Stopping by to say hello

[vivienz]

I'm not officially a new member to the forum, but it is nearly 7 years since my last post. Family illness and all sorts of horrors meant that I gave up my allotment in 2008 but you can't keep a wannabe fruit and veg gardener down forever, so here I am, back again.

OH and I have bought a new place in Dorset and plan to move in a few months' time. We have a piece of agricultural land alongside it, which will be pefect for all my long-stifled fruit and veg growing ambitions. This year will be spent clearing and forming raised beds and planting the fruit trees that I've got so far. I'll also be propagating some strawberry plants of a delectable French variety that I used to grow and I'm looking forward to seeing again (ciflorette).

So, hello all, and look forward to chatting on the forum.

[Monika]

Hello back again vivienz, good luck with your new venture. You will find quite a number of 'old hands' still on this forum and plenty of new and enthusiastic ones, too!

[peter]

Welcome back old timer.

[Westi]

Welcome back vivienz!

Another neighbour to me! Well done getting some land - will look forward to your posts to compare what is challenging me & what is challenging you. Will be very different no doubt, even though only a few miles apart! But you've been in this game longer than me, so you might get more questions than answers!

[vivienz]

Thanks, all. Westi - it will be a steep learning curve for me as the terrain is very different to where we are now. The new place is near Sturminster Newton and the field has very heavy soil, almost clay, and waterlogs in some areas. That said, it should be very rich as cows have been grazing it forever and I'm not aware of it ever being cultivated. We've been planting a load of bare-root native hedging around the perimeter over the last few weeks and it was heavy going.

[Geoff]

Welcome back. Save yourself some effort and money - garden on the flat! Unless the land is a disaster there is no need to build raised beds.

[Westi]

Nice spot to move to vivienze! Lovely around there with all the wee villages & it seems very productive just driving through. If the land has not been cultivated and just grazed it should be very rich in nutrients. It will only be a hard slog for the first couple of years, or even less if as you say not quite clay, probably a bit of rotavating will mix up what is there & uncompact it allowing it to breath then you should see a difference!

All the best for your new adventure!

[Shallot Man]

Welcome back. Some of us old hands are still alive and kicking. Especially OH.

[vivienz]

Thanks, Shallot Man. Your avatar has reminded me of some onion seeds I bought in France earlier this year, a variety called Pale de Niort, which is classed as a red onion over there, but is the pale colour of shallots. Very good used raw in salads, I understand.

[oldherbaceous]

Good to have you back Vivienz, you certainly were missed.....hope you settle straight back into the forum.

[vivienz]

Thanks, OH, I have greatly missed my fruit and veg adventures but life does get in the way sometimes. The most difficult thing this year will be reining in my enthusiasm but I'm sure building a load of raised beds will do that job very nicely.

[Monika]

As Geoff has already said, why build raised beds, vivienz? Unless you are trying to garden on solid ground (like an ex-car park or similar), open ground can always be drained or improved and clay soils certainly can. We have done so in the past by adding plenty of compost and manure and turned it into a beautiful friable and productive garden. Raised beds need more imported soil than one thinks and are, in my opinion, more trouble than pleasure.

[vivienz]

Hi Monika,

My thinking on the raised beds is that it will be quicker and easier to improve the soil in these than on open ground. Also, things like asparagus and carrots I believe prefer sandy/well draining soil. There is also the idea that I can lay a plank across to rest on the frame and so not need to step on the soil and compact it. The final killer point is that OH has offered to build them. I'm not really a lazy devil!

All that said, it's unlikely that we'll do everything in raised beds and it will probably be a mix and match approach; it will be interesting to compare the two approaches.

[peter]

Welcome back. Some of us old hands are still alive and kicking. Especially OH.

Drat, he's worked the straps free again!

[Johnboy]

Hi Vivienz,
Really nice to see you back.
May I suggest that if there is any compaction on your strip that you find a farmer who may have a mole plough and have the moler through the soil and that may relieve the soil and certainly give you better drainage.
JB.