Grow Your Own Magazine

I'm after some addvice. I've just got a plot of land to grow my veg on. It's covered in grass and nettles i'm hiring a turf cutter and rotivator to cut back the grass and nettles. What is the best way to prepare the land and am I in time to grow fruit and veg?

Welcome Bozzo, don't rotivate you will chop up the nettle roots and end up with twice as many. Someone with more experience will be along soon to give advice

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Belgrave-allotments.co.uk

Turf cut, stack the turves and cover so the nettle roots die, in a year or so you wil have some lovely loam to dig back in!

If you rotovate you will chop any perenial weed roots and add to you weeding - however it will break up the soil and you could then fork through and remove 90% of the weed roots (all the thick white ones) so a bit 50-50 on cost/benefit front!

You have time to grow runner beans, french beans, tomatoes, courgettes, corn (if you sow at home now!) lettuce...... the list goes on and on!

You might even have time to get a spud crop in if you plant 'earlies' which mature quicker!

Go for it - you might have to spend a few extra hours weeding, but the fun of growing your own far outweights the 'cost' of spending time on the plot!

Have fun!

Terry