Starting Cultivation

Primary Cultivation can be carried out in even if the ground is wet no need to wait
for dry weather to get digging!
Double Digging:
Dig a trench to the depth of 1 spade (a spit)
Fork the bottom of the trench to depth of 1 spade
Fork in well rotted organic matter into the lower spit to improve the soil
Turn dug soil from one trench into the forked over trench
Ongoing weed removal by hand or hoe
Autumn plot maintenance

No-dig system!
Green manures adds nitrogen, nutrients, suppresses weeds and improves soil
structure
Add organic matter
(mulch) improves
soil nutrients, waterholding capacity and
soil structure

Examples of organic
matter:

Garden compost
Leaf mould
Wood chips
Well-rotted farmyard
manure
Mushroom compost

Examples of green
manures:

Winter field beans

Vicia faba
Mustard seed
Winter tares Vicia
sativa
Bitter lupin Lupinus
augustifolius
Phacelia tancetifolia

Composting your green waste is good for your plot and enriches your soil while
minimising waste.

Composting is mixing green wet with woody dry materials, which rot down and form
compost.
It will rot down and turn into compost quicker if you:
turn it regularly every month is ideal
cut the woody material including leaves into small pieces
balance amounts of wet and dry waste in thin layers
balance ventilation and insulation
keep it moist but not waterlogged
have a bin which is open to the ground at the bottom to allow soil organisms to enter
minimum dimension 1m
use a wormery or bukashi
use several bins so that you can leave 1 to rot down
Suitable materials to compost:
Grass clippings
Annual weeds, before they have seeded
Drowned, stewed, pulped or dried perennial weeds
Un-cooked food, including fruit, veg, tea bags, coffee grains
Shredded card and newspaper
Stable waste
Hedge trimmings
Leaves
Garden trimmings
Materials to avoid:
Cooked food and meat (attracts vermin)
Diseased material

Materials treated with pesticides

Weeding:
Perennial weeds such as horsetail, couch grass, bindweed, dandelions, docks and
brambles will easily re-root, so dont add these to your compost unless completely dead. Leaf
growth of these weeds can safely be added to the compost bin, provided no roots are attached.
Drown or stew (up to 2 months), pulp with hammer or dry out perennial weeds before adding
to compost.
Drown:
Place the roots in a bucket, cover with water and weigh the roots down with a stone or slab to
keep them under the water. Place a cover on the bucket and leave for several (at least 4)
weeks. Drain off the liquid and pour onto the compost heap. You can also dilute the liquid
and use it as a plant feed, mix of 5 parts fresh water to 1 part weed water. The drowned
roots can then safely be added to the compost bin.
Add comfrey and nettles to the stew to make an even richer feed.
Stew:
Put the roots in a black plastic bag and mix 50:50 with fresh grass clippings. Tie a knot in the
bag and leave it in a sunny place for a few weeks. By this time everything will be a soggy
mess, the roots will be dead and the contents of the bag can be safely composted.
Dry out:
Lay the roots of the perennial weeds, in a thin layer, on a hard, flat surface like concrete or
corrugated iron to keep them off the soil. After 2 or 3 weeks, the summer sun will dry and
shrivel the roots. Once the roots are baked hard, they can safely be added to your compost
bin.

Couch Grass

Horsetail

Bramble