Selfsufficientish.com

Hello, I'm new here and although I've had a couple of years growing veg, herbs and fruit in my back yard, I've never had a plot of ground to plant anything in. But recently a friend of mine has possible a corner of a field that I could use - but is it too late in the season to prep it to grow veg in? I know that ideally I would start digging and putting compost in in the autumn, but I would like to get something out of it this year - if I get the plot! I have tomato, pea, spinach, mixed lettuce, coriander, basil, carrot seedlings and have just put a couple of sprouting potatoes in a bag of old compost! - will these be any good?

Any hints or tips as to what I could do/grow for this season would be appreciated!

The worst that could happen is that the yields are not as great as they could be - go for it! Make sure it's reasonably weed free, though - that usually takes the most time when you are just starting...

And by the way - welcome to the Ishers!

Just cover it in plastic, or other weed supressing membrane and plant through that. Your yeild might not be as good but you will be killing off the grass / weeds at the same time ready for digging in next year!
Good luck

First year in my plot (when the soil had so much clay in it, you could make pots out of it!), I grew potatoes, spinach and some pea plants I was given.

Potatoes are good for breaking up the soil on a new plot and are worth a try, though spinach can be a tad bitter if the soil has no nutrients in it.
The peas worked OK, but the yield was a bit poor.

It's too late to prep the soil now (do that in autumn, as you say), though a sprinkling of fertiliser may help (depending on what you're growing)
I've had a degree of sucess in my clay-pit by digging a hole or shallow trench where I'm planting and filling with compost before putting in the seedlings. The compost also gets dissipated into the soil by worms, and helps richen it up for later years.

I'd stick to pots of compost in the back yard for the tomatoes - they need good soil if you're putting them in a patch!

When I first started on my plot (not all that long ago) it was March. And I really managed to get good crops that year.

My plot was rotovated and had been used as an allotment previously, so I'm not sure if you situation is comparable. But it's early yet, you can still do very many sorts of veg this season if you get going quickly.

Even if you start planting/sowing in May you can still do plenty!

Jandra

Welcome to the group!

If your plot has grass growing thick and well and possibly nettles then the ground is probably really fertile and the soil should be good.

If the ground is flat you could hire a turf stripper which will remove all your grass in one day!! If you lay the turves in a cleat and cover it it will breakdown over time and you can get rid of it that way.

Too late for manure etc but nothing wrong with a good appliction of blood, fish and bone!

Build a compost bin and put a plank here and there for collecting slugs and snails and your well away. Lucky you for having a friend with field.

Let us know how it goes

We got our first plot last August, we managed to grow bens, spring onions, spinach (by the lorry load), broccoli, cabbage, turnip greens, carrots, beetroot, turnip broccoli, parsley- they may have been more it was amazing, everyone said it was too late but go for it- what can you lose!

I got my overgrown allotment in May and grew runner beans the first year - they didn't seem to mind being surrounded by nightmare weeds and uncultivated soil. they were the best beans I've ever tasted...

If this friend with the field is a farmer - see if he/she will plough it and then power harrow it once it has dried in the sun a little bit - then plant away!

Start small first though. If you are likely to have the land for a good while then I would plant some stuff soon but then spend the rest of the year planning and putting in any fencing/paths etc and forming beds so you can muck and dig them in the autumn ready for next spring.

It would be worth getting the soil tested too. I rent 2 acres at the edge of a field and the soil is dreadful! If you get the soil tested by a testing company/organisation they will tell you what you need to add to grow veg and you can then plan around their recommendations.

Enjoy!

... oh yes, and try to get something up that you can use as a cold greenhouse and a shelter as that makes all the difference to how easy it is to work the plot. I've done a greenhouse out of bottles that works really well and stood up to all the gales (mind you, there are about 550 bottles in it and the easiest way to get them was to collect uncrushed ones from plastic recycling banks with a long litter-picker - which gets you some funny looks)