Unofficial retrobike allotment thread....

[Silvergoat]

Iwasgoodonce,

I avoid 'chemicals' myself. But the part-timers on the next plot to us nuke everything in sight.

The advice seems to be keep watering as flea beetles aren't keen on damp. But then that brings out the snails & slugs (best watering early in the day in which case). Sticky traps and grease have been mentioned. Sometimes use a soapy spray.

Here's an RHS link:

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/pro ... px?pid=510

 

[Silvergoat]

Imagine digging away, a foot or two so down. No matter where you dig, you encounter an endless seam of industrial orange plastic safety barrier mesh. Often, this will be entangled with long tentacles of couch grass roots. Even horse radish roots and bramble roots. Some of the mesh has gone brittle, so you then have spend ages picking out individual bits of it. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh! :x

 

[Iwasgoodonce]

I know your pain. We have a plot the previous owner of which had a mania for burying plastic. Somes times it is old plastic bags, other times it torn up strips of old supermarket hoarding ads.

 

[Silvergoat]

Indeed.
Had another day yanking more yards of buried orange plastic tangle from the ground, now my back has gone out – ouch. Pass me the corset and heat pads....

 

[Iwasgoodonce]

I'm waiting for the rain to stop so that I can rotavate the last section. I find that the soil reacts much better to the blades if it rains after a dry spell.

The section will be for climbing French beans, runner beans and squashes. I also need to buy some corn plants.

 

[grumpycommuter]

Indeed.
Had another day yanking more yards of buried orange plastic tangle from the ground, now my back has gone out – ouch. Pass me the corset and heat pads....

Corset......How about some quality glasses and ta-da!!!!

 

[Silvergoat]

Indeed.
Had another day yanking more yards of buried orange plastic tangle from the ground, now my back has gone out – ouch. Pass me the corset and heat pads....

Corset......How about some quality glasses and ta-da!!!!

I have to say, it caused quite a stir amongst the purple rinse set on Sunday when I turned up rocking the Dame Edna look with my trusty three prong cultivator. It had them choking on their tea and Nice biscuits!

 

[grumpycommuter]

Where on earth did you get that 3 pronged thing? Did it come with a free Ark?

 

[Silvergoat]

Where on earth did you get that 3 pronged thing? Did it come with a free Ark?

And also with 2 of everything and bison for the tilling of the land – a bargain Karl...

I got the 3 prong for the princely sum of £4 from a vintage tool stall at the last East Anglia Potato Day event (Stonham Barns, Suffolk). I now carry this with me whenever I have to travel through the more lively parts of Tottenham.

Over the years, I've managed to find a lot of decent tools mainly from smallholder type events here and there. A lot of the vintage tools I've picked up are tried and trusted and really do work, unlike some of the modern gardening gadgets. And they get used. If you or anyone else is interested, I could put up a few photos of the best finds may be...

I've used the 3 prong for turning over new ground at the allotment. It effectively breaks up, turns over and separates out the couch grass roots in each sweep. If I had to use only one tool, this would be it. A tool from the biblical age.

 

[The History Man]

I love my old mattock!!!