Continued trenching this week, I now have a firm plan, dont know if it will work...
This pic shows trench one on the right, after it drained and I excavated more clay I backfilled with my dead weed pile and the original topsoil. It occurred to me (well, it didn't, the previous plot holder mentioned it) that the rear trench with the blocks on it will eventually refill with earth washing down the slope, so I can't leave it as a permanent ditch. It is a bit of a hazard anyway, had to put in planks so animals and drunks can climb out. I'm digging two more thin channels from trench one to the rear trench and will do the same on the other side (behind camera). Then I need to raise the soil level somehow.
This shows the trench admin area, more than half the plot...it's a mixture of clay at various levels of decomposition, weed piles for filling the trenches and topsoil.
I'd like to be up there now collapsing the two box pallets at the bottom left to continue my trench but it's ? as promised.
I'm spurred on to get it all dug and start building up the soil level before winter so I can see if it has worked. I've got my eye on a 6x12 rhino for next year after seeing Bob the Gardener's new g/house...further graft, measuring and musing is required first?
Collapsed the pallets yesterday and used the contents to backfill part of the rear trench. Also extended the rear trench all the way along the back and made a channel from the left hand trench to the back.
Doesnt look like I've done much but it was quite hard work, partly because I have to carry the clay away from where I am digging. The piles of clay between the trenches are just the dregs where the chunks became too small and soggy to carry on a fork. I'll move it away when it dries out a bit.
Plot is a terrific mess at at the moment but I tidied/disposed of properly some plastic and rubbish I found. I found lots of cassette tape-like strands which I assume has come off some type of weed membrane. I got rid of all of that, found a vole in one of my clay lump piles, what if it got tangled around a vole? Uncool.
I've probably already mentioned this above but next plan is to raise the soil level, am now puzzling over the logistics. ?
Not doing anymore this weekend, it's raining again anyway. Got a pain in my shin like a splint, maybe from repeated climbing out the trench with the added clay weight.?
First visit in a fortnight, been away and working and stuff.
Harvested my potatoes, some were just stems and had no potatoes, does anyone know why? I did dig the seed pots up after they had started growing and moved them to my new allotment but some plants were okayish.
Not very economical to only get this many so I'll have to get better
Some of my onions are looking okay, some still quite small, but I've deduced that is a water thing as they are on a slope, will leave them for a few weeks.
Did lots of weeding today and threw them into the last open trench, lots of mozzie lavae in there Also moved some of the clay slop heap which was starting to solidify. I chucked buckwheat seeds on the clay layers I left to dry out and that seems to have germinated, or something has so I distributed the rest of the seed on the other clay flats. I don't know if it will help break it up or not but it was a free packet.
Harvested some red opium poppy seeds and a spider, put it in the garden, should probably chuck the seeds out now too while they're fresh, but not sure where I want them yet.
Tried a few ripening blackberries and rasps, Loch Maree and Joan J, very nice Got some plums, I think Vic on the tree that came with the plot but they are too high up. This winter I will clear around the base, there are multiple currants and a rhubarb patch (which bolted) all around the base and I'm sure they will do better seperated.
Next weekend I'll do more weeding and prep the area for some more onion sets. Will plant the new bargain basement rasps I bought from B&Q, hope they are as nice as the Joan J.
As regards the Pots do you know which variety they were. I grow several different ones & this year my Rocket were awful, hardly any top growth hence hardly any tubers. However the Swift & Foremost growing right next to them were fine. Sometimes you just get this with spuds, they can have a bacterial disease in them called blackleg, no way of knowing this when you buy the seed. You get hardly any or very weak growth hence no tubers. Moving them may have been unhelpful too I have never heard of anyone doing this. Spuds need 12-16 weeks to grow & develop dependent on variety, this is what makes most of the difference between early & late Varieties ( lates tend to keep better in storage too), if you start late just grow a quick maturing "early" variety.
The pots were Maris Peer and I'd been given them by a colleague which is partly why I was determined not to leave any for the mean folks at my previous allotment. Moving them would not have been ideal, I wondered also about lack of water in the first few weeks after replanting. I have to say the foliage looked normal, or at least like the potatoes on the other plots.
