A dry sunny morning at last. Went to plots, did loads of strimming, not just paths but round fruit trees, and on some other areas that have got a bit out of hand, due to the wet, mild weather. Sorted through 2 sacks of 2nd early spuds, no bad or rotten ones but most are sprouting as its been far too warm, for the time of year. At this rate they won't last much beyond Christmas if it doesn't cool down soon.
@Allotment Boy , I keep my spuds in garage at home , like yours sprouting
Had a good day at plot on Sunday , I cleared the cauliflower/ red cabbage bed , both very poor all in compost bin O/H tied up cabbage & broccoli beds which are doing ok Managed to put some bark chippings on paths as well Went up this morning for an hour , took freesias that where in pots that’s not done very well and planted them in the ground Everything is so wet Hoping to go there on Saturday , weather permitting
Went up to the plot today just to take kitchen waste didn't intend to do any work, too wet underfoot to do much anyway also did my knee in a couple of weeks ago I must stop kneeing on hard surfaces it doesn't do the knees any good at all, I'm so glad that I got the plot dug over early this year.
Got to plots, but too wet to dig. I did manage to skim off some weeds in readiness for digging. I am going to clear the old Asparagus bed unfortunately it's got so infested with perennial weed, and the yield has been dropping over the last few years. The new bed is settling nicely.
I try to dig my plot over as early as I can starting in August after potato harvest and then continuing as the ground becomes available, I do this as I have been caught out by wet weather during Autumn and Winter making my clay soil unworkable, I don't grow much during Autumn and Winter as I find the ground to be too wet and cold for any meaningful production, I have tried sowing green manure in the past to avoid leaving bare soil for months on end but that doesn't work out as I would have hoped. Digging the ground early does have its drawbacks though as the ground is left bare for months weeds can take hold but last spring I removed any of the more persistent weeds and covered the rest with a sheet of ground cover material which had the effect of both warming the ground and killing off the annual weeds, I noted that Bob Flowerdew recommended letting weeds grow and then covering them to act as a green manure on GQT a week or so ago.
Large beds I cover with membrane from Lidl , allows water through but successfully stops weeds Small beds I cover with horse manure and either dig it in or scape it off and put in compost bin , depends what I’m growing there Definitely helps control weeds
I use the stuff from lidl too but at £6 a pop it ladders too easily Iv'e spent hours patching mine, I have been weighing it down with bricks and wood which doesn't help as they can tear into the sheet so I have been saving plastic milk bottles when full of water will weigh the sheet down without tearing it.
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Had a good day at plot on Sunday , I cleared the cauliflower/ red cabbage bed , both very poor all in compost bin
O/H tied up cabbage & broccoli beds which are doing ok
Managed to put some bark chippings on paths as well
Went up this morning for an hour , took freesias that where in pots that’s not done very well and planted them in the ground
Everything is so wet
Hoping to go there on Saturday , weather permitting
3 more barrow loads of bark chippings for paths
Small beds I cover with horse manure and either dig it in or scape it off and put in compost bin , depends what I’m growing there
Definitely helps control weeds
Just checked with the Boss and she agrees