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I cannot get the attatchment thingy to work so Ill just post this advice from a very old lotty man on our site.
Tips and Hints
Make a plan of site
List positions of all hard landscape….. Borders, Permanent plants, ponds, paths, huts, cleared and uncleared areas. Do this every year so that you can rotate the crops.
Land Clearance..
• Only clear what you intend to plant
• If possible cover spare ground or plant potatoes’
• Pile up or build a compost area
• Use rubble for paths or to harden damp areas
• Rotten timber can be stockpiled for wildlife or burnt
• Fire ash to compost not to soil
• All buckets, pots, tubes, polethine, bricks to be kept for future use
• If in doubt keep and bin later
• Check existing infrastructure, huts, g houses, plants, specific soil area’s, baths, sinks, ponds, paths
• If double digging …. Break up hard pan in base of trench and place veg rubbish before backfilling.
Tips
• Compost… All veg waste, Perennial weeds can be removed when time allows later. Turn over twice yearly if possible to aerate compost and to speedup process.
• Place perennial weeds in water for 3 to 6 month then onto compost
• Wood ash to compost pile not to soil
• Pond…Use an old sink, bath, big bowl or proper pond stuff if you have time and money, the local wildlife will assist you in pest control, so they need a habitat area. Scrounge a bucket of pond water from someone so that the microbes kick yours into life.
• Raised beds…Can be filled with veg waste, used compost shredded paper, sand and manure. Break up hard pan in bottom before filling. Top up beds as level sinks. A raised bed warms up quicker than ground soil and easier to weed, plants can be grown closer together and earlier in the season if covered. Disadvantage is that the bed dries out quicker in summer weather, water well.
• Husbandry… Clean all pots, tools, trays, G house, paths, hedges, boundary markers ect.
• Rhubarb Mix… Place rhubarb leaves in bucket or barrel and allow rotting till stinking mess, sieving and using on brasicas to ward of Whitefly. After heavy rain reapply.
• No manure in ground for Carrots, sieve soil, raise 20” or barrier of 20”, earth up foliage.
• Feed wildlife
• Conserve water from guttering, containers, compost heap for summertime and making plant food mixes. Rainwater is better than tap water.
• Rubble and logs keep for paths and wildlife area, place near pond.
Advice
Seek advice from… Other Alotmenteers, get books from second hand shops, Internet and gardening papers.
All the best to all and have a good xmas,
Fred P
Tips and Hints
Make a plan of site
List positions of all hard landscape….. Borders, Permanent plants, ponds, paths, huts, cleared and uncleared areas. Do this every year so that you can rotate the crops.
Land Clearance..
• Only clear what you intend to plant
• If possible cover spare ground or plant potatoes’
• Pile up or build a compost area
• Use rubble for paths or to harden damp areas
• Rotten timber can be stockpiled for wildlife or burnt
• Fire ash to compost not to soil
• All buckets, pots, tubes, polethine, bricks to be kept for future use
• If in doubt keep and bin later
• Check existing infrastructure, huts, g houses, plants, specific soil area’s, baths, sinks, ponds, paths
• If double digging …. Break up hard pan in base of trench and place veg rubbish before backfilling.
Tips
• Compost… All veg waste, Perennial weeds can be removed when time allows later. Turn over twice yearly if possible to aerate compost and to speedup process.
• Place perennial weeds in water for 3 to 6 month then onto compost
• Wood ash to compost pile not to soil
• Pond…Use an old sink, bath, big bowl or proper pond stuff if you have time and money, the local wildlife will assist you in pest control, so they need a habitat area. Scrounge a bucket of pond water from someone so that the microbes kick yours into life.
• Raised beds…Can be filled with veg waste, used compost shredded paper, sand and manure. Break up hard pan in bottom before filling. Top up beds as level sinks. A raised bed warms up quicker than ground soil and easier to weed, plants can be grown closer together and earlier in the season if covered. Disadvantage is that the bed dries out quicker in summer weather, water well.
• Husbandry… Clean all pots, tools, trays, G house, paths, hedges, boundary markers ect.
• Rhubarb Mix… Place rhubarb leaves in bucket or barrel and allow rotting till stinking mess, sieving and using on brasicas to ward of Whitefly. After heavy rain reapply.
• No manure in ground for Carrots, sieve soil, raise 20” or barrier of 20”, earth up foliage.
• Feed wildlife
• Conserve water from guttering, containers, compost heap for summertime and making plant food mixes. Rainwater is better than tap water.
• Rubble and logs keep for paths and wildlife area, place near pond.
Advice
Seek advice from… Other Alotmenteers, get books from second hand shops, Internet and gardening papers.
All the best to all and have a good xmas,
Fred P
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