We went along to the allotment a couple of weeks ago after a few weeks break. Oh my, what a mistake that break was. The place was over-run with weeds. Every single carefully cleared part of the space was now covered. The space was no more. It was a giant weed party.
I was heartbroken. I know it was our own fault for not keeping on top of things but really, the weeds grow this much this fast?
We wasted no time in getting to work clearing out the raised beds which already contained plants. I headed straight for my strawberry plants. I had to save them. If there was one thing I wanted to grow successfully more than anything else it was them and come hell or high water, I was going to get my wish.
Bit by bit and a couple of hours later we’d cleared the beds containing strawberries, garlic, onions, potatoes and lettuce, plus the areas around the fruit bushes. The mangetout didn’t seem to have grown at all, bar about three plants in a 16″ row, making me theoretically kick myself for not putting up the netting to stop the birds/rabbits/whatever the culprit was from getting to them. The peas were bound by some climbing weed that I’m not horticultural enough to identify.
Hopefully we’ll be able to get back there this weekend. It looks like the empty and very overgrown beds will need rotovating again but the problem then is all the weeds get chopped up and dug in. I need a way of getting rid of the weeds without using chemicals and without damaging any crops we’re trying to grow.
Logic and commonsense tells me the best way is by visiting regularly and using copious amounts of elbow grease. My laziness tells me there must surely be something in a bottle to do the job.
Yes weeds do grow that fast!!! lol