New plot help please

[Llevrah]

Hi, I'm really sorry if this is in the wrong place I couldn't decide where to.put it 😣

I have just gotten hold of my very first allotment. We've probably done entirely the wrong thing already and made more work for ourselves but I wondered if I was missing something or doing something wrong.

The plot has 7 slightly raised beds which has some bootiful top soil in it however it's hidden under bind weed and alsorts. Tonight we ripped out a lot of the grass in it and anything else we could pull up whole by hand. We then ook a fork to it and dug up what we couldn't pull up. In those two beds I am now stuck with loads and loads of bits of root. I sat for a bit and sieved but noticed a lot of the bits of weed are still passing through the sieve.

Is sitting and picking each bit out my only option? Was there a better way in the first place that we should have done? We've another 5 of them to go so any advice if we've made a muck up if it would be very greatly received 😀

It's the same way I've always dug a flower bed at home but that just involved taking off the grass this seems like an impossible task to remove it. I didn't imagine it would be a 5 minute job by any means but really thought the sieve would do the job 😣

Thanks for reading

[muddled]

Hello and welcome to the vine!

First of all, if this is in the wrong place a lovely mod will come along and move it, so there is no need to apologise!

Secondly, congratulations on your new allotment! And bootiful soil? Lucky you!

Now, the bindweed.
You have done exactly the right thing by digging and pulling as much as you can.
No, you'll never get it all....but you've knocked it right back at the start of the season. From here on in you just pull any bits that poke their heads up (its actually very satisfying) and eventually you get the better of it.

Now is the time to look at the beds you've (mainly) cleared and decide what to grow in them.
The other beds can be covered with cardboard or similar to weaken the weeds while you plant your first lot.
Once they're sorted and growing away, uncover one of the grassy beds and start digging and pulling, or, punch holes in the card and plant through (this method very good for courgettes and pumpkins etc) so that you get a crop while you wait for the weeds to die back then pull the weeds properly after harvest in the autumn.

You're going to have a fantastic year!

[Greenleaves]

I think this post will sit quite happily here but why not pop here Introduce Yourself! and tell us a little more about yourself......by the way pictures of the plot are always welcome

[Llevrah]

Thank you very much.

I'm really excited. Kid's have been down with me tonight and took to digging better than I expected. Thought I'd hear borrrrrrred, it's too hard, are we going yet but not once and they can't wait to go back tomorrow....Hopefully it'll continue 

The beds really are in a mess although the shed decking and water tank I've inherited are in brilliant condition.

I planted lots in seed trays at the start of the week as it could have taken up to a month to get the fob sorted for the gate to get in.

Fortunately my in laws have a plot a few away so can water if I can't get down there for any reason.

There was a lot of beetroot leeks and spring onions to be dug up. Rhubarb and fair few raspberry canes and about half a dozen strawberry plants lurking in the weeds. I have around 30 strawberry plants in the garden in bags some other fruit bushes in pots and some gigantomo seedlings to go in mum in laws tunnel. So got a few bits to go in there that I've had growing in pots in the garden for a year or so. Fingers crossed they will do even better down there than in pots.

[Llevrah]

I think this post will sit quite happily here but why not pop here Introduce Yourself! and tell us a little more about yourself......by the way pictures of the plot are always welcome

Hi, I shall stop by.

Tried uploading a couple into an album but doesn't seem to be working at the moment

[Jay-ell]

Hi Llevrah

Congratulations on your new plot and welcome to the vine.

Don't forget to gather up all the weeds roots and bung them into a bin full of water to drown them. That way they won't reroot and you also get a liquor rich in nutrients (although stinkier that a sweating skunk) to use on your crops.

[Llevrah]

Hi. Thank you

Haha nice thanks I'll look forward to that one. I was going to chuck them on the big communal compost heap

[Mr Bones]

Hello, welcome to the vine and congrats on your new plot, it sounds like you're doing a good job of removing the roots. If the sieve seems to be taking too long you could try breaking the soil up with a gardening fork then comb the tines upwards through the soil a few times which will bring the roots to the top. As others have already said, drowning them in a barrel makes a good liquid feed.

[Llevrah]

Hello, welcome to the vine and congrats on your new plot, it sounds like you're doing a good job of removing the roots. If the sieve seems to be taking too long you could try breaking the soil up with a gardening fork then comb the tines upwards through the soil a few times which will bring the roots to the top. As others have already said, drowning them in a barrel makes a good liquid feed.

They sieve didn't come out to play today. It was a fork digging into the beds and pulling them out by hand. Going round and round them over and over doing the same. Got a lot out but I think I'm going to be finding them forever 😁

[veggiechicken]

Hi. Thank you

Haha nice thanks I'll look forward to that one. I was going to chuck them on the big communal compost heap

............and one day, you'd want some compost from that heap and you'd get all your weeds back again

[Llevrah]

............and one day, you'd want some compost from that heap and you'd get all your weeds back again

Well I say communal compost heap. I think it's more communal dumping ground �� it's where they said to chuck it all to as I cleared it off so maybe it's not for composting.

It's where people clear what they don't want to. It's where I was

[snakeshack]

You're too smart to dump in a communal heap,start your own and take control of where your stuff goes,you have nothing to lose,your own heap will be closer to your plot ( on it) and the lovely high quality compost you produce will be all yours, and you'll know what's in it

[Gillykat]

They sieve didn't come out to play today. It was a fork digging into the beds and pulling them out by hand. Going round and round them over and over doing the same. Got a lot out but I think I'm going to be finding them forever 

I often think that about ground elder!!! Had a small patch in the bottom corner of one of my beds when I got my plot last year and so dug it out and went through that soil bit by bit until I was sure I'd cleared it......only for a leaf to poke up through the soil a few weeks later!!! I pulled that up but I'm still getting the occasional one popping up....just when I'm feeling smug about having removed it all Just keep pulling it, the bindweed, off when it dares to poke it's head above the soil and eventually it'll weaken

Welcome to The Vine BTW - you'll love it here as everyone is SO helpful and friendly

[Llevrah]

You're too smart to dump in a communal heap,start your own and take control of where your stuff goes,you have nothing to lose,your own heap will be closer to your plot ( on it) and the lovely high quality compost you produce will be all yours, and you'll know what's in it

There is a bin on my plot that the previous tenant has left behind. It's rather full up at the moment

[WendyC]

Was it already full up or have you filled it up? If it was already part full there, may be some usable compost in the bottom. Just be cautious that those pesky roots haven't been thrown in there too! Bin emptied then you've space to make your own compost. Most people find they need more than one in the end.