I'll do a bit of research for next year, choose the varieties and look after them better
Had the idea of using my own rubbish to fill the trenches I've excavated the clay from. This weekend I've ripped up loads of cardboard boxes and took up some bags of waste compost, deadheadings and trimmings. I know it'll break down but at some point it's got to settle. Hopefully by the summer greenhouse sales next year I'll still probably have to buy a bulk load of something to top up the soil level though, haven't decided what yet.
Had fun choosing some new fruit plants for planting this winter. A later blackberry, Chester Thornless to carry on after my summer black, Rasberry Allgold, just for fun as I've got a few proper rasps, rhubarb Raspberry Red and a crab apple I've had my eye on for a while, Butterball.
Also looked at some dessert apples, wondering whether to get vertical cordons as I only have space for 4 'normal' trees plus the plum that was already there. Will probably leave that decision til next year.
Made a more accurate drawing of the plot, the measurements on the previous ones were flawed Think I've got just about everything covered, wildlife heap, flowers for pollinators, nettle patch, greenhouse space (reduced to 6'x10'), waterbutt space, sweet pea net (sowed direct for the first time and rather late but they have done alright) compost heap and Spring bulbs rejected from the garden. Oh, nearly forgot veg space, doing winter onions, potatoes and hopefully beetroot next year.
That reminds me, last weekend I dug over where the potatoes had been and found loads more, didn't have my proper fork with me when I lifted the plants I'm going to chop them up before cooking as I found slugs in some of them, big slugs in a couple with an innocuously small entrance hole. Stabbed quite a few of the pots with the fork prongs like a muppet.
Was interested to see how the plot was getting on after all the recent rain, none of it is under water or particularly squishy but possibly a sustained period of wet weather might cause the trenches to overflow. Still it's positive especially as I haven't started raising the soil level.
I priced up bulk versus bags for compost/soil conditioner etc after reading a post where a forum member found the bags cheaper and surprisingly it is
This weekend I thinned out the currant bushes that came with the plot, there were about 12 quite closely planted and too close to a plum tree than I though was good for anything. Also it had become really weedy and I need some of that space for more raspberries.
I kept 4, hopefully 3 red and 1 black (but I might have got them mixed up) and replanted. Put one in the flood zone as a test
I thought about moving the rhubarb, well attempted it but the crown is huge. I then read it is better done in spring before new growth but that doesn't give much settling in time it needs shifting anyway as that is within a metre of the plum tree and maybe the competition is why it bolted in April. I'll probably have to divide it, part of me wonders if it might be less trouble to buy a new named crown, I'm not sure how old it is and the previous plot holder didn't say it was anything special.
Harvested the onions, I'm growing winter onions next, maybe they'll naturally get more water which I think these required, the downhill ones being bigger than the uphill.
I've set space aside for potatoes next year but not sure whether there is any value in it and maybe I should use the space for things that are more expensive and are better fresh? This has also made me question whether I need a greenhouse which would be used pretty much just for cucumbers and sweet peppers?
Anyway, did some weeding and cutting, buckwheat is flowering on the clay but I might let the frost get at the clay before digging in.
Also dug over the flower areas for next year, moved some chives that were also in with the currants and sowed some annual seed.
I reckon I'm using about half the plot at the mo and am up to something with the rest even though it looks a mess. I might lose the sedums that I had collected together for a bee garden where I used to work but I've never seen a bee on them either at the allotment or in the garden, they seem to prefer other things.
Good to get an update I was wondering how it was all going.
Good idea to split the Rhubarb when you move it as it tends to get woody & unproductive in the centre. Make sure ground is nice & rich where you replant. I think the bolting in April was due to dry winter & early spring in a lot of places. On our allotment site we all suffered it bolting & wilting in late May - June. It did revive later when the rains came though. I still think home grown spuds taste better but if you don't want to take up too much space maybe stick to some early's only, they are still relatively more expensive in shops so makes more economic sense if that is a factor for you.
Posts
Continued trenching this week, I now have a firm plan, dont know if it will work...
