Allotment Week - Under lockdown - Day 3 - Digging in the Deep End

Today I've been digging in the Deep End.

Over the weekend the Committee have repaired the roadway and central parking area by the simple expedient of hiring a dumper truck and mini-digger and using a load of builders rubble (bricks, stones and gravel) to fill in all the pot holes and pack it down. This has essentially raised the level of the roadway and parking area. They have done a good job. (I say "they", but it was one man, Peter, who is the Committee's handyman.)

As such, when it rains in future, the Deep End will bear the brunt of the run-off. So I need to raise it. First off I need to dig out all that damned Couch Grass.

As you can see by the bed on the left, it is quite low. That white "plastic" cover you can see to the right of the bed at the far end is actually a layer of dried algae. The kind you would find in a fish pond. The bed itself is like clay. OK, it is clay. It has set and is hard to dig through. But it is rather gratifying to see a large number of worms in there. The new fork seems to be doing a good job. The last time I tried digging something this tough, my fork broke.

The mound you can see behind the fence at the very back is actually a huge mound of composted manure. So guess what I'm going to be filling the beds with?

Eventually I managed to clear the bed of all the couch grass and break up some of the clods of clay.

I've hacked back the grass at the side. I intend to cover the grass with layers of newspaper followed by loads of wood chips. Only at the moment our wood chip stocks are a little low.

I filled up the bed with three barrowfuls of manure. There were hundreds of little red worms in there. So if they like it, it must be good.

Anyway, it's getting a little late. I started late because I actually managed to go shopping (first time in two weeks) which delayed us getting down the plot. So time to pack up and head home. Tomorrow I'll probably do the second bed, and if possible try and get some of the wood chips down. After that I can raise the actual bed a bit. It's going to take a while to truly raise the whole area, but we have to start somewhere.