| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Anders |
New plot - advice pleaseWe've had a bit of the garden (135 m2) mulched with black plastic for 17 months now and are thinking about how to get it in the best possible condition for spring next year. We will be just moving in and really need the veg garden to work so we can get some food on the table
We thought we would (double) dig it over and add some seaweed meal and a fair bit of old straw as a mulch. Hopefully the straw will break down a bit for next spring (it hasn't been composted). Does this sound OK? Anyone got any suggestions? We could probably get some grass clippings together as well. We also talked about covering the hay with the plastic again, but think that the straw will break down faster with help from the elements. Any thoughts? |
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| Treacodactyl |
Wouldn't it be better to add the seaweed meal nearer to planting time? If you add it too soon won't most of the nutrients be leached out?
What's the soil by the way, light sand, heavy clay or something else? |
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| Behemoth |
Prep now for soil structure and again in spring for fertility. I'm assuming the plastic is permeable? | ||
| Mutton |
Before you dig read about soil structure, organic gardening and no-dig gardening. I just have and don't intend to dig deep ever again. | ||
| wellington womble |
If you had any perennial weeds (like bindweed, couch, nettles or thistles) don't rotavate until you are confident that you have got rid of every last bit of root. The chap who built my raised beds rotavated a whole load of bindweed in, and then built the beds on top of it, and I curse him on a daily basis.
Manual digging is hard work, but it will save you hours later, and there shouldn't be too much if your plastic mulch worked well. Apologies for the cut and paste (and for some of the bits that aren't relevant because you have already done them) but here is a post I wrote a while ago on advice for new gardeners....... See if you can track down a copy of the half hour allotment. It's not the only beginners guide to veg plots, but it's the best, and most realistic I know. And still my favourite. Getting rid of weeds is like building - you can do a quick job, a cheap job or a proper job. Quick - mow the lot, dig holes and plant stuff (you can worry about what in a bit) either weed like a lunatic for the rest of the season, or watch you plants disappear under the nettles (go on, ask me how I know ) Cheap - strim, mow, trample or pull out the growth and cover everything with carpet, cardboard or weed supressing membrane (well weighted down) and plant through it, or dig over (see below) bits as you want to clear them properly Proper - go over the ground with a fine tooth come (alright, a garden fork) digging two forks-depths into the soil and picking out every bit of weed you can find. Nurse your back for the next ten years, and curse any vegetable you manage to grow. Cheat - a bit, and buy large quantities of a chemical called glyphosate (Round-up), that kills weeds and roots. You will still need to a do a bit of digging, and it only really works in the late spring/summer but it might be the least labour intensive (and soul destroying) option. Not cheap, though, and obviously not organic if that floats your boat. What I do is use a combination of all the above methods. Cover everything (never leave soil exposed, things grow in it otherwise) with well weighted down cardboard or carpet, and uncover and dig over bits a little bit at a time over the winter. This will leave you some space for your early plantings. Then you blitz the whole lot in the spring, or keep going a bit at a time. After a year or so, if you're cardboard etc (often called mulch) is well weighted down and stays in place, there won't be much to hoike out, and you will have nice soil just to fluff up with a fork. Gardening isn't hard - the skill is mostly about timing. The actual work consists mostly of carting things from A - B and back again. Broadly speaking you clear or dig ground, feed it (with manure or compost) plant seeds in it (either directly or via pots) protect them from the weather or other things that want to eat them, stop weeds from throttling them, pick out the edible bits, and clear away the non edible bits. Which you compost and use to feed next years. Everything else is elaborating on the themes, and you'll soon find your favourites. You will need Digging implements: Spade, fork or both. Other funny variations are available. Plant food (manure or compost or stuff from packets) seeds or plants (more about those later) planting implements: a trowel and mini fork, possibly a rake. Maybe some pots and potting compost Miscellaneous protective stuff - canes, string, maybe a bit of fleece or some plastic or plastic bottles to protect from the weather (mostly wind) Perhaps a bit of netting or garden fleece (to protect from bugs) something to keep slugs out (whole pages of debate on what works best for this) depends what your plant. Weeding war weapons: A hoe, definitely. A hand fork probably. Weedkiller if you like, and lots and lots and lots of: Mulch - almost anything that covers the soil will do - old carpet, cardboard, special weed suppressing membrane, plastic sacks, compost, manure, bark chips, newspaper. It must be well weighted down (or it will blow away or the weeds will shift it and grow anyway) and if it is organic stuff it will eventually become part of the soil and need replacing (can also feed the soil) A basket/bucket/wheelbarrow to put all your lovely goodies (and all the other stuff you need to cart about) in. A fork to dig things up with, scissors and secatuers to cut things off with. Shears to cut things down with a compost bin to compost weeds and leftover bits in (or two is better) Other desirables include a protective place to grow things in pots (a mini plastic greenhouse or something) and some of keeping your soil off the paths, or your paths off the soil (you don't need to bother, but it's nicer. Straw will do) and a bit of a laid back approach. You'll get plenty to eat. Then you buy seeds or plants (depending on what you grow, laziness and funds available) of all your favourite vegetables. You will buy too many, it just happens so don't worry about it. Plant them, keep turfing out all the invading weeds, hope for a decent amount of rain and sunshine, and remember to harvest them. Yum yum! Sarah Raven's book the great vegetable plot, is very good at looking at what you can grow (and cook) and Pippa Greenwoods organic kitchen garden is a very no-nonsense guide to growing it. But for general how-to-go-about-it, I like the half hour allotment. The idea is you can have a worthwhile (but not perfectly neat and orderly or self sufficient) kitchen garden on half an hour a day with weekends off, with perhaps the odd weekend project here and there. Good luck - there is a whole world of advice out there, and many hours, pennies and friendships to be spent in the kitchen garden. But you don't have to do everything someone else way! |
