Over the weekend and into the start of this week we've had some fine autumn weather and good progress had been made at the allotment getting beds dug over before any proper wintry weather sets in.
Sue got this bed dug over on plot 42. All it needs now is a covering of weed control fabric and it can be left until next spring. The other three beds on this plot are all sorted out for winter as two of them are planted up with a green manure crop and the remaining bed has already been dug over and covered with weed control fabric.
We had some beds that looked like this through summer and I'd decided that there was little we could do with them until some decent, wet weather arrived. Although we've had some wet weather these cracks haven't disappeared but at least the soil looks a little bit more like soil than concrete.
I decided to make a start on digging the bed on the right of the above photo. I had a few substantial tree prunings to clear away and one end of the bed was overgrown with weeds which had grown despite the dry weather.
It was slow going as despite some rain the ground was still on the firm side. Wellies weren't really required, but as they've got a substantial, protective tread on them, they are pretty good when digging is on the hard side.
It took a couple of afternoons but the bed is now dug over and I'll leave it uncovered for the winter rain and frost to break it down. I will have to get my string line out to straighten up the edge of the bed to remove the higgledy piggledy edge.
However, progress has slowed down with the arrival of gale force winds on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. These three days have turned out to be the windiest days of the month with gust speeds equalling those from this month's named storms and the average wind speed on Tuesday being the highest of the month.
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| Temperature & High Wind Speed Records 01-25 October 2018 |
On Thursday morning, the windy weather has abated but with the weekend forecast to be cold, with a strong, northerly wind blowing, progress might slow down even more over the next few days. There's a progress video below.
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What a year! At least you are getting ready for next year already. Your spud strategy makes a whole lot of sense to me.
ReplyDeleteWe might finish up with lots of spuds next year!
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