Kitchen Garden Forum

I have been on my allotment for just a couple of years.
The situation is like this:-
In the Chilterns, so the soil is a mixture of chalk and clay, the site is sloping and the soil is shallow (for much of my plot once you get a spit down you hit chalk) and stony (very stony)
There is no shortage of manure and I am digging in a lot, (gradually) as it does introduce weed seeds.
Obviously I want a fairly stone free seed bad and I was wondering what people recommend in this regard.

My thought was to excavate a hole, line it with wed supressing fabric, then refil with sieved soil (with lots of manure)

Dear Stephen, a couple of thoughts on the method you suggest. Firstly weed control fabric can be a little slow to drain heavy rain fall through, so might tend to waterlog a touch, and if you just sieve the soil you will still have the weed seed in it.

If i was doing it, i would just buy a few cheap bags of compost, take some drills out about three inches deep fill with compost and sow in this.
The fresh compost will help to keep the rows fairly weed free, and you will just have to hoe in between the rows.

You are doing the right thing incorporating plenty of manure on your plot. But i think manure does get a lot of blame for weed seeds, especially on newish plots, when it's often weed seed thats already in the ground.

Hope this helps a little.

Thanks OH
Interesting thoughts.
You may well be right about the seed bed - I don't want to excavate if I don't have too.
When my father asked about the local soils, i said to him that after rain the fields were covered white because of the chalk stones on the surface - it is these which i am concerned about in any seed bed.

Re the manure and weedss - I do bow to your experience as the digging will obviously prompt many seeds to germinate - My condemnation of the manure is based on the fact that I didn't have any thistles last year and this year I have lots (on the newer part of the allotment on which I have put lots of manure!

Just another thought, I would just use compost too, but if you are just using the seed bed to start plants off and not keeping them there for long, you don't need to add lots of nutrients in the short term.

It is a good idea to dig plenty of compost in later in the year to build up moisture retention and put some nutrients back into the soil for next year, and possibly rake the stones off regularly to make a finer tilth for next season - although you probably already do this.

Hi PP
The stones are what concern me most - there is an endless supply of them! My experience is that raking them away only brings more to the surface and this is why I was wondering about lining an excavation.

This isn't a direct reply to your question about methods for a seedbed. However one of your concerns seems to be about dealing with weeds.

In addition to the above good advice, some approaches that have worked for me in reducing weeds are:
- Black plastic during fallow periods
- Use of Green Manure in between crops, to help keep the ground covered 7 other benefits
- Especially, use of a hoe.

Seems like has their favourite hoe. This year I've been using a pivot or osciallating hoe and it's been much easier to use and (so far) has really helped with weeds. There will be plenty of suppliers but there's an example here

Hello Stephen
Do you really need a seed bed? It's always seemed a rather old-fashioned concept to me.
I've managed for years now without one by either starting stuff in small seed trays and transplanting into modules and growing on to planting out stage or for larger seeded crops, like beans and courgettes, I sow directly in small module pots and pot up into larger pots to grow on before planting out. Root trainers especially the deep ones, are excellent for these sort of work. When things are finally planted out they will have a head start over the weeds, stones and slugs.
For a lot of crops like brassicas, beetroot, lettuce, swede you don't even need any protection when you start them off.

John

Hi John,
Once again I agree wholeheartedly as I have not had a seed bed for at least 30 years because as soon as module became available the beds became redundant and used for other purposes.
Hi Stephen,
The saying one years weeds is about seven years seeds is basically true. It takes some time to show a decrease in weeds but do please believe me it does occur eventually.
Probably one way to assist is to dig your bed then cover with clear polythene and when the seeds have germinated cover with black polythene for a time which knocks the initial burst of spring annuals out. This gives your plants a chance to get established before the second wave of weeds appear.
When these appear your calendar is not so full and you have the time to deal with them.
JB.

Hi chaps
I like the idea of not needing one! I have managed for two years (on the allotment)
Most of what I have grown so far has been sown directly into its growing position or germinated in a pot at home then taken to the plot and planted out. This works for squashes and narrows - would it work for leeks?

Re the weeds - it's just that they are tiresome rather than significant trouble. However the really good news is that I am really winning on that front. In the half plot which I have had for two and a bit years I have (very nearly) eliminated the bindweed entirely through digging out (there is a small ammount left growing amongst the rhubarb).
The other half of the plot (which I took over at the end of last year) was partially covered in black plastic and the rest cleared and now is full of spuds. I dug this part over twice during that fine period at the end of January and then to put the spuds in. The good news is, again, I feel that I am winning . Initially it was like digging spaghetti bolognaise, now there are just a few outbreaks of bindweed.