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| Anders |
Thanks for the feedback 
Treacodactyl: From what I understand, seaweed meal should go in several months before. So yes, as you say, October is a bit early. After end October we will not be back though until maybe beginning of March next year and that will be a bit late. Hmmmm. Maybe it is a waste to add it now. The soil is on the clay side. Behemoth: Sorry, I am not sure I understand. "Prep for soil structure". Do you mean add lots of manure, compost, etc. In terms of organic matter all we've got at the moment is old straw. So we thought we would use it as a mulch to protect the soil and also allow some of it to break down and improve it. Try and get some worm action going. And no, the plastic covering the ground was not permeable. Should it have been? Mutton: We already do organic no-dig gardening in our allotment. This is a completely new bit of ground though, and we've read that it might be benefitial to dig the soil initially when it hasn't been cultivated before so that air and rain can penetrate through the mulch over winter. You wouldn't dig it at all? Back to the books for me. Cheers guys ...
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| Mutton |
I was following advice from the "New Organic Grower's Four Season Harvest" by Eliot Coleman.
Misremembered it a bit. He turns over maybe the top three to four inches with a form of hoe rather than digging deep with a fork and spade on established beds. When starting a new plot he said he used a rotary tiller to mix organic or mineral supplements through the topsoil. "If you overdo it and till frequently just to make the soil look nice, the tiller can destroy the soil structure. But when used to add organic matter, a tiller is a useful tool to deepen topsoil, encourage microbiological activity, and build the foundation long-lasting soil fertility." Later he talks about not turning and fluffing with a spade and fork as it disturbs the natural crumb structure. He has long narrow beds and avoids walking on his soil. He says he has sunken paths rather than raised beds. |
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| yummersetter |
Charles Dowding grows the best vegetables round here, have a look at his website and No Dig gardening book
http://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/ see if you can afford one of his one day courses - it's worth it just for the lunch
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| Anders |
Mr Womble:
Thanks a lot for all the advice. We'll try and clean the area as well as we can. Be a pity not to, having mulched it for 17 months. I like your last bit: "... you don't have to do everything someone else way."
Mutton: I've been tempted to buy one of Eliot's books before, - but have managed to resist so far. I buy too many books. Sounds like good advice though. Thanks a lot. yummersetter: Thanks for the link. Some interesting articles. In one of them he suggests that "If you have only strawy, fibrous organic matter to use, I would spread it anyway and then rake off the most fibrous parts in late winter, once frost and weather have broken it down." Thats us, - so we'll try that. Cheers all. |
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| AnneandMike |
With uncultivated clay, you have to dig it to start with. Any no-dig system will only work after you have created some soil structure. The process (assuming weeds are gone) is... 1. Dig over roughly in the Autumn. You don't need to double dig because that brings up infertile subsoil. Don't ever go on it when it is wet. 2. In the Spring (defined as the time when the soil is warm enough and dry enough to work - this is easy to know because weed seeds start to germinate) the winter weather will have done its work. Freeze-thaw and rain will make the clods from the Autumn easy to break done as long as they are not too dry. Working with clay soil is all about knowing when it is not too wet (sticky) and not too dry (concrete). 3. This is the time to incorporate any well rotted organic matter into the top 3 inches, ideally manure. If you have any area that you don't do this on, treat with garden lime (don't manure and lime at the same time). The best veg for the first year is potatoes as they help to break up the soil further and suppress weeds, although there are loads of other things you will be able to grow -clay soils are fertile because nutrients don't leach out of them. 4. Ongoing treatment: follow a 3 or 4 year rotation, muck and lime as required (plenty of books on this). Use the manure/compost/seaweed/grass cuttings rotted down as a top dressing each Spring and work it into the top 3 inches. You will quickly have good, easily worked soil. 5. Some plants like a deeper cultivation (runner beans) so do that as required. 6. Lastly, deep beds are excellent for clay soils because they aid drainage and the paths allow you to work when everyone else is stuck (literally!) Mike |
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| Anders |
Thanks for that AnneandMike, - that was really helpful.
For spring I'll have to see if I can get some well rotted manure from somewhere and I'll try and compost down a load of the straw that we have got. If it doesn't compost down for this spring, it'll just have to be for the following. And good thing we like potatoes. Cheers |
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| AnneandMike |
Post some pictures as you make progress. |