Tidying up the beds
October 31, 2011 at 10:25 pm 2 comments
There’s nothing very exciting to post about just lately. We’ve mainly been clearing the beds of finished crops, burning any dry stems and composting the rest. I have dug a compost trench for next years beans, which was lined with cardboard and then filled with the remains of the tomato plants, courgettes and sweetcorn. Beds have been dug over and weeding continues around the winter crops (leeks, carrots, parsnips, swede and turnips). I’ve planted out 4 rows of garlic (Solent Wight, Provence Wight, Cristo and 2 big fat cloves of elephant garlic).
I’ve taken out the bed of Sweet Williams as they’d been invaded by the raspberries, the raspberries have been ordered back into their rightful space, and gradually order is being restored to the chaos that nature sometimes creates.
Also being chopped back into place is the grass path, which had crept a fair way into the borders. A little tip we learnt from our neighbour is to cut a trench along the edge to stop the grass from creeping in. It’s probably something we’ll have to re-do in time, but it should keep it in place for a while at least, and it will be easier to mow.
I still need to sow a row or two of broad beans before the weather turns too cold, and I also want to move the blackcurrant and gooseberry bushes, as they are not doing well next to the rhubarb. I want to plant the fruit bushes under the fruit trees, but first I’ll have to move a load of tulip bulbs. That’s often the problem on the allotment, you start one job and create half a dozen more.
We’re just happy that we’ve had some good autumn weather over the last couple of weekends, and that the soil is now getting much easier to dig over. Be thankful for small mercies!
Like this:
Entry filed under: digging/clearing ground, plot progress. Tags: .
1.
Piglet in Portugal | October 31, 2011 at 11:29 pm
“you start one job and create half a dozen more” I can empathise with you.
Still, your plot is looking good – I would love and allotment
I was intrigued by did you line your runnerbean trench with cardboard?
How do you get rid of mealy bug. Went to plant up some runners this afternoon and found eveything infested!
2.
Zoe | November 1, 2011 at 11:25 am
Hi Piglet, I assume you’re asking ‘why’ I lined the trench with cardboard. It just helps to hold in some of the moisture. It’s not essential, but I’d had some cardboard down there previously, as I’d been using it as a weed suppressant around the sweetcorn. So when I dug the trench it made sense to put it into the bottom, where it will eventually rot away, but in the meantime will stop too much moisture and nutrients draining away.
I’ve never had mealy bugs I’m afraid, so I don’t know much about them. I guess you’d treat them like aphids, maybe just brush them off, try some soapy water, or else hope that some ladybirds come along to eat them.