Advice for a hopeless gardener

[jennyjj01]

The bad news from both sides is that I need to dig the hell out of it, twice, even before I cover or plant green manure. That's what I expected, but not what i was hoping for
Yesterday I pulled, literally without digging, a bulk bag full of tall loose weeds.

I've got a petrol strimmer that makes light work of hacking back

I'll be honest I nuked the patch with weed killer too belts and braces before I did the second rotorvate

Thanks. I think I'm decided. Mustard seeds ( Now ordered) seem to fit my lazy approach because it can prosper into winter if I'm too busy to dig it in. And it's pretty

1) Loosen by fork but not turn it over.
2) PULL what weeds stand tall and come out easily. That is FAST and shows progress. Gives me something to help pull the roots by, rather than strimming.
3) Pluck what marestail roots I can on hands and knees.
4) Rake out what else I can.
5) Sow mustard seeds.
6) Visit just often enough to pluck any other weeds like marestail and pray the mustard wins .
7) In a few months, decide whether to dig in the mustard or just scalp it and compost it
8) Sheet it all up till next year.

Somewhere in the midst of that, I need to relocate my strawberries?

[jennyjj01]

150L of dehydrated coir compost from Morrisons for 2x £4.
Great stuff as a bulking compost for hydroponic growing. It has zero nutrients so not a direct replacement for real compost. Add a bit of growmore or tomorite and you're good to go.

[Frnc]

Zero gardening this year for various reasons, except 5 security bushes I had to re-plant after last year's drought. They seem to be doing a lot better, actually growing a bit and looking healthy, touch wood (spiky wood!). I can't do much in the garden due to a big stack of old roof tiles on the lawn, but hopefully that will be gone tomorrow. I gave up waiting for my builder to shift them. Put them on Gumtree for free. A nice feller came round and took some, but he didn't expect so many. Hopefully he is coming back tomorrow. He is from Tunisia. He has pet sheep, and is building a shelter for them! I don't even live in the countryside!

[jennyjj01]

Tonight, fancied chips but only had the remains of my golf ball sized spuds.....

A quick, no dig rummage in my tardis composter and hey presto, the three biggest spuds I ever harvested.....
And this was just a small fraction of what's growing there. The spuds have massive healthy foliage, not dying back yet. There was a slug marching over one, but no damage so I sent him on his way.

Chips for tea.

[jennyjj01]

150L of dehydrated coir compost from Morrisons for 2x £4.
Great stuff as a bulking compost for hydroponic growing. It has zero nutrients so not a direct replacement for real compost. Add a bit of growmore or tomorite and you're good to go.

Dammit. Coir compost now slashed to 2.50 for 75 litres

[jennyjj01]

A quick, no dig rummage in my tardis composter. . . The spuds have massive healthy foliage, not dying back yet.

Tonight I slashed away the huge amount of spud foliage from my tardis. There were three plants that were unplanned growth from peelings and one intentionally planted. Similar yield from each. Yield smaller than expected. I wonder if the foliage and fruit production had diverted away from tuber production . Lots of tiny spuds but only about 1kg of chip worthy size. Thankfully no hints of disease.
The compost itself is now really looking and smelling the business. Buzzing with insects. I'll dig the spud greenery in and by the time that's rotted, both tardises full will be ready to use.
Meanwhile another lorry load of blooming courgettes, also from the composter.

[jansman]

A quick, no dig rummage in my tardis composter. . . The spuds have massive healthy foliage, not dying back yet.

Tonight I slashed away the huge amount of spud foliage from my tardis. There were three plants that were unplanned growth from peelings and one intentionally planted. Similar yield from each. Yield smaller than expected. I wonder if the foliage and fruit production had diverted away from tuber production . Lots of tiny spuds but only about 1kg of chip worthy size. Thankfully no hints of disease.
The compost itself is now really looking and smelling the business. Buzzing with insects. I'll dig the spud greenery in and by the time that's rotted, both tardises full will be ready to use.
Meanwhile another lorry load of blooming courgettes, also from the composter.

I never dig spud foliage,nor compost it. I am old fashioned perhaps,but that foliage can carry blight. Just a thought.

[jennyjj01]

I never dig spud foliage,nor compost it. I am old fashioned perhaps,but that foliage can carry blight. Just a thought.

Thanks for the heads up

[jennyjj01]

I never dig spud foliage,nor compost it. I am old fashioned perhaps,but that foliage can carry blight. Just a thought.

Thanks for the heads up

[GillyBee]

Like everything there are multiple opinions. Charles Dowding thinks composting is fine as per this:

Blight spores cannot survive in soil or compost, see this link http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/advice/p ... tml?blight – and this https://ag.umass.edu/fact-sheets/late-b ... s-potatoes. The latter mentions a difference for the southern USA where blight spores can survive in soil, but they do not in northern latitudes including the UK.

I suspect that there will be enought blight lurking anyway on an allotment site that it won't make a lot of difference either way. But you may feel happier if you get a cold winte rto know it is helping to kill the flipping stuff off.