Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi i would like to ask how best to manage a plot during this time, as we have had lots and lots of rain my plot is very much a swamp, is it bad to earth up and work on the plot if it is so muddy, its like a sludge muddy bath???? Help

Welcome to the forum Jesse!

This is exactly my problem this year & I've had a lot of advice. If you scroll down a bit from this topic to Best Practices you will see my posts on Flood & some of the advice given in reply. It is not good to walk on or work it as it compacts the soil worsening the problem.

In response to the replies I have dug channels around the edges of the affected beds & covered them in black plastic which I moulded into the channels to catch the falling rain & divert it off the beds so giving the already saturated beds less to contend with. I also topped up the beds with compost to deal with the mud bath already there, but I can see this has already dropped quite a bit from the mound I applied, but won't add more & just wait until a longer dry spell where I can unroll the plastic & let the wind & hopefully sun will also help dry it off. If any rain forecast I will just roll it back over the beds. There are other responses as well that might suit your situation more, especially around raised (not just edged), beds which I will save up for bit by bit as I can afford, but if you have someone handy you could build your own.

Good Luck! It's really frustrating.

Evening Jesse, and a very warm welcome to the forum.

If your plot is like that, I would definitely keep off it for now, as you can do a lot of damage to the soil structure and that will lead to the soil being hard to work next Spring.
Westi will be along later and she has a similar problem on her plot, so will know exactly how you feel!
I would spend your time, planning for next year, and looking through seed catalogues……

Frustrating as it may be the above, ie keeping off the plot is sound advice. Longer term raised beds might be a so,ution, and to grow vegs which like moister soil in the worst affected areas.

If you,re on an allotment, this really ought to be a matter for committee discussion as bringing in other heads might help come up with a solution.

Thank you all for the above advice and the very warm welcome which is gratefully received. I will take it on board and leave off for now until weather is more settled (no rain) to get to it. Many thanks