Kitchen Garden Forum

Trying really hard to get my new half-plot Lottie sorted to at least get a few bits in this season, but the weather seems to be conspiring against me!

We've got to the stage now where we need to dig. But it is silly, not to mention harder, to do this when it's very wet.

What would you guys do? Would you bide your time and wait for the rainy days to stop? Keep checking the forecast and it's rain EVERY day for the next several days.

Morning Piglet,

I'm sure someone with a bit more (okay a lot more) experience will be along shortly but I'd look at it this way. The more it rains, the claggier (I'm not sure that's a word but it sounds good ) the soil will get and the harder to dig. You will then need a several more days of consistently dry/sunny weather for it to dry out and there is no guarantee that the weather will brighten for any length of time, if last year is anything to go by .

So the question I'd say you need to ask is: Do I dig the very sodden and heavy soil now and then it is ready for planting once the sun comes out: or do I take the chance that the rain will stop and we'll get a significant period of dry/sunny weather and wait to plant then?

Personally, I'd be tempted to try and work the ground over now and see how you get on but then I'm an impatient gardener. Does your plot drain naturally in one direction? By which I mean, is there a drier section that you could start working on? Is it a welly swallowing quagmire?

As I said, some one with better knowledge of the pros and cons of digging in wet soil will be along shortly but this is what I'd be thinking

VPM
x

Hi

I was always told if the soil sticks to your boots get off it as it's to sodden to lift and you will have more of a chance to damage your back, bad backs and gardening do not go well together do they

Just take your time

Regards

Arnie

you could try covering a section with a large sheet of plack plastic, ... the rain will run off the edges of the sheet leaving the area in the middle noticibly dryer, excluding light will help to kill off any weeds...a couple of hours of hot sun will cook any thats left , you may then find you only need to dig planting holes rather than dig the whole ares.

Big dilemma, especially if you're impatient to get growing and planting.
I'd say it depends on your soil. If it's stoney or dries out quickly (as ours does), then I find you can sometimes dig and get away with it. I'd suggest trying a small area to see how it works for you, being as careful as you can not to compact the soil, treading on it as little as possible. You may find that the rain is fairly light and irregular, a drying wind may make some work possible in between the showers.
In the grand scheme of things, delaying planting for about 5 days may not make a huge amount of difference to cropping times, but when you have an exciting new project to work on, any delay is a frustration.

we have just been given the second half of our plot we now have a full one, I thought the first half had some rubbish buried in it but the new piece beats it hands down ive turned an area over today about 6 feet x 4 feet this has been turned over twice before and I still got a full barrow full of broken glass and bricks off it, I would do as much as you can when you can

Hello Piglet. I'm so pleased you finally got your allotment! You have a dilemma really.

If your soil is heavy and has clay in it, I wouldn't try digging it or treading on it too much, if it is too wet. Ours was awful when we first got our allotment, really clay-ey. Shiny clumps when wet, turned into baked bricks when dried out. The plot looked like a scene from an earthquake disaster movie...huge cracks everywhere that first summer.
We have spent eight years double digging and incorporating good horse muck and finally have a decent soil structure, which still tends to be on the heavy side. We use a fork rather than a spade, if it's a bit wet, and stand on a plank to avoid compressing the soil. I'm afraid, we leave the digging if it is too wet.

As Primrose said, the wind will help dry it out a bit...I know you will be champing at the bit to get on though! Please be careful of your back...a little and often, no marathon digging sessions!
Good luck.

Think how much you move your feet when digging one spade's worth.

On wet soil you will compress and smear/seal an 18"+ strip each time you turn over a 6" strip.
If you're on clay that will give you two things, ready compressed earth bricks and a 2'+ strip that won't dry as the top is sealed.

Either use planks to walk on, scaffolding plank availability is a myth - they cut off damage until the good bits go below 3', or, be patient - prepare to spend as much time as possible on-plot as soon as the weather turns & the soil dries a bit.

Two weekends ago my Howard 350 motivator was kicking out a dust cloud, today it would turn into a rotating cylinder of clay.

vegpatchmum. Haven't heardthe word "claggier" for years,

Is that something to do with moving to Essex?

Geoff. How did you know.

Decided to try some digging this evening. It hadn't rained since yesterday evening, and has been pretty sunny today. Fortunately the soil was ok. The mud didn't stick to my boots, and the soil was lovely to dig.

It's looking like tomorrow will be the same, so I'll be up there again. Also Saturday morning (rain from lunch onwards), and Sunday morning (again, rain from lunch onwards). Then there are several days next week that are looking cloudy but dry. It's slowly taking shape!

Anytime from June 1st onwards I'll be able to go there during the daytime too, as I finish work on May 31st through redundancy.