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One thing worrying me though! The local lake had hepatitus in it and the council dredged it to help the flow of fresh water. The dredgings were put on the field which is now my allotment about 10 yrs ago, which makes the soil brilliant, but I'm a bit worried there may be hepatitus still present. Does anyone know if this is likely to be a problem? I'm hoping that the virus can't survive in a soil environment.

Yersina (a bacterial infection of pig's intestines) can last for nearly a year in soil. I can't find anything specifically on hepatitis, but most water borne diseases like it seem to only survive a matter of months in soil. The only thing i can find on hepatitis is that archaologists dealing with dry remains are told that risk of infection by hepatitis is minimal as it needs the water or living tissue to survive.....

To really know if hepatitis has survived you'd need to know what kind of hepatitis it was to start with (A, B or C) as one can survive in soil (HepA; whether it would be passed to veg or not i have no idea) and the oher two can't survive in soil. Can you ask your council if they have tested the soil recently?

Karen_Grace wrote:Happy New Year everyone!!!

It is for me, I just got my allotment.Dont wish to gloat but its a newly ploughed field and I only have to remove the grass roots and it's ready to go. Although I will probably miss out on all the little suprises you find in an already established plot.

dont be so sure
its winter nothing much grows on the weed front there be sleeping in your soil if i was you i take an area and fork it through ,and when march kicks in any area you aint using cover with carpet or a weed surpressor or it get weedy.
dave

Thanks Mrs Flibble, I will certainly contact the council and ask them.

I was thinking I was lucky, Dave, after seeing some of the bramble covered patches a lot of people have to deal with, ah well, swings and roundabouts eh?

I managed to dig over one of my very weedy beds - it was a neglected flower bed near the house - it is now intended for herbs, though it'll need a more thorough going over when the days get longer... It is covered in carpet to stop it getting any worse.

I also managed to liberate some sweet-pea seeds...some will be re-planted in an area more easy to harvest from (I doubt I can sell the flowers, but I can use them in the house) I have loads more than I could possibly need though... see the seed swap area

havnt got down to me allotment for a few weeks but its near enough all dug. at home small raised bed whats has now been cleaned out and will be turned into a nursery bed and a few other bits ans pieces.

went to dig out some prehistoric thistles, and soon ran out of cardboard to cover the ground! Helped by an enthusiastic digger and raker, transplanting topsoil to weeded areas

well i went down and had some carpets dropped off hessian backed mostly and told ok ,cut back brambles and found rhubarb row ready for mucking .dug up raspberry canes pruned and left in bucket in shed ready to replant them . shoved heavy carpet over the area and will leave it down for a long time.harvested some leeks and fartichokes.had not been down for 2 weeks or more so it was good to be down and my head does not feel so cluttered
dave

Went to the allotment today, rearranged my begs, and started digging some over, planted some onion seeds, I love being there sooo much, just wish I had more time so could spend longer. *sigh*

First time at the lottie in the new year: hoe'd round brassicas & oriental salad things; hand weeded a patch & shoved in the garlic (I know it's late, but figured it's worth a try); sowed another row of broad beans & planted bulbs in a small flower bed by the greenhouse. Enjoyable couple of hours in the sun.

Ranter: is it really possible to plant broad beans now? I thought I was either too late or too early...

went for a walk to the lottie with disabled son i staked a bit of netting on me spring cabbage row stop it blowing away pulled a carpet back over what had blown over. sat with disabled son
in the sun then walked round the allotments twice .
dave

I'm doing lots in the garden but nothing to do with veggies! Tidying up flower beds and re-edging where the chickens have ruined them prior to getting some compost spread. I need some free compost bins because I've too much mucky duck bedding!

Apple tree pruning is next on the cards.

our allotments get pretty waterlogged this time of year (tho my plot is reasonable well drained), a consequence of being on London clay I guess. Basically means we can't do a thing up there till it all dries out a bit. Last spring was a nightmare with all that rain, it was still a quagmire even into april!!!

Christine wrote:Ranter: is it really possible to plant broad beans now? I thought I was either too late or too early...

As long as the soil is neither frozen nor waterlogged you can sow broad beans at any time trough the winter. Make sure they are a variety suitable for winter sowing - I have always done well with Aquadulce Claudia.

I still need to get another row in but too wet here at the mo'