Grow Your Own Magazine

Here are a few rather poor pictures of our lottie for those that are interested. It feels like a mahoosive site at the moment - about 18m x 16m but we started trying to clear a bit of it. Our site goes from where I am standing, to the chain link fence to the left of my shadow, along the big bramble bushes (try and spot the purple string there) and then down again.

We (I say we, my Mr did this bit) hacking down the long grassy stuff with a sickle and i forked the chopped bits of into piles. I had a poke about in the soil and it seems like it is a heavyish loam (hurray) - I couldn't see any clay. We have covered what we have cleared with some old underlay and we think we are going to take inspiration from Seasprout and use straw to make paths over the site. We also discovered some old strawberry plants which might be worth saving and a very overgrown bush (last picture, sorry photos are not better). Now we are not sure what this bush is, someone has suggested that it could be a rather unkempt goosberry bush. Now my question for you wonderful experts is - what do you think it is and is it worth saving? Also any additional advice about clearing, digging etc will be most gratefully received.







mystery bush

Nice site, LB - lots of potential! Hard work to start, I know, but bit by bit and all that!

I'm no expert, but the bush looks more like my current bushes than my evil grey stemmed, thorny gooseberries, but I may easily be wrong!

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Hazel
www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com
update Sun 30/11/2008......Indoor Allotmenteering too!.....

OMG hope you are both fit people and in for the long run. That' s quite a site people.
I know when I first saw my site it was daunting and I gave a third of it away at first viewing. Next I had a local farmer plough it over which was worth £30 I paid but I still spent a lot of time piling up the biggest clods of clay loam to break up in the weather for most of my first season. As soon as you can get in a fair load of organic matter and let the weather and worms go to work on it.
My first season I started in May and still got a fair crop of tomatoes, peppers, dwarf beans and herbs from it. I also planted a few varieties of sunflowers.
I wish luck and look forward to more developments / pics
cheers

Nice one lavenderblue.

A blank canvas for you to turn into a Van Gogh!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Jesus, my greatest admiration for you for taking on such a massive and back breaking lottie clearing project but I'm sure it'll be all worth it when they're filled with veggies growing.

I've also been given permission to grow veggies on a friend's farm field but I'm only going for 20 feet by 6 feet worth of bed space (can't take no more). Compared to your site, mine isn't that wild (just that the grass did grow up to 6 inches high) and I'm ashamed with myself for the moaning and groaning at the prospect of digging and clearing the grass/weeds roots from the soil. As Greenhousevirgin has pointed out, it may be worth getting a digger/ploughing machinery.

Re the last picture, I'm not sure but I don't think it's a gooseberry as I don't see much thorns. Looks more like a fruit tree (plum, apple or pear) with the buds. Anyway good luck on your lottie venture and keep your progress posted.

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Food for Free

Do you know, i am changing my mind about hiring some sort of clearing device. I was dead against it, wanting to get to know the soil but if you hard-core allotmenteers are a bit then i may have to reconsider. Glad you like it though. I can see sweet peas climbing up the fence, sunflowers dotted about and lovely fresh peas and sweetcorn, ripening in the sun. *is a dreamer*

Wow, that's quite a size! My only suggestion would be- take it steady. Clear a bit, plant a bit. That way you will have some growing things to encourage you as you tackle the next bit.

Good luck

Wow!

I got off really lightly by comparison.

Laudiable as it is to do it all by hand, I think I read somewhere that having an allotment should be enjoyable and not seen as a chore. On that basis, I'd get in some hired help looking at what you have to tackle, just to get you started at least.

Good luck with it - be interested to see how it progresses.

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A simple dude trying to grow veg.

http://haywayne.blogspot.com/ - Updated 30th November

http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/p/dev036pr___.png

gawd *impressed

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aka
Suzie

Phew, you have a job on your hands there! Bit by bit, slowly slowly as I keep reading on here! Good luck with it, and don't forget to post more pics as you go along so we can see what's happening! Mostly though, enjoy! Oh, and sorry I can't help with your bush, don't have a clue about fruit (yet!!)

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Life may not be the party we hoped for but since we're here we might as well dance

How exciting!

