Day two on my allotment... and not a good one lol

[Raybon]

Good for you! Sleep easy!

[andy_j]

Great stuff Mr Tiler, keep at it, little bit each day and you'll get there.

The plant is a tufted Vetch....a member of the Legume (pea and bean) family. They can get a bit invasive if you let them spread so dig it out if you can

Good luck

[Noosner]

Yes, well done Mr T, looks great!

My advice: keep visiting your plot about once a week through thick and thin, even during some of the winter months. Then you will forestall any disasters, see what needs doing ahead of time and also maintain your interest in working out how to do it. And you'll be able to say (or even sing) 'I did it my way'!

[Bigmallly]

Getting there Mr T, a bit at a time. Try & get hold of some Planks/Scaffold Boards to lay on the soil while you work it. This will save compacting it with your size 12's............

[Bren In Pots]

Doesn't it feel good to have some crops in the ground 😀


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[mr tiler]

day 4 guys, got a bit done today managed to strim some more down and cut it all back around the compost bin and a bit more dug over at the front, big shame I found nothing but soil, rocks and rubbish in the 1 ton bags so off to a garden centre for some tarpaulin tmoz so I can get the majority coverd for a few weeks while I get to work on the front end of my plot if anyone knows a decent place to get it cheap would be appreciated lol... also got me a strawberry plant from homebase today don't think the boj job of a fruit cage is going to help much though will nock something decent up in the next few days... also don't like the look of these eggs errrrrrrrr!!!

[Greenleaves]

Tarpaulins are ok Mr Tiler but not light tight. The advice I was given was put a good layer of wet newspaper underneath ( Bill HH I think) and it works a treat but still not as good as cardboard.

Well done on what you have done so far

[Hazel at the Hill]

Looking good, Mr T - you'll get there.

Mind you, you do know that those blue pellets are to sprinkle - they aren't a mulch!?

[mr tiler]

Lol extra protection don't want them going bye bye lol....

Hi green leaves' where would you suggest I can get this amount of cardboard and what would I do tape all the boxes together? Cheers

[Greenleaves]

Just overlap and weight it down, I got mine from a corner shop. You can also plant through it

[Bigmallly]

Call in at your local bike shops or white goods shops.

[Bill HH]

Plastic and tarpaulins soon degrade with the light and become brittle, it can make a lorra mess. Whereas cardboard composts and feeds the worms / soil. The best cardboard is the plain stuff and bigger sheets are neater than little boxes. Don't use glossy printed cardboard. Once its weighed down with some soil, bricks whatever and becomes wet it doesn't blow around. Plastic sheet doesn't let water through either which is not good.

[veggiechicken]

You haven't mentioned the other advantage of using cardboard as a mulch........................
its FREE

[Noosner]

Plastic and tarpaulins soon degrade with the light and become brittle, it can make a lorra mess. Whereas cardboard composts and feeds the worms / soil. The best cardboard is the plain stuff and bigger sheets are neater than little boxes. Don't use glossy printed cardboard. Once its weighed down with some soil, bricks whatever and becomes wet it doesn't blow around. Plastic sheet doesn't let water through either which is not good.

Bill, I've used a lot of cardboard this year and because I've had excess soil around, have just piled soil on top as mulch. Do you think that is ok? It seems to have worked well, but I imagine even better would be to add manure on top?

[Bill HH]

Bill, I've used a lot of cardboard this year and because I've had excess soil around, have just piled soil on top as mulch. Do you think that is ok? It seems to have worked well, but I imagine even better would be to add manure on top?

Soil is fine, manure or compost would of course play a dual role.