A few Newbie Questions

[AndyP]

Flickr Photo Download: Allotment Day 1

Hi. I took on an allotment on Sunday with my fiancée (see photo for how it looked on Sunday) and since then I have been down 2 afternoons to start clearing the weeds and a few things have cropped up. So my questions are:

I have been digging up the weeds using a fork and trying to remove all of the plant and roots. I have then been putting the weeds into a giant binbag. I was wondering what I should do with these weeds? I was worried that if I put them in the compost that I'd end up growing weeds in the compost bin or would potentially planting weeds when I come to use the compost? I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to hVe a fire at the allotments, so do I have to just bin all these weeds? Seems like a bit of a waste!?!

I have come across a lot of pieces of broken glass, bits of roof slate and bricks and stones. I discovered the hard way about the broken glass when a piece sliced through my thumb whilst I was pulling up a weed. Since then I have probably found 30 or more pieces of glass in the 4' x 20' section I have cleared so far so I'm guessing I've got a lot more to find. I was wondering what techniques and tips people had for spotting and removing bits of glass from the ground? So far I have just been keeping my eyes peeled and picking them up carefully with gloves on as soon as I spot them.

I've been digging up quite a few large-ish stones (about 2" diameter). I've also found quote a few larger stones and bricks that I have used to hold a tarpaulin down over the bits I have cleared, but I was wondering if there was anything I should hold onto these smaller stones for anything or if I should just chuck them?

I think that's everything I was wondering today. No doubt I'll have some more questions after I go down on