoes, courgettes, fruit bushes are all growing and will soon be ready for harvest.

    Crops for later in the year i.e. cabbages, swede, celeriac, celery are all about ready to go in. Then it will be my salad crops i.e. endive, landcress for winter cropping, along with crops of onions, cabbages for spring the following year.

    Polytunnel still not in so no tomatoes or greenhouse crops this year…c’est la vie.

    What is important here the journey or how you get there. I do not dig my plots either, nor do if I can help it use chemicals but in that journey I might have or may have resorted to them, to hasten my journey. Currently looking into Rockdust, I was aware of it but it got buried along the way.

    Concept, our soils lack some key/essential minerals selenium being one, the calcium/magnesium balance is more important. Rockdust is volcanic rock a by-product of quarrying, you add it to your soil or compost bin like lime. It acts as an acclerator, adds key minerals and increases your crop yield. Think of it in terms of growing on the side of Vesuvius or Etna. How green is it, well you need less water, transportation is an issue but you do not need so many or to use any additional fertilisers. The Jury is out for me but will give it a try.

    Onwards and upwards, once more into the breach….the weather is clearing here in the North West of England, we have been having that lovely soft Irish rain and goodness we needed it.

    #22487

    Pete Budd
    Participant

    My new plot is coming along nicely. Plenty of shimming being done to eliminate the weeds close enough to the surface to germinate. As mentioned prev I would like to be self sufficient in fertiliser by growing green manure, (composted, not dug in) but I did import 1/2 ton of well rotted horse muck which I will use to mulch rasps and blackberries. I am composting like mad and now realise that my bins are too small. I pulled up and composted approx 25 sq mtrs of phacelia and buckwheat and planted up with leeks. I have managed to produce some good cabbage, courgettes, squashes, onions, parsnips and caulis. My next move will have to be rabbit protection. I have managed to keep them off with mobile mesh covers but my big bed of leeks is being continually attacked.

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