Tattie Patch Progress
I managed to finish editing the submission I've been working on for... months, I think, and get it sent off at 11.30 this morning and get down to the allotment for a couple of hours, maybe slightly longer. 1st, raked over the whole bed to level it and get most of the roots out. Roots! Loads of them, mostly nettles, I've left them heaped up by the pond, but I'd estimate a couple of barrow fulls.
Which got me thinking. There are bits of twig, branch and root from the fruit bushes, too. They'll all break down but that bed will likely become a bit deprived of nitrogen in doing so. Which is a good reason for going with the plan to mulch with oomska and sow with field beans at the end of the season.
Then I got into digging over, hopefully the last time I will dig this bed over for sometime. Got maybe a third done - I was actually very pleased how little 'hard work' it was, the soils is quite light. There are actually 3 types of soil: by the eastern boundary, beneath the old fruit bush area, is what I've come to regard as the original top-soil, a blueish colour to it, clay, but not too heavy.
By the path was some of the proper yellow clay from deep down when I was excavating the path/pond. But mostly it's lovely loamy stuff from the fruit bushes, I'm theorising made from leaf mould that built up there. Which teaches the lesson, when you've got any sort of deciduous shrubs or trees, #ffs, in the autumn, get in amongst them with your rake and get the leaves out and put to good use making leaf mould to be used in a seed bed, don't leave it under the fruit bushes to encourage the branches to root and go feral.
So here we are, not a great photo, it was somewhat dreich. That's the rediscovered path on the right, I and the tattie patch runs from there to the pond which is on the far left. The spade marks where I stopped today, about 1/3 down the bed. I got the tape out today: from the fence to the edge of the path is exactly 14ft on both sides.
Which got me thinking. There are bits of twig, branch and root from the fruit bushes, too. They'll all break down but that bed will likely become a bit deprived of nitrogen in doing so. Which is a good reason for going with the plan to mulch with oomska and sow with field beans at the end of the season.
Then I got into digging over, hopefully the last time I will dig this bed over for sometime. Got maybe a third done - I was actually very pleased how little 'hard work' it was, the soils is quite light. There are actually 3 types of soil: by the eastern boundary, beneath the old fruit bush area, is what I've come to regard as the original top-soil, a blueish colour to it, clay, but not too heavy.
By the path was some of the proper yellow clay from deep down when I was excavating the path/pond. But mostly it's lovely loamy stuff from the fruit bushes, I'm theorising made from leaf mould that built up there. Which teaches the lesson, when you've got any sort of deciduous shrubs or trees, #ffs, in the autumn, get in amongst them with your rake and get the leaves out and put to good use making leaf mould to be used in a seed bed, don't leave it under the fruit bushes to encourage the branches to root and go feral.
So here we are, not a great photo, it was somewhat dreich. That's the rediscovered path on the right, I and the tattie patch runs from there to the pond which is on the far left. The spade marks where I stopped today, about 1/3 down the bed. I got the tape out today: from the fence to the edge of the path is exactly 14ft on both sides.
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