This pic shows trench one on the right, after it drained and I excavated more clay I backfilled with my dead weed pile and the original topsoil. It occurred to me (well, it didn't, the previous plot holder mentioned it) that the rear trench with the blocks on it will eventually refill with earth washing down the slope, so I can't leave it as a permanent ditch. It is a bit of a hazard anyway, had to put in planks so animals and drunks can climb out. I'm digging two more thin channels from trench one to the rear trench and will do the same on the other side (behind camera). Then I need to raise the soil level somehow.
This shows the trench admin area, more than half the plot...it's a mixture of clay at various levels of decomposition, weed piles for filling the trenches and topsoil.
I'd like to be up there now collapsing the two box pallets at the bottom left to continue my trench but it's ? as promised.
I'm spurred on to get it all dug and start building up the soil level before winter so I can see if it has worked. I've got my eye on a 6x12 rhino for next year after seeing Bob the Gardener's new g/house...further graft, measuring and musing is required first?
It's been a heck of a lot of hard graft Victoria so hope the trenching is successful.
I hope so too Joyce
Collapsed the pallets yesterday and used the contents to backfill part of the rear trench. Also extended the rear trench all the way along the back and made a channel from the left hand trench to the back.
Doesnt look like I've done much but it was quite hard work, partly because I have to carry the clay away from where I am digging. The piles of clay between the trenches are just the dregs where the chunks became too small and soggy to carry on a fork. I'll move it away when it dries out a bit.
Plot is a terrific mess at at the moment but I tidied/disposed of properly some plastic and rubbish I found. I found lots of cassette tape-like strands which I assume has come off some type of weed membrane. I got rid of all of that, found a vole in one of my clay lump piles, what if it got tangled around a vole? Uncool.
I've probably already mentioned this above but next plan is to raise the soil level, am now puzzling over the logistics. ?
Not doing anymore this weekend, it's raining again anyway. Got a pain in my shin like a splint, maybe from repeated climbing out the trench with the added clay weight.?
Last edited: 22 July 2017 10:43:24
First visit in a fortnight, been away and working and stuff.
Harvested my potatoes, some were just stems and had no potatoes, does anyone know why? I did dig the seed pots up after they had started growing and moved them to my new allotment but some plants were okayish.
Not very economical to only get this many so I'll have to get better
Some of my onions are looking okay, some still quite small, but I've deduced that is a water thing as they are on a slope, will leave them for a few weeks.
Did lots of weeding today and threw them into the last open trench, lots of mozzie lavae in there
Also moved some of the clay slop heap which was starting to solidify. I chucked buckwheat seeds on the clay layers I left to dry out and that seems to have germinated, or something has so I distributed the rest of the seed on the other clay flats. I don't know if it will help break it up or not but it was a free packet.
Harvested some red opium poppy seeds and a spider, put it in the garden, should probably chuck the seeds out now too while they're fresh, but not sure where I want them yet.
Tried a few ripening blackberries and rasps, Loch Maree and Joan J, very nice
Got some plums, I think Vic on the tree that came with the plot but they are too high up. This winter I will clear around the base, there are multiple currants and a rhubarb patch (which bolted) all around the base and I'm sure they will do better seperated.
Next weekend I'll do more weeding and prep the area for some more onion sets. Will plant the new bargain basement rasps I bought from B&Q, hope they are as nice as the Joan J.
Hi Vic,
As regards the Pots do you know which variety they were. I grow several different ones & this year my Rocket were awful, hardly any top growth hence hardly any tubers. However the Swift & Foremost growing right next to them were fine. Sometimes you just get this with spuds, they can have a bacterial disease in them called blackleg, no way of knowing this when you buy the seed. You get hardly any or very weak growth hence no tubers. Moving them may have been unhelpful too I have never heard of anyone doing this. Spuds need 12-16 weeks to grow & develop dependent on variety, this is what makes most of the difference between early & late Varieties ( lates tend to keep better in storage too), if you start late just grow a quick maturing "early" variety.
Hi Iain, thanks for your response.
The pots were Maris Peer and I'd been given them by a colleague which is partly why I was determined not to leave any for the mean folks at my previous allotment. Moving them would not have been ideal, I wondered also about lack of water in the first few weeks after replanting. I have to say the foliage looked normal, or at least like the potatoes on the other plots.
