Topic: RHS 'The Garden' article on clearing a lottie

[katynewbie]

 :o :o :o
The guy who strimmed the comfrey is clearly no gardener and should be drummed out of the communal shed immediately!!

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[wardy]

I deliberately grow comfrey and teasel too.  I had the teasel given to me and I want to try and atrract some goldfinches.  I couldn't imagine any lotty neighbours doing anything so drastic on our plots as we are all a tolerant bunch.  My lotty neighbour only does little bits of his plot and the rest is long grass and you can't even see his shed, and the lotty committee tut but don't say  anything to him.  I like the guy so don't fret about it although it looks a bit of a dump but it takes all sorts.  He took his wife with him to plot the other week and we've never seen her there before and she was chivvying him about it so who knows we may even see a change soon  :)

[terrace max]

Moonbells - I've discovered that the addition of grass cuttings and 'lady water' (thanks for that one Wardy) to the bin bag creates conditions too hostile even for my bindweed.

If you pile the bags on top of each other the pressure and light exclusion seem to assist the forces of decomposition.

These retrograde allotment committees wouldn't comprise old blokes with shares in Monsanto by any chance? A pox on all their houses!

[katynewbie]

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

"lady water" " a pox on all their houses"

May laugh so much that I produce the aforementioned liquid!!

 ;D ;D ;D

[wardy]

Will try that TM as my OH is busy grassing over a border in which the ground elder has defeated me.  I've told him not to carry the vile stuff anywhere but just to put it in black sacks and seal them up.  I will now instruct my good man to have a widdle in each bag and then store on lotty for the duration.  Trouble is he's a bit squeamish about such matters so it might well have to be mine  ;D

Good tip though  :)  Second thoughts - might transport bags to lotty first  ;)

[ellkebe]

Mubgrub - my couch grass certainly keeps making a break for it through the 'plastic' mulch.  You have to admire a plant that tenacious, whilst - of course - heartily wishing that it would hurry up and die  ;D

[philandjan]

Going back to "The Garden" article.

We read it last week and decided that we would have to be pragmatic and compromise.

We have managed to be chemical-free this year, our first year on the allotment. We have managed to dig around 75% of the area and have not been able to keep up with burning all of the woody roots that we have extracted! We were told it wouldn't be easy and it hasn't been!

The 25% that we haven't turned over yet has become a bit of an issue with us. It is vey heavy clay and has become quite compacted. We have had the shears to it a couple of times this year to stop things getting out of control,

We desperately want to get this additional area up and producing next year but, both working full time, our available hours are limited. We have opted to use one dose of Round-up to give us a head start. Hopefully, this will give us enough time to do the good things to the soil that it desperately needs - coarse grit for drainage, bonemeal and quality compost (home-grown) for content.

Breaking the back of the problem, in the time available, without breaking our backs and getting planted have been our priorities. The hard work keeping on top of the couch grass, mares tail, convolvulus and sundry is then just part of ordinary life.

We are certainly not in a rush to put any more chemicals in the ground. We also prefer the good old spade and fork to rotovating, but either spending hours on our knees or hours bending over (Jan is flexible and bends easily; I have the flexibility of an old oak tree) pick out pesky roots does try one's patience and commitment.

On the whole, we have been very surprised how quickly the RHS seems to resort to the use of chemicals. Is it because they think that is what the majority of their membership expect?

Apart from this one-off use of Round-up, we certainly hope to continue providing friends and family with produce with our "Organics Unlimited" tag-line.

Whew! Glad that over - time for a beer and to get another bucket of marrow wine started  :D
Anybody seen any good recipes for runner bean wine/hooch/brandy/alcohol?

[GS]

Thanks T Max. I'll give your idea a go and try to start in an organic fashion.

[terrace max]

No problem GS. Good luck and keep the faith ;)