I never met him, but he certainly managed the old plot with exceptional care and attention. The quality of the soil is excellent. It seems that Tom used to have some compost bays where he used to make leaf mould. However I do have one objection. He used to make the leaf mould in plastic bags. And the bags are still there. Buried.
In amongst this are plastic netting, metal supports, rotted wooden stakes and more plastic bags. The bags are the tricky bits. They are old and broken, yet they contain soil which is usable and not something you would want to waste. So I am pulling them out in dribs and drabs as I find them.
But there is something else down there which is even worse to get out. Bind Weed, and the more pervasive Couch Grass.
Given that there is a lot of good soil, topped with overgrown grass and weeds, I am contemplating hiring a small digger to lift off the top soil and move it to one side. This would give me a blank slate to start with. Not only that but the digger would help me get the big slabs of wood out that were previously used for the beds. These are mostly rotted now, but some are huge and well bedded in. A digger would certainly help lift them.
Once the site is cleared I can get the beds laid out, and the basics of the structure sorted. I can then sieve the removed soil back into the beds, which will remove the stones and couch grass rhizomes. (Actually, I'm not finding many stones).
One other benefit the digger will do, it to level out the plot and "remove" the fox den. But before I start that section of the plot, I'll have to get their replacement den in place. Guess I have to get that shed in place, not only to support the grape vine, but to give the foxes a nice warm place to live under.
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