Allotments, without digging

 I am posting here a few photos of an allotment in Bruton where, instead of digging last winter, the allotmenteer (Steph) spread green waste compost and some cow manure on beds that were already in place, just slightly raised soil with no wooden edges or borders of any kinds.

 December 2008, before spreading the compost.

The soil is heavy clay and perennial weeds are endemic to the site - creepng tourmentil, couch grass and bindweed, but no marestail. Steph had got on top of the perennials during the two preceding seasons but was not harvesting a huge amount of vegetables, especially in autumn and winter.

 February: here the soil is ready for compost to be spread, simply cleared of any visible weeds and the beds levelled with a rake..

 This is after two hours work by two of us, spreading green waste compost which a lorry had delivered to the allotments' gateway about 100 feet away. It was a six ton load and Steph's allotment used four tons, the rest went to other allotments. Her outlay on compost was around £95 and then another £10 for two and a half tons of well rotted cow manure which she spread as well as the compost.

 After all four tons was spread: beds and pathways are now covered with about two inches (5cm) of lovely black, weed free compost. There are now 14 slightly raised beds with narrow pathways between them. The green waste compost contains quite a few small bits of wood and is not hugely rich in nutrients, but is free of weed seeds and serves well as an initial weed suppressing and life enhancing mulch. Worms can now get busy while fungi, bacteria and all the vital organisms needed for a healthy, fertile can multiply.

 By 19 July the allotment is full of vegetables and flowers. There are some lumps of cow manure on the surface: after spreading this in February, Steph knocked the lumps into pieces as small as possible, and they have weathered a little.

 Four weeks later in mid August. Steph does not rest on her laurels and has been busy planting right through the summer, so as to have harvests in late autumn and winter. Behind the chard is some kale which was planted in early July. Also there are recently planted endives and chicories for autumn salad, which are dotted around the allotment.

 Here she is in mid October with  leeks and some chicories in front: they have lovely bittersweet hearts and withstand autumn frosts better than lettuce.

 You can see how growth has been really abundant.

 Again in mid October, a tale of two allotments, Steph's on the right and Alan's on the left: he has been digging to clear the summer's weeds.

This winter Steph will spread an inch or two of cow manure on most beds, having purchased a load from a farmer nearby. It cost £4/tonne.

  and here is Steph in late January 2010, with salad under the fleece, also there are kale, leeks and parsnips still to harvest. Cleared beds have had an inch or two of cow manure spread on top.