new start

braintoxic

I have loads of space,last year i i worked a strip six foot wide and approx 60 foot long . 40 foot of this used to be a lawn . I painfully turned the sod n let it rot before using a hand operated rotavator to mix it all up.in this i grew british queens pototoes without adding any kind of feed .my uncle calls this bahn ground and they were excellent. The last 20 feet used to be a veg garden years ago , i added d contents of my compost bin n forked in in well . I grew carrotts which forked because of the freshly added compost .i grew beetroot cabbage and lettuce which i love .
I want to take another 60 foot x 6 foot gain this year so i have to turn the lawn again and il have bahn ground for my potatoes again . I have loads of questions


I only grow organic!

I have a big lawn n i keep all d clippings in a pit at the end of the garden ..i dread the idea of turning all d sod again .if i spread d rotton clippings on d strip i want to work will it kill d lawn n can i use d rotavator to turn it over .. do i have to turn d lawn with a spade? Can i do anything to my lawn now to make it easier on d rotavator . Im aware of people using carpet and cardboard etc but my area is a bit big fot that ..

Boardnashea

A big strip of black polythene will kill the grass off over a couple of months but the ground will still have to dug. Available new from hardware or garden centre or used maybe from a farm or building site. Looks messy but will do the job.
I'm not sure about putting out the grass clippings - unless they are very well rotted. It will take more energy to decompose them then it provides.

braintoxic

I have a good rotavator but its my neighbours so i cant horse it into a lawn .if i stop d lighht now will d root system die back enough to make it more " workable" i hate d idea of having to turn d sod. Its back breaking

redser7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1OShZZUt0k

I watched this recently. If you can get your hands on the materials go with no dig spuds for the first year.

braintoxic

redser7 wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1OShZZUt0k

I watched this recently. If you can get your hands on the materials go with no dig spuds for the first year.

Looks good for sure n it is one way to avoid the back breaking digging but i want to rotavate so the ground will be ready next year so i can start a crop rotation .

redser7

Well it sounds like it will have to be dug so. A great tool for just this purpose is the Chillington hoe. Very easy to use and easy on the body. And you can cover a lot of ground very quickly. They cost about 30 euro. I got one for my new allotment and it was great for turning new ground. Is also great for trenching so it will be well used in the future.
Use one of these now to dig the ground roughly. Cold weather is predicted for January so frost should help break large sods up and then you should be able to rotivate later on much easier.
http://www.chillingtonhoes.com/
Check out the youtube clips on the homepage

braintoxic

Thanks il think about that one n keep you posted .cant wait to get started again this year.

CamperMan

we have a spot in the back of the garden, it's open and gets plenty of sun, at the moment it's full of nettles and has not been dug in over a decade!

we want to clear the crap off the top and hand dig it over, will the ground be ready to plant spuds in whenever spuds need planting.. is that Feb?

Thanks

fodda

redser7 wrote: »

Well it sounds like it will have to be dug so. A great tool for just this purpose is the Chillington hoe. Very easy to use and easy on the body. And you can cover a lot of ground very quickly. They cost about 30 euro. I got one for my new allotment and it was great for turning new ground. Is also great for trenching so it will be well used in the future.
Use one of these now to dig the ground roughly. Cold weather is predicted for January so frost should help break large sods up and then you should be able to rotivate later on much easier.
http://www.chillingtonhoes.com/
Check out the youtube clips on the homepage

Cant beat em for veg growing and you could easily clear your ground of the weeds and nettles before digging with them aswell so do not use weed killer, just chop them up with the chillington hoe and get rid of the xmas over indulgeance at the same time.:)

braintoxic

CamperMan wrote: »

we have a spot in the back of the garden, it's open and gets plenty of sun, at the moment it's full of nettles and has not been dug in over a decade!

we want to clear the crap off the top and hand dig it over, will the ground be ready to plant spuds in whenever spuds need planting.. is that Feb?

Thanks

Dig it this week .u will find the nettle roots come up in lumps .very very easy to fork out once its dug over but not easy dig.let the frost into d open ground and it will kill off a lot of the weed seeds then rake out d ground gently before planting..a good rule of thumb is st patrics day for planting spuds .thats a guide as some can be planted earlier .