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Author Topic: Quick question  (Read 7318 times)

Bert

  • Joined Jan 2012
  • Isle of Mull
Quick question
« on: June 05, 2013, 08:42:16 am »
What the hell do I do with this?  :roflanim:








This is my new veggie garden. As you can see it has been neglected for a while.
Any suggestions welcome, I was thinking napalm  :-J

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Quick question
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2013, 09:15:37 am »
 ;D
 
Can you get hold of a whole lot of farmyard manure, or even old straw?   I would cover the beds in a deep layer of one of those, then an occlusive cover over that (black polythene?), well held down, and left for a year.  That would mean that by next spring you would have workable soil with easy to dig out perennial roots but those mats of weed would be gone.   Because it's already divided up into beds, you can choose one or two to work on this year, but do the same to weaken the weeds while you start at one end.
It looks as if you have rush in there too so you will need to adjust the pH.   I don't like beds as it gives places for slugs to hide and allows weeds to creep in or under the boards.  I would dig out a footwide area of turf all around the beds and fill the resultant ditch with gravel.
 
It looks lovely and I'm sure you will make a beautiful veg patch there  :garden:
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

lilfeeb

  • Joined Feb 2013
  • Kinross-shire
Re: Quick question
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2013, 09:43:19 am »
I feel your pain, my veggie garden was full of nettles, hogweed, wild raspberries and rose bay willowherb when we moved in. i have removed a mountain of weed roots from 4 beds so far and have 2 to go. getting there   :)

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: Quick question
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2013, 01:24:10 am »
Hmmm, they have certainly been neglected. I think FW is absolutely right when she says to cover with manure and black plastic. In the past, I have mucked out my goatshed straight onto raised beds then, in the spring, dug holes which I filled with compost and planted in those. The ground was always very fertile and the weeds were kept down. With the quantity of weeds you have, keeping them covered for a year is the best thing and make sure the layer of compost/manure is very deep.

Marlboro

  • Joined Jan 2013
  • West Wales
  • 42 sheep, 5 ducks 10 chickens and Meg
Re: Quick question
« Reply #4 on: June 06, 2013, 06:19:58 pm »
My veg garden is a field, the soil is clay. I am learning how to deal with it. Remove turf if possible, well in your case weeds. I am now using old feed bags to surround beds and try to keep some control. Where I did put a good layer of manure last autumn I was pleased to find how busy the worms had been dragging it down and helping to break up the soil. If those beds were mine I'd start by trying to clean up one and feed it well and cover the rest with any material which will kill the weeds. If you can get muck by the trailor load you will not regret it.
Is yours clay as said you have rush, one big mistake I made the first year was digging swimming pools for the veg, no drainage. I now have drainage channels out of the bottom corners of all beds and any trees I plant have deep channels leading downhill, I have to check that I have dug far enough as in some places the run off backs up to the roots and then I dig a longer channel.
Good luck. I am currently digging my new brassica beds, the first trench was pretty good but the one I have nearly finished is mainly clay, I have been removing some and burying the turf(luckily mainly dead due to some good muck) adding lime and then cross my fingers.

Bramblecot

  • Joined Jul 2008
Re: Quick question
« Reply #5 on: June 06, 2013, 10:39:18 pm »
Seaweed, lots of it ;)   Or hops from a brewery.  Or farm muck.  Or all three, covered with plastic or old carpet.  By next year it will be brilliant.  And dig over the easiest one now so you have something to play with this summer.  It looks great to me  :thumbsup: .  45 years since I was last on Mull - I'm quite green.

Bert

  • Joined Jan 2012
  • Isle of Mull
Re: Quick question
« Reply #6 on: June 07, 2013, 09:33:39 am »
Thanks everyone  :thumbsup:  there is a defiant theme to all your answers and I like it. Have started on one bed and have my runner beans,peas,lettuce and cabbage in the bit I have weeded. When I have finished the other half it will have my sprouts, broccoli ,courgette, squash ,  pumpkin and more lettuce in it. All that will make the bed a nightmare for rotating next year but I don't care, my poor little veg plants have been in small pots for far to long they need a bit of space.
 Thanks again and if anyone wants to come and help you are more than welcome  ;D

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: Quick question
« Reply #7 on: June 07, 2013, 10:55:10 pm »
Now a holiday on Mull is something I would like but I suspect it would be more work than holiday.  ::)

cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: Quick question
« Reply #8 on: June 10, 2013, 08:54:15 pm »
Once your beds are cultivated and manured the soil will loosen and almost fill the raised beds .. you can grow most crops in 6 inches of raised bed  laid on a weed proof membrane that breathes .

 You might find " The Berkley 18 day hot composting method " ( google it ) very useful to get your compost ready for planting up your over wintering garden .
 I've been using it for 18 months and it's far superior to the old stack it high turn it once if your feeling like it  and come back in spring .

 You can compost anything that has ever been growing as a plant , animal or fish  so it leaves you with a massive spectrum too consider.

We not only use garden and kitchen waste we also put in cooked and uncooked meats bones fish etc.

We don't usually put fats in it for they take a bit longer to decompose
Strong belief , triggers the mind to find the way ... Dyslexia just makes it that bit more amusing & interesting

Bert

  • Joined Jan 2012
  • Isle of Mull
Re: Quick question
« Reply #9 on: June 15, 2013, 09:25:07 am »
This is what it looks like today. Hopefully you can see a difference  :fc:




[/img]



Not got any manure on the beds yet. That will be happening very soon I hope. I've got my carrot seeds under the cloche, there are tomatoes growing next to all the canes, the other end of the bed is my runner beans and in the middle fighting for space is cabbage, peas, broccoli, sprout, courgette, summer squash, and pumpkin. I nearly forgot there are a few lettuce in there as well  ::)
Not a lot of space for any of my plants, but still lots more than the 9cm pots they were all in .

Bert

  • Joined Jan 2012
  • Isle of Mull
Re: Quick question
« Reply #10 on: June 15, 2013, 05:22:48 pm »
I've just been informed by the other half ( when he had stopped laughing) that spell check has yet again made me look like a t**t  :-[ .


Thanks everyone  :thumbsup:  there is a defiant theme to all your answers and I like it.


That was supposed to say definite not defiant. Sorry  :eyelashes:

suziequeue

  • Joined Feb 2010
  • Llanidloes; Powys
Re: Quick question
« Reply #11 on: June 15, 2013, 06:37:55 pm »
The difference I can see is that one photo was taken in the winter and one in the sumer..... amazing how quickly the summer has arrived. Ten days!!! Miraculous  :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
We do the best we can with the information we have

When we know better we do better

Beewyched

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • South Wales
    • tunkeyherd.co.uk
Re: Quick question
« Reply #12 on: June 15, 2013, 08:31:40 pm »
Great progress - keep it up  :thumbsup:
Tunkey Herd - registered Kune Kune & rare breed poultry - www.tunkeyherdkunekune.com

john and helen

  • Joined Mar 2013
  • Devon
  • WARNING,,,MAY SAY WHAT HE BELIEVES
    • Facebook
Re: Quick question
« Reply #13 on: June 16, 2013, 10:42:48 am »
What a stunning backdrop to look at.... good luck with the veg plot  :thumbsup:

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Quick question
« Reply #14 on: June 16, 2013, 02:43:07 pm »
That's amazing progress  :garden:  How industrious you are  :trophy:   Your beans are taller than mine, and they are in the tunnel  :o
 
I agree about the view too.  I spend too much time looking at our view, but yours is truly stunning - I would never look away.
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

 

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