I'll do a bit of research for next year, choose the varieties and look after them better
Had the idea of using my own rubbish to fill the trenches I've excavated the clay from. This weekend I've ripped up loads of cardboard boxes and took up some bags of waste compost, deadheadings and trimmings. I know it'll break down but at some point it's got to settle. Hopefully by the summer greenhouse sales next year
I'll still probably have to buy a bulk load of something to top up the soil level though, haven't decided what yet.
Had fun choosing some new fruit plants for planting this winter. A later blackberry, Chester Thornless to carry on after my summer black, Rasberry Allgold, just for fun as I've got a few proper rasps, rhubarb Raspberry Red and a crab apple I've had my eye on for a while, Butterball.
Also looked at some dessert apples, wondering whether to get vertical cordons as I only have space for 4 'normal' trees plus the plum that was already there. Will probably leave that decision til next year.
Made a more accurate drawing of the plot, the measurements on the previous ones were flawed
Think I've got just about everything covered, wildlife heap, flowers for pollinators, nettle patch, greenhouse space (reduced to 6'x10'), waterbutt space, sweet pea net (sowed direct for the first time and rather late but they have done alright) compost heap and Spring bulbs rejected from the garden. Oh, nearly forgot veg space, doing winter onions, potatoes and hopefully beetroot next year.
That reminds me, last weekend I dug over where the potatoes had been and found loads more, didn't have my proper fork with me when I lifted the plants
I'm going to chop them up before cooking as I found slugs in some of them, big slugs in a couple with an innocuously small entrance hole. Stabbed quite a few of the pots with the fork prongs like a muppet.
Last edited: 28 August 2017 12:40:18
Was interested to see how the plot was getting on after all the recent rain, none of it is under water or particularly squishy but possibly a sustained period of wet weather might cause the trenches to overflow. Still it's positive especially as I haven't started raising the soil level.
I priced up bulk versus bags for compost/soil conditioner etc after reading a post where a forum member found the bags cheaper and surprisingly it is
This weekend I thinned out the currant bushes that came with the plot, there were about 12 quite closely planted and too close to a plum tree than I though was good for anything. Also it had become really weedy and I need some of that space for more raspberries.
I kept 4, hopefully 3 red and 1 black (but I might have got them mixed up) and replanted. Put one in the flood zone as a test
I thought about moving the rhubarb, well attempted it but the crown is huge. I then read it is better done in spring before new growth but that doesn't give much settling in time
it needs shifting anyway as that is within a metre of the plum tree and maybe the competition is why it bolted in April. I'll probably have to divide it, part of me wonders if it might be less trouble to buy a new named crown, I'm not sure how old it is and the previous plot holder didn't say it was anything special.
Harvested the onions, I'm growing winter onions next, maybe they'll naturally get more water which I think these required, the downhill ones being bigger than the uphill.
I've set space aside for potatoes next year but not sure whether there is any value in it and maybe I should use the space for things that are more expensive and are better fresh? This has also made me question whether I need a greenhouse which would be used pretty much just for cucumbers and sweet peppers?
Anyway, did some weeding and cutting, buckwheat is flowering on the clay but I might let the frost get at the clay before digging in.
Also dug over the flower areas for next year, moved some chives that were also in with the currants and sowed some annual seed.
I reckon I'm using about half the plot at the mo and am up to something with the rest even though it looks a mess. I might lose the sedums that I had collected together for a bee garden where I used to work but I've never seen a bee on them either at the allotment or in the garden, they seem to prefer other things.
Good to get an update I was wondering how it was all going.
Good idea to split the Rhubarb when you move it as it tends to get woody & unproductive in the centre. Make sure ground is nice & rich where you replant. I think the bolting in April was due to dry winter & early spring in a lot of places. On our allotment site we all suffered it bolting & wilting in late May - June. It did revive later when the rains came though. I still think home grown spuds taste better but if you don't want to take up too much space maybe stick to some early's only, they are still relatively more expensive in shops so makes more economic sense if that is a factor for you.