My allotment- then and now update
Charlotte2311
Posts: 50
So having been given the key to my allotment at the end of October last year, I have to say it's been a bit of a battle to get it under control. When I took it on it was a forest of couch grass, waist high, with a scattering of wooden planks buried underneath an extensive matted root system. Couch grass continues to be my enemy and it's proving tricky to keep my allotment organic. Digging the couch grass out by hand when it's literally covering the 125 square metre plot is hard work. At the end of the day I'm not bothered about having the prettiest plot- as long as it's practical and my plants don't get strangled I don't mind.
So far I've got gooseberries, white/redcurrants, raspberries, rhubarb, romanesco cauliflower, onions and I've just planted beetroot and purple sprouting.
I thought I'd share some before and after photos. Like I said, not the prettiest plot and the couch grass continues to be a problem, but it's soooo much better than it was!
And after....
P.s- I literally have to weed every plant bed every 4-5 days or the weeds dominate everything. No one said it was going to be easy!
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Wow Charlotte - you've made massive progress there!
I like your solution to the raised bed question - sunken paths instead. The gooseberry looks really healthy, although it's going to need a severe prune in the winter. Keep digging up/pulling out the couch grass - you'll win eventually. No plant can survive the repeated removal of all of its shoots - although some do take a looong time.
What's under the net?
It does make it easier to stop the weeds creeping onto the beds Steve, but needs a lot of maintenance. I've got baby romanesco plants under the netting
doing well so far! I planted some broad beans by the bean poles and they were doing well until last week when we had a frost and they died 
but I will try again in a few weeks!
The man in the plot next to mine told me back in December not to bother trying to dig the couch grass out and just roundup the whole plot in the spring. But I am determined to keep it organic if I can so I've spent hours and hours digging by myself. Listening to stand up comedy through my phone/headphones has kept me sane whilst battling the weeds! Haha
You've done really well it's looking great and you're winning against the couch grass
Nice.
WOW! That's an awesome job you've done Charlotte! Don't you want to come and do ours?!
Hehehehehehe!!
We have a seriously overgrown allotment plot (and I mean brambles higher than my 5ft 3" self!). For two years I've been putting off tackling it to concentrate on taming our rather neglected garden that we moved into a few years ago. This week my daughter and I have just started clearing the plot etc. etc. It's such hard work but mightily rewarding!
Heres to many happy hours weeding and enjoying our allotment spaces!
My own allotment is plagued with couch grass and horsetail but I am slowly winning, gardening organically. Perseverance is the key which means many hours at the site.
It's surprising that the broad beans were killed by the frost, Charlotte - they're usually hardy. I often sow them in October to stand the winter 6" high and give an early crop in May. What variety did you use?
Steve has just said what I was going to say. Broad beans are hardy. Could it have been slugs?
You've done a terrific job. Good luck with it.
I have couch grass in my flower beds, have dug and used weedkiller, keep it at bay but never really got rid of it. It goes under the paving and the walls.