I took on a really messy plot a few months ago and had (have!) mixed feelings about hiring a mechanical clearer. I'm very much a newbie, so don't take anything I say as gospel but my decision was affected by what's actually growing - I have tons of couch grass, which would mulitply if I had it rotavated. Of course you can do that and then hoe very regularly and it should be fine but I've decided to clear the top growth as best I can, then mulch with cardboard and manure. That should hopefully kill of the majority of the bad stuff and I'll have a better plot for 2009. I'm told it's possible to plant spuds, squashes etc through the mulch, so I'll be doing that this year. My lottie is big too (about 80m x 6m) but it's amazing how quickly things start to look better

Phew- that looks like quite a project, but it's potential is fantastic.
I think I'd aim at doing a good job of clearing part of it and just cutting/burning the rest for now.
It will be hard work, but just think....IT'S YOURS!!!!!!

Hi Lavenderblue, keep a diary and take plenty of before and after pics and you will be surprised and pleased when you look back on them. Split your plot into sections and do one at a time and then plant up. That way you won't get disheartened. Good luck, i just know you will do it just because you are so enthuseastic.

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And when you're back stops aching,
And you're hands begin to harden.
You will find yourself a partner,
In the glory of the garden.

Rudyard Kipling.

Looks like my bit of land ...just add trees and brambles...will be watching your progress with interest

Excellent idea and advice! You can easily get a small section up and running and soon be growing with veggies as digging, clearing, soil preparation, making beds will be minimal effort compared to doing up the entire plot.

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Food for Free

My bit of land look like that last year...... In fact it still looks a bit like that. My soil is really just hard core so I had to import soil and grow in raised beds. I'm expecting big things this year with two Greenhouses and a Polytunnel on the way (and a fair few tons of top soil).

Best of luck with it all. Start a blog so you can watch your progress.

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http://keeping-it-green.blogspot.com/

Looks like Keepitgreen is offering to help you out Lavenderblue.

Crickey Lavenderblue I hope your not paying too much rent for that plot, in-fact I hope they are paying you at the moment.

All the best. Hope the weather holds.

Hi Lavenderblue

Looks like a lovely location for an allotment.

Kind regards
Tracey

ohhh anyone with any spare time is welcome to have a bash at it The whole site in fact is in a hideous state, only a few lotties have been looked after so there are a few empty plots.

I think we are going to split it into little sections and deal with a bit at a time, though we will borrow a bush cutter and a rotivator - I don't think there is couch grass on the site - its not on the list of possible site hazzards and I talking to another allotmenteer who has never seen it there.

Anyway, i fancy trying early peas - i've just managed to blag some closhes that were going to end up on the tip so the next pictures you see will be some closhes in a pile and a pile of dead weeds and me looking like this

A bit at a time being a good approach so you enjoy it. I only suggested my approach with heavy equipment being impatient and lazy as I am(with back problems in the past to moderate my efforts).
From my experience I have got to know my soil and its varies even from one part to another. Additionally it has changed since I started so I occaisionally check PH and consistency etc and make notes for future reference.
All the best!

I've also been given permission to grow veggies on a friend's farm field but I'm only going for 20 feet by 6 feet worth of bed space (can't take no more). Compared to your site, mine isn't that wild (just that the grass did grow up to 6 inches high) and I'm ashamed with myself for the moaning and groaning at the prospect of digging and clearing the grass/weeds roots from the soil. As Greenhousevirgin has pointed out, it may be worth getting a digger/ploughing machinery.

Interested in the corner of a farmers field references. My dream is to have a place near some fields and use a corner for some commercial production for Farmers Market perhaps.
How you score the patch you mentioned if I may ask

was quoting Veg461 re corner of farmers fields but it didn't quite come out as expected..confused so am I lol

My suggestion would be to get the whole plot strimmed, either by yourself or someone else. Rake up all the cut stuff and burn it. It will look a lot better and give you hope. Then cover some or all with black plastic/carpet/cardboard. Make a plan of where the beds are going to be and start digging. What I have done on a very unpromising plot is to gradually build raised beds. In some cases I have built them on horticultural membrane stuff thus suppressing weeds. As many other grapes have said, do it bit by bit. All the while, keep it strimmed - it impresses peo