Author Topic: Starting with an allotment in Nov (Read 11646 times)

Dans · « **on:** November 10, 2013, 08:19:32 pm »

Hi all

Looking for some advice once again.

Have signed up with my work's allotment programme. It's just a small patch. 4 raised beds and about the same space again in bare ground. There's raspberries and blackcurrants at the back but other than that it is just weeds. There's no electric or access with vehicles at the site (have to climb a fence to get to it lol) but there's a tap and it's all mine for the next 9 months at least.

I figure I will clear the weeds first, just by pulling them by hand and digging over, but not sure what to do next. Is it too late to get anything in the ground? Is it just best to get it prepped and wait for the spring? I'm just south of Edinburgh.

Thanks for any advice.

Dans

shygirl · « **Reply #1 on:** November 10, 2013, 09:56:33 pm »

i would weed, till, and cover in black plastic, in hope other weeds will die off with no sunlight. maybe manure too. enjoy the winter planning. you can plant through the plastic in the spring - it should warm up the soil a wee bit.
things like onion seeds need growing over winter for a spring planting, though i expect it needs being under cover.
winter is for planning and dreaming

Mammyshaz · « **Reply #2 on:** November 10, 2013, 10:06:29 pm »

You can always plant some garlic now so you have something to look after while you sort the rest of the plot. I'm going to be planting mine this month. I usually do onions too but at the allotment assoc the old guys said wait until spring so I will this time and see the difference.

Have fun at your plot and don't forget a chair so you can sit back and admire your work.

MAK · « **Reply #3 on:** November 10, 2013, 10:08:52 pm »

Good luck Dans.
I guess you can get organised with paths and a planting pan and then maybe sort out a compost area or build 2-3 compost New Zealand compost boxes. yes I would turn the soil and remove the nasty weeds - manure- then maybe cover what soil you can with carpet or a black sheet.
When I had my allotements I would spend an age removing every weed root but now I just dig them in and let them return to the soil. I hoe between long lines when I have things planted out.
One tip - think space and use the winter to read planting techniques becuase the instructions on seed packets go for sparce planting rather than a sensible use of space. Eg - haricot bean seeds are best planted in clusters of 4-5 so that they self support and carrots can be sprinkled very liberally in a 3 inch wide strip ( pour water over before thinning them). Use the space to the max with succesional planting - a 6-9 inch strip of lettuce seed will serve you a couple of weeks and grow well without transplanting).

Dans · « **Reply #4 on:** November 11, 2013, 12:04:50 am »

Thanks guys.

There's already a joint compost heap there so I'll keep adding to that for now. Garlic sounds like a great idea as the hubby and I love it and we have none planted in the garden. I have one bed clear already so will order some garlic, get it dug over and planted. Will they need fleece or anything to protect them over the winter?

I took a punt at planting some onion sets in the garden today, wasn't sure if it was too late but figured give it a go as the bed was empty. Didn't want to look a fool planting it at the allotment though

Dans

Spinningfishwife · « **Reply #5 on:** November 11, 2013, 08:14:06 am »

November is a good time to be starting an allotment. You can get it dug over and tidied up, if you have any usable compost you can spread a layer on as many of the beds as it will cover (depth of an inch or three) then put black plastic or old carpet over the beds for the winter and let the worms work the compost into the soil. It's well worth covering the beds in winter, rain on bare soil leeches away nutrients and damages the soil structure.

Another thing you could try if you have lots of weeds and little compost is sheet composting. Nominate one bed for this and as you dig up the weeds chuck the compostable ones (not perennials or seeding weeds) onto this bed to form a thick layer. you can add in a bit of shredded newspaper too, not too much, then cover with several thicknesses of newspaper and a layer of black plastic or carpet once again. The worms will take this down over the winter and by late March all you'll have to do is rake off a few of the tougher un-composted stems before planting.,

Garlic will be fine at this time of year, it's extremely hardy and needs a bit of a freeze to bulb up properly. I'm up in East Lothian and my garlic came through the weather of two winters ago no problem.

I agree with the suggestion of looking at spacings for planting in beds rather than the traditional rows, you can squeeze a lot more into a bed that way, though you need to keep the soil fertility up for intensive cropping. I'd start my own compost bins if I were you on some of that open section. Even for four beds you'll need plenty of compost and you never know exactly what goes into communal composting heaps, some folk add in all their perennial weeds and diseased plants like it was a rubbish heap.
If you have a greenhouse or cold frame at home then you can raise plants there for transplanting out at the allotment, it can give you a faster start in the spring

Lesley Silvester · « **Reply #6 on:** November 11, 2013, 11:57:53 pm »

If you are planning on growing organically, I wouldn't use old carpets as they can leach out chemicals according to Garden Organic. I did try to find the reference on their site but couldn't get it for some reason.

