Topic: What to do with ground after digging up veg

[emma h]

I have quite a few bare patches now after harvesting potatoes, radishes and salad. Could I plant some new crops (the same as before or different?) or should I leave it a while or should I green manure it? I'm not short of space as I have only cleared about a third of my plot so far ;D so could carry on digging for anything that needs planting out, but I'm worried about the bare bits getting weedy.

Thanks

Emma

[SMP1704]

Emma

I have just lifted my new pots and plan to plant out the same with Brussels in about a weeks.  To prepare, I will turn over (I also have a fine harvest of Horsetail ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)) then add some chicken manure pellets.

Although that won't keep the weeds down, I prefer to spend time weeding productive areas, but then I do have lots of weedy area :'(

I think as long as you plan in rotation, you should be OK to re-plant those beds.

HTH

[supersprout]

Good idea always to have something to plant into freshly turned soil after harvesting.

Catch crops - fast growing carrots, variety of salad veg, beet etc. - will see you through to winter.
Loads of oriental veg are ready to sow now and grow very fast.
You could plant anything after radish and salad, even more radish and salad!
After the spuds come out, you can follow with brassica plants, beans or leeks (not toms or root veg).
Peas can be sown now, either for pods later in the year, or just for pea sprouts - fast crop, out in a trice if you want to plant something else instead, and dee-lish :P
This month you can plant cucumbers and squash in the open too!
And yes, if you're going to leave the soil bare from now to overwinter, a crop of green manure will suppress weeds and keep it active, moist and cosy ::) :)

[redimp]

My potato bed will be my legume bed next year so I plan ::) to sow buckwheat there to give me lots of bulk material to dig in to be nitrogenised there next year.  I will put my overwitnering broadies into part of it.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've got all sorts going in now; rtoms, sweet corn, squashes, there are still aubergines and chilis to go in, but these are experiments and I won't be planting many this year.

[Mrs Ava]

I always sow or plant as soon as I can after clearing something, but I have to be able to harvest fresh veg 12 months of the year.  If I am pulling lettuce, I put a pinch of lettuce seed in the space, actually, that is the case with all of the salads.  As the spuds come out, the leeks will start to go in - I have an early batch and a later lot.  Once my onions are clear I will dig and firm and lime the ground and that will be my brassica patch, so the first late summer sowing of cabbage plantlets etc will go in then.  I try to always have seed and plantlets at the ready to plug gaps.  I would rather be pulling lettuce or leeks than constantly battling with mares tail or couch grass.

[saddad]

Green manures like vetch/ryegrass/phacalia are really good, esp after you have dug them in next spring.
 ;D