The Garden of Evie (an allotment), or the path to growing better soup through hard labour: 05/10/2008

Dug another 4x4m bed over. Went over others digging up docks and dandelions, some of the roots must be 60cm long and strangely forked. Don't fancy my chances of growing straight carrots or parsnips. The fox was about, he's so lazy.

The Plot

Location is south east London
The plot is approx. 18 x 8 metres (making it 6 rods by reckoning 145 msq) and runs on a SE-NW axis. There are several taps, water tanks and easy access from the road.
The site is level. The plot to my left (looking end on) is vacant and very overgrown; the one to right is worked and kept very well.
The couple who run the site are very nice and have offered useful advice.
The soil is London clay but has been improved a bit over the years so isn’t too heavy. Suppose I should do a ph test, but haven’t.

The previous occupant had laid out the plot as a grid of beds with grass paths between. These were all grassed over and very weedy, with couch grass, brambles, docks, dandelions and mares tails the main perennial weeds. The area to the left rear is very densely covered in brambles, which have spread from the empty plot to the left.

The Garden of Evie (an allotment), or the path to growing better soup through hard labour

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Saturday, 11 October 2008

Root down