After a week of confusion, meet my plot!

[stella]

Find a clear corner and plant some garlic so that you can see something growing, makes it all worthwhile

[bearded bloke]

Yep,bung some garlic in but if I may suggest a word to the wise ... fleece ... cover over onion based crops to prevent the evil alium leaf miner that is prevalent in the west midlands

[lottie dolly]

congratulations on finally getting a plot with your name on it,ref to the horse tail,you say no sign of it,mmmm,this is the time of year it goes to ground,do not know if your familiar with it but,i will say anyway,as other newbies might benefit from it,although the green fearny top goes to ground,the BLACK,DARK BROWN roots remain in the ground,these brake of very easily,they also go down further than you can dig,nothing seems to get rid of it completely,you just learn to live and manage it,any way,as you are digging and you see any,get as much as you can out within your spade/fork depth,this will give you a head start on next years regrowth,do not compost the roots,but either put them in a barrel of water to drown,or a black plastic bag,just for a few months,in the spring the first you will see of it is,pinky coloured shoots aprox 9in tall,with a seed head on the top,a bit like an elongated mushroom,pull these up ASP being very careful,any dust you see is the seed spawn,the green shoots follow,then get up with a trowl as it comes,or hoe it of,my plots are covered,it can get to you here and there,just look at it as free plant help,am sure others will tell you of it's benefits,

[Snadger]

How do you know I'm not a Russian shot putter already?

Snadger I hear you! I'm going to start digging at the weekend :-)

Good on yer Methe! Just tek it easy though and don't go doing your back in!

[binley100]

Yep,bung some garlic in but if I may suggest a word to the wise ... fleece ... cover over onion based crops to prevent the evil alium leaf miner that is prevalent in the west midlands

Should be ok from now till end of Feb .......they are active twice a year..oh and my leeks were covered with debris netting to keep out the wabbits and the ones I've had up seem to be leaf miner free..happy days

[Methe]

Garlic is a brilliant idea as we eat an absolute to of the stuff! The other thing I thought about putting in is some bare root raspberries.

[bearded bloke]

Ohhh,good idea think now is about right for Autumn fruiting,not sure about Summer varieties though.

[Methe]

Ooh I love raspberries yum yum!

Right, plan of action is dig, dig and dig a bit more and plant some stuff!

[bearded bloke]

Take LOTS of pictures,at least once a week do one from each compass point,then you can look back & see your achievements over time,post some on here as well we are all "nosey buggers"

[Feral007]

I'm a no digger! Even if I wanted to dig, I'd throw cardboard on most of it. Dig up a section that you wanted to put the overwintering crops in, get them in. Dig up where you want the raspberries in (you can think about that while you're digging the first bit, where the sun is, where you might find them useful but not in the way, and then bung in the raspberries.
If you're looking after those during winter, and seeing what seems like a good plan for the spring garden you shouldn't be too bored.
And you'll need to do a fair bit of reading thru this site over winter so you can see all the mistakes we made and all the advice we got, so you can plan for the 'big garden'.

If you are getting this one ship shape and with crops in I'd be looking at the next full plot they offered, and if it was a mess too, I'd be asking if I could work on the 2nd while I kept the one that had all my crops in. You could end up doing a lot of work for the next tenant otherwise.

Congrats anyway

[Tripmeup]

Best of luck Methe...
Definitely get something going now as suggested... Elephant garlic is another one worth considering..
Worth remembering too that you may be moving to a full plot at some point when making plans..

[Bigmallly]

Right, plan of action is dig, dig and dig a bit more and plant some stuff

Glad you got your plot sorted out Methe and just remember, when you get this one as you want it, the council will offer you a full plot & you can do it all over again............

[Dorothy rouse]

Good news, congrats! You'll be surprised as to what a 'half plot' will produce, I didn't even realise mine Was a half plot, you'll love it and become really attached to it, and won't want to move.

Enjoy.

[bario1]

I agree, a half plot is plenty for me as my OH is only interested in the cooking, not the growing (and certainly not the digging!) - if the council offered me a full plot now I'd probably turn it down, I've put so much time and money into the plot i have.

Good luck!

[mrgrower]

What I have found best, this being my first year is to cover as much as you can in the sections you want after cutting back the weeds then each time you go pick the prime are you want to start with pull the sheeting up dig out any roots / weeds you find then cover again. Do that a few times then leave uncovered you will see the weeds you missed comming up so it's just dig them up. Thats how I tackled it allong with ussing card board as a mulch in some areas.

A thing to remember is at this time of year the weeds will have already dropped seeds so you will get more comming through early spring.

Cover dig cover dig cover dig and if you get a small part fairly clear you can get some over wintering onions and garlic in the milder your area the better.

As for Raspberries great idea but make sure you get as much weed up as you can don't want that comming though the centre of your bushes.

Good luck anyway.