Grow Your Own Magazine

hmmm...what else might be used, if one hasn't got enough compost....and doesn't have access to grass cuttings....?

I'd be touching up the neighbours for *their* grass clippings!
I think you can also use straw, which is probably a completely useless suggestion, but if you can use straw I reckon you could use shredded paper... ??

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Warning: I have a dangerous tendency to act like I know what I'm talking about.

I brought the first batch five years ago. You're right it takes about two years for the majority of the weeds to die. but I moved it about a bit for the crop rotation. I don't try and clear everything with it but it really saves on water and weeding and gives you a fighting chance. The only fairly permanent crop I have through it is strawberries...It saves lots of time.

My first lottie is fairly weed free now and doesn't need it, but I have brought some extra and have loads on the new plot. There is no sign of it breaking down but its most annoying feature is undoubtedly the fraying (we had strands everywhere at first) I ran a load through the sewing machine which helped and some was sealed with a hot melt glue gun but it is quite an effort to sort out. It costs me about 50p a square metre but I think the investment has been really worthwhile. I have donated some of the older stuff to other beginners and sold some new stuff to others to make a bit of money for the allotments. I don't say its perfect but it is certainly durable and we get enough use from it. None has been sent to landfill as yet. It doesn't grow in or leach chemicals like carpet (which I have banned on our site). I also believe if it helps newbies get a handle on their plots it means they are more likely to stay and enjoy.

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Advertising is the rattling of a stick in a swill bucket. George Orwell
Paul

RE: Grass Clippings. I don't have a lawn, but 100s of people are out mowing theirs in the evenings. I just cycle past and ask nicely if I could have a bagful, instead of it going into their green bin. Result.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

I'm experimenting with chopped down nettles (mostly, theres some thistles and grass in there too) as mulch (for courgettes so far but i'll probably sling some on my earlies tonight as they're ready to earth up) as I have a seemingly unending supply of these so I figured they may as well do me some good incidentally.. anyone know where I can get a scythe/sickle? feel this would make quicker work of them than the shears tho i'd have to be careful not to chop off anything i don't want to (like bits of me.. )

I sow my spuds under compost and straw, this keeps the light out so the spuds don't green. When it comes to harvest time the spuds are nice and clean.

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good Diggin, Chuffa.

I use sickles (and occasionally a scythe) Becca. You'll need a carborundum stone too. When kept sharp they are faster, quieter and less destructive to wildlife than a strimmer.

I'd look in a carboot/ garage clearance. May I say that (without being patronising) I've been using one for many years ....it is a knack and they can be dangerous. With a sickle ALWAYS have a good stick in the left hand and brace it on the ground infront of you to stop it swinging round into your shin.

Also I would be careful not harvest material that is going to seed.

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Advertising is the rattling of a stick in a swill bucket. George Orwell
Paul

Or if you don't have a sickle... My nettles get attacked with a big stick - nettle-thwacking is seriously therapeutic And I've found that a spade or a hoe is pretty effective too: slash them, bash them, and chop any defiant stems. Mind, it's not very NEAT - personally I don't want to collect the nettles, I just want to kill them!

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Warning: I have a dangerous tendency to act like I know what I'm talking about.

Nettles support a surprising amount of beneficial wildlife and predatory insects and are the breeding choice of the much loved red admiral. I have a patch or two (plus comfrey and a buddlia) close to my lottie that I leave for this purpose. Otherwise the nettles are harvested for making feed. Further thwacking them will do no good (however satisfying you may find it) without digging out those yellow roots...they'll be saying 'I'll be back ars*hole' in their best Arnie accent.

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Advertising is the rattling of a stick in a swill bucket. George Orwell
Paul

Ah, but there are plenty of nettles nearby that *aren't* where I want to plant stuff: the wildlife is welcome to those!

