So you have your, land. You have an idea of what the soil is like. You know what you want to plant. But what tools do you use for the job. i am not talking about machinery but hand held implements.
There is a theory that a gardener only needs 5 tools, these are:
*A Spade
*A Fork
*A Rake
*A Trowel
*A set of Secateurs
These would indeed cover most basic actions in the allotment. But there are many tools for many jobs, just walk in to any gardening or hard ware shop and you may well be over whelmed by the shear number of tools available to the modern horticulturist (i hope i have spelt that right), compared with what our fore Fathers would have used. I have meet a few eldearly gents who do every thing with a spade and a knife, and a few young people who have a shed full of tools they have never used. So i will try and help you out with what i have found useful.
* There are different handles, weights, lengths and materials for most tools. find out which you prefer, your height and weight may determine for you a lot of this. for example if your 6 foot 4" you don't want a small Lady's spade, your back will never forgive you. Say you where 18 stone you want something that will take your weight and strength, so a metal shaft may be better than wood. Remember you will be using these tools often so making the right dission early on will save a lot of time, money and effort.
to be continued.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
soil
One of the first things you should do, when you start an allotment is to find out what soil type you have. This will determine what will grow well, how you work on the land and what must be added for better yields.
There are soil analysis you can have done which are expensive and take weeks for the results to come back or you could do this:
Take a hand full of soil and press it into a ball about half an hour after it has rained:
Good soil is bursting with microscopic life like fungi, algae, bacteria and worms. if you look after your soil it will look after your plants. healthy soil has a pleasant earthy smell. ideally it should have two to three earth worms in it every spade full. If when you take over an allotment it is covered with stinging nettles, bindweed and dock it is a good sign the soil is fertile. weeds can also tell you the type of soil you have again because different plants like different soils.
Top soil and Sub soil:
Top soil is the first layer of earth you will find it is darker than the rest and is what feeds the plants. About 18" of top soil is needed for soft fruit but most vegetables are happy with 15". Fruit trees need around 24".
Sub soil is lighter in colour and contains very few nutrients but is important for drainage and allowing air to the roots of plants. This area can become an impermeable barrier due to over rotavating. this is know as "hard panning". this can be broken up with a pick axe or fork. and should be done every three years if you use a rotavator.
There are soil analysis you can have done which are expensive and take weeks for the results to come back or you could do this:
Take a hand full of soil and press it into a ball about half an hour after it has rained:
*If the ball falls apart you have a light sandy soil. This is free draining and easy to work. it warms up quickly in the spring. The one problem is that nutrients can be washed or "leached" away by rain. adding rotted compost or manure will help to bind the soil together. dig in the spring and cover in winter.
*If the ball holds its shape and sticks together, you have a heavy clay soil. this will not drain easily and is hard to work. it is slow to warm up in the spring, becomes water logged and cakes in the heat. But it is full of nutrients and minerals. Dig in plenty of Sharpe sand and organic matter to incorporate air and improve drainage. Dig in the Autumn and let the winter weather help break it down.
*If the ball holds its shape and sticks together, you have a heavy clay soil. this will not drain easily and is hard to work. it is slow to warm up in the spring, becomes water logged and cakes in the heat. But it is full of nutrients and minerals. Dig in plenty of Sharpe sand and organic matter to incorporate air and improve drainage. Dig in the Autumn and let the winter weather help break it down.
*A good soil is some where in between the two above and is called loam. The gardeners dream soil.
Good soil is bursting with microscopic life like fungi, algae, bacteria and worms. if you look after your soil it will look after your plants. healthy soil has a pleasant earthy smell. ideally it should have two to three earth worms in it every spade full. If when you take over an allotment it is covered with stinging nettles, bindweed and dock it is a good sign the soil is fertile. weeds can also tell you the type of soil you have again because different plants like different soils.
Top soil and Sub soil:
Top soil is the first layer of earth you will find it is darker than the rest and is what feeds the plants. About 18" of top soil is needed for soft fruit but most vegetables are happy with 15". Fruit trees need around 24".
Sub soil is lighter in colour and contains very few nutrients but is important for drainage and allowing air to the roots of plants. This area can become an impermeable barrier due to over rotavating. this is know as "hard panning". this can be broken up with a pick axe or fork. and should be done every three years if you use a rotavator.
Hello world
This is my blog.
It has taken just over a year for people to convince me to start writing about what i do.
what is it i do, i have and run a small piece of land in Bedford. commonly know as an allotment.
having an allotment is nothing new, people have been doing it for generations. But i am a cite boy and its all still new to me. so i am going to write about what i find, discover and create.
i have had the land now for just over a year. it was in a state of wilderness when i first came by it. i could have chosen other lots, ones which had been tend lovingly for years but i wanted a challenge. A challenge i got. after talking to some of the residents it turned out the land had been left for 3 years. in which time the weeds, brambles and rabbits had made it a fortress of chaos. From the start i know i would not be using weed killers or machine to do the work. why take on a lot which had been left fallow for so long, if i was going to work on it the easy way.
So every thing has been done by hand, blood, sweat and tears. i think this is why its taken me so long to start writing. other wise it may have read like this:
day 1: cut down brambles
day 12: cut down brambles and some bindweed
day 57: cut down brambles and some nettles. etc
Now this would have not made for very good reading. But because i have had a year and a limited growing season, seen a few things and learnt more, i feel i am ready to pass on some information.
It has taken just over a year for people to convince me to start writing about what i do.
what is it i do, i have and run a small piece of land in Bedford. commonly know as an allotment.
having an allotment is nothing new, people have been doing it for generations. But i am a cite boy and its all still new to me. so i am going to write about what i find, discover and create.
i have had the land now for just over a year. it was in a state of wilderness when i first came by it. i could have chosen other lots, ones which had been tend lovingly for years but i wanted a challenge. A challenge i got. after talking to some of the residents it turned out the land had been left for 3 years. in which time the weeds, brambles and rabbits had made it a fortress of chaos. From the start i know i would not be using weed killers or machine to do the work. why take on a lot which had been left fallow for so long, if i was going to work on it the easy way.
So every thing has been done by hand, blood, sweat and tears. i think this is why its taken me so long to start writing. other wise it may have read like this:
day 1: cut down brambles
day 12: cut down brambles and some bindweed
day 57: cut down brambles and some nettles. etc
Now this would have not made for very good reading. But because i have had a year and a limited growing season, seen a few things and learnt more, i feel i am ready to pass on some information.
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