A busy Easter weekend

Over the Easter weekend we planned to get some hard graft done on plot 4. Although the weather has been disappointing, we have managed to get quite a lot done. Firstly, we were able to finish preparing our first plot for the upcoming planting season. In Autumn, we had covered most of the beds with manure. This has now been dug in, leaving only 1 bed without manure. This will be for carrots and parsnips. You can see in the picture below that we have some overwintering onions and garlic growing. They both seem to be doing well.


Our first plot also has 3 rhubarb crowns. These are just starting to show, behind most other rhubarb growers on the allotment site. We are unsure of the variety. They are most likely a late variety, or have taken a while to sprout through the huge pile of manure we placed over them in autumn!


With the first plot prepared, we moved back to plot four. With the top third almost clear we have started to tackle the rest.

Here you can see the how bottom third of the plot is covered with black plastic. We will be planning pumpkins, squash and sweetcorn through this and not clearing this area fully until next season.



We set to work on the middle third of the plot. We simply do not have the time to clear this area of weed roots before the planting season starts, so we took the decision to rough dig, remove the roots we can see and plant potatoes. This is in hope that the potatoes will help break up the soil, allowing us to fully weed the area in September when we dig the spuds up.


Even the snow did not dishearten our project! Although strangely enough I was doing the digging whilst Sparkly was taking pictures...

Bindweed is still the main problem perennial on the middle third. Here you can see the typical state of the plot when rough-dug. This area did have some couch grass, but the glyphosphate seems to have done a good job of controlling this. Unfortunately, the bindweed roots still feel fleshy and alive!


In some areas the bindweed is beginning to sprout.


Here you can see the result of our Easter effort - 30x30ft of freshly dug ground. The task of removing all obvious perennials and putting in the potato trenches lies ahead for the rest of the week.