Spinningfishwife · « **Reply #7 on:** November 12, 2013, 08:23:23 am »

I remember reading an article too about potential toxins in carpets, I think it might have been from Bob Flowerdew in Kitchen Garden mag, that used to be my main reading material. Iirc though he said the main worry was from frequent use of industrial cleaning chemicals and residues so I decided my lounge carpet was quite safe given the frequency of (non) washing it had received! The one real negative of using wool blend carpets long term is that the wool component decays into the soil leaving a mesh of synthetic threads tightly bound together with weeds. 100% synthetic is better in this respect than 80% wool! But just for over the winter this shouldn't be a problem. Oh, and foam backed is a no-no, the foam just flakes off into your soil.

Ina · « **Reply #8 on:** November 12, 2013, 09:29:32 am »

I planted onions sets as late as December one year and they were perfectly ok... I would protect them, though - not against the frost, against birds that love to pull them out!

Fleecewife · « **Reply #9 on:** November 12, 2013, 11:36:13 am »

I agree about carpets being a bit of a no-no, for various reasons. The best way to cover the soil that I have found is to use thick cardboard boxes, opened out - you can get them from places which sell washing machines and so on. Overlap them over the surface and hold down with bricks or rocks. The cardboard disappears entirely by planting time, leaving just a few strips of tape which are easily collected up. I have used these over a good layer of FYM and they metamorphose into the most wonderful, friable soil, waiting to plant into in Spring with no work at all. If there are still perennial weeds in the soil, it's so open that they are very easy to get out with a fork or just by pulling. In fact thinking about it

it's just what my garden needs after 3 years of neglect

RUSTYME · « **Reply #10 on:** November 12, 2013, 01:59:16 pm »

I don't do the covering in plastic thing to clear weeds . I dig up as much of them as i can , including all roots . Then once clear i allow the weed seeds to germinate . Clear that flush of weeds when they are 1-2 weeks old . Rake and level , allow the weed seeds to germinate again , clear as before . Each time you do this the amount of weeds that pop up will get much less , as there will be less weed seeds in the soil . After 4 or 5 flushes there will be hardly any weed seeds and any root that escaped the fork will have popped up and been pulled out , result , a clean veg bed that requires very little weeding .
Leave any manure for a week or so to flush the weed seed also .
I would avoid the communal compost bin too .
I avoid newspaper and cardboard now , due to chemicals in paper/cardboard and print . I do burn it and use the ashes though , i think most of the chems are gone then ?
You can pop in broad beans , round seeded peas , cabbages maybe ?
But clearing would save lots of weeding later on .
Mind you , not many weeds will germinate now lol .

Cactus Jack · « **Reply #11 on:** November 12, 2013, 02:20:38 pm »

I agree with Rusty.
My first allotment plot I couldn't wait to start planting. That was a big mistake. I never stopped weeding it and had couch grass coming up for years.
My plot number two I did as rusty has suggested, I got it in August and continually weeded by hand until the spring when I manures it heavily. I then planted through the manure and the had very little weeding to do that year, dug it over in the winter and then carried on as usual.
Never dug it again, just manures as each section was cleared in the autumn/winter.

Dans · « **Reply #12 on:** November 12, 2013, 02:34:57 pm »

I'm not sure how well the clearing will work on my patch as I'm next door to a patch that has weeds as tall as me and is currently un-claimed. They are trying to get the last owner to clear it as he just gave up on it and didn't tell anyone. Think I may suffer a lot of weeds coming from that plot :-/

Dans

Spinningfishwife · « **Reply #13 on:** November 12, 2013, 02:43:00 pm »

Might be worth slashing the weeds down and covering them up then, just to stop them spreading back to you. If it's only four beds it would be worth your time and might encourage a new plot holder to take over.

RUSTYME · « **Reply #14 on:** November 12, 2013, 02:55:51 pm »

Just cut the weeds down in the next plot , to stop them seeding . Also keep an eye on any creeping weed roots spreading on to your plot . If next door plot is empty and unclaimed , why not ask for that too ?

Starting with an allotment in Nov - The Accidental Smallholder