Greecko's Veg Garden

Good luck Greecko and let us know how you get on.

 

Thanks Sheal, new plan, weve got a weedkiller for farm use that kills brambles and other "rrubbish" as my Granda says, so Ill try it...My poor strimmer hadnt a chance against most of the stuff, I just about got what nettles there was.

Though I do know someone with goats and pigs! that would be a possibility

 

Oh no, not goats and pigs! The goats will eat everything including the plants you want to keep and the pigs will turn it into a mud bath.

 

Dont worry sheal, theres nothing in the garden but weeds! its all got to go Its been neglected for the past 20 years and before that a garden Ive got a few bullocks in the next field which I will let in to clear the grass.

But first the spraying! The weathers rubbish here..again, so I may wait for a dry day and spray it, or do you reckon it will make much difference?

To make matters worse a giant old sycamore tree recently split down one side, and the branch just about missed the dwelling house, but it means I'm going to have to try and cut it up and its destroyed the nice box hedge that ran under it, so it may have to come out too

 

Liquid killer has to be put down on a dry day, granular is the opposite and needs to be put down just before it rains.

You're not having an easy time at the moment are you? The only bonus you gain from the loss of the tree is firewood, keep it or sell it.

I've just checked your location.... County Tyrone, your not that far from me really. I holidayed in NI about four years ago, it's a beautiful place, even if it does get a lot of rain like us here.

 

Yeah I used a chemical for farmers, it kills all the brambles and weeds but leaves the grass, still lethal stuff all the same so was quite careful! I will see how it turns out maybe tomorrow if I have time.

Its just going to take a lot of hard work Sheal, but I'm not afraid of putting in a little elbow grease! The actual tree needs to come down sometime, its at the roadside and getting quite old, but for now well take the bit that has come off.

I live just on the border of Tyrone and Monaghan! ! Yup! never too much worry on a shortage of water here anyway! Never been to the Isle of Man myself, but would love to see it!

 

Has the knotweed gone for sure?

As for other stuff, you just have to work with it. If the land has been neglected for 20 years, it will have gazillions of seeds in it, and glyphosate doesn't touch seeds. you can either wait forever (literally) til its all gone, or just live with it and pull out/hoe in weeds as your veg grows.

Good luck.

 

No it hasn't Clueless, it wasn't at the garden up to the end of April, and since then it has grown to over 7ft by now, I gave them a spray but will be going at them properly with the glypo and a technique a horticulturist that comes into our shop gave me, which is pretty simple really! it is going to take a few years, but it will be worth it!

Your exactly right clueless, its going to be a long term thing, just to keep working at it! To be fair I enjoy the work towards something than actually doing it! Im very impatient so I reckon Ill only be growing quick and handy things in the end

 

Well another year and time to start again...

I have now finished at University but I've come home to work at the family Business, which is a 12 hour day, 6 days a week, so it doesn't leave much time! However I have done a lot of clearing away and now have started double digging my rows for next year. Double digging is tough enough but strangely enjoyable as a change from the daily grind.

I will try and post pictures soon, it is early days and I'm currently looking manure!

 

De ja vu here with all the restarts, but finally with the better weather I have the entire plot ploughed and power harrowed. Whether that was better or worse than rotovating I will soon find out.

One question before I start planting is, do I need to raise my beds up? Also I make making them about a metre wide with 50cm spacing between each one. I'll just be planting cabbages, potatoes, brocolli etc this year but in future would like some soft fruits. Am I on the right track or should I just leave the ground "level" and not bother raising? We get a lot of rain in this part of the world so im worried they will get drenched. We had a lot of it last week and left the ground mucky at the bottom end

 

Hi Greecko, went back and read from the start. There are pros and cons to raised beds. How did the potatoes do? I believe they were tried earlier? No matter if you prefer to garden in raised beds or the ground I would definitely recommend mulching. You've had a lot of efforts with weeds at least this would help somewhat. Has is the controlling of the knotweed going? Does the plot get waterlogged? Is this what you mean by mucky?

 

Hi Gwen, this will be the first year at planting it! The knotweed is a different area and seems to be dead...for now but I am keeping an eye on new growth. It seems impractical raising the beds I have at the moment to any real height, maybe in the autumn I'll dump on plenty of manure etc that I can easily grab hold off but for now its just the bare soil. There is a section that seems waterlogged, but I plan on avoiding it. The rest isn't bad!

How do other people find when working in allotments with heavy rain and having bare ground? the entire small field is now just tilled soil...I could have sworn I had photos attached to this somewhere!

 

Hi Greecko, I'm in Scotland with snow today. The weather has been cruel so far. You could plant some bog plants if the waterlogged area isn't an actual pool, and if you are planning flowers. I have had to lift all of my grass due to a couple of moles creating a motorway. It's been replaced with self sealing chips. My borders are all raised even the veg. This was a few years work to get to this stage. My fruits are all planted straight into the ground and in hedges. This is the only exception to the raised bed. My veg patch is high enough to eliminate carrot fly and is also covered with netting. I'm happy to share the fruit with wildlife but draw the line at the veg. Rabbits, snails, slugs are the other critters competing with the mole to destroy.
Will you have exposed soil when you are up and running? You could plant a green manure maybe.

 

Gwen you and I share similar enough weather, al be it you may get a little more snow :P We got torrential rain last night that flooded a lot of places around me, despite the fact we are so high up! If you see the pictures in the first post on here, that entire area is now bare earth, if that gives you an idea so I have a blank canvas so to speak to work with and plant up. My main worry was water getting away. That wet corner I may look about adding some drainage onto the road.

This year I hope to plant potatoes and other veg just as an experiment, then likely green manure over winter and start again next spring, but adding my soft fruits in too. I have strawberries etc already in crates so get some runners and try them out.

Thankfully I have never encountered moles, but plenty of rabbits and deer, the deer being the worst and hardest considering they clear any fencing around us.

 

You won't know until you give it a go. Each year will have different successes no matter what. Can I ask how you cleared the area of grass? I have another area to do this year. Was thinking of turning it over. It's becoming a meadow so I'm worried about this method if the grass grows back.
If it were only diseases to contend with and not pests this gardening lark would be a whole lot easier. I would consider drainage in your case alas wet roots ain't good.