(And thwacking is, as you say, only phase one, to get rid of the tops so that you can then dig out the roots without getting stung - speaking of which, I just did my first bit of digging out today on my "reclaimed" patch - the soil underneath is beautiful - completely wasted on nettles but will be a lovely home for my cukes and courgettes and whatever else won't fit anywhere else...)

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Warning: I have a dangerous tendency to act like I know what I'm talking about.

Demeter, it's the nettles that make the soil so wonderful - they are full of nitrogen. Treat your nettles as a crop, and harvest them to improve your compost or to make nettle tea, or to 'grow' some Peacock Butterflies:- peacock on nettle on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

Hello! I'm growing some potatoes in a tub but can anyone tell me how to earth up?

Do I cover the leaves as they appear, or let them grow for a bit them completely cover them again? I planted the potatoes about halfway down the tub so there is room to "earth up", only I'm unsure exactly how to do it lol!

How about ebay, there is one on there at the moment for about £8, which is a traditional style.

Yeah it all sounds so good - but - our plot is shared between four families and between us we have seven children aged 0 to 5 - hence my nettle bloodlust - stingers and toddlers do not mix well! I wouldn't mind except every child stung means at least 20 minutes when a mummy can't work

There are as I said various nettle patches nearby for wildlife but we would rather find crops for our own plot that don't sting (e.g. we are growing comfrey on the verges) or take over valuable growing space (we have a pretty small plot considering there are four families).

I really don't think you can convince me - If nettles got up in the night, collected slugs for the chickens, watered all the plants and then brought me tea in bed in the morning - I still wouldn't grow them deliberately on our plot - although of course I'm happy to enjoy the benefit of the beautiful soil they've left behind!

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We've let ours grow until they are about 6 inches or so and then covered them in earth (then repeat a few days later when they've grown another 6 inches!)

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Warning: I have a dangerous tendency to act like I know what I'm talking about.

Perhaps I come from a sheltered background, but I do like this site. It had never even occured to me that others didn't actually earth up potatoes.

I've always done it to stop greening, and to make it easier when digging up, but now I have a whole load of other reasons for doing so, cheers.

As a Jamie Oliver fan, I would like to point out that in his first series Naked Chef (I don't count the bit part he played alongside ruth and rose)he did keep herbs on his windowsill!!(a gardener in the making me thinks), which he grew himself.

He may well annoy a lot of people but I still like him, he's a decent human being that genuinely cares about many issues, but more importantly is prepared to stand up and be counted even when it might affect his pay cheque!

I think that we earth up potatoes so that we can watch the weeds growing in nice little mounds!!

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Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it.

Love the grass as mulch idea - as I'm basically lazy and hubby has just strimmed the grass on our absentee neighbour's allotment (nearly as tall as me, all 5' 2"). Our allotment inspector told me not to earth up and I doubted him until I read this thread. He also told me not to bother watering, something about encouraging deeper roots (true?) - mind you he wasn't too impressed that I was about to plant out beans and sweetcorn, muttering about frost and June some 50 years ago

and would you believe it. the big patch of grass outside our house was mown today. so there's me running after him in my slippers, asking him nicely, to "leave the clippings for me tatties, please"

tomorrow i get the street kids to help me bag it all up - job's a good 'un

I think the idea is that if you water them, the surface will be damp and the roots will have no reason to go deep - but if you don't water them (or not much anyway) the surface will be dry and the roots have to go deep to find water. Deep roots means the plant won't suffer when the surface dries out in dry conditions, meaning that once the plant is established you pretty much don't have to water it at all. (Not on clay soil anyway! Dunno about whether you would have to water soil that is more free-draining.)

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Warning: I have a dangerous tendency to act like I know what I'm talking about.

Thank-you Demeter - really thank you! I've got clay soil......and 20 long rows of potatoes (plus stuff in barrels). The thought of haulming (or is it hauling) the lot and especially regular watering without a ready supply (long walk up allotment site armed only with two watering cans) - well, I had to go sit in the shed and have another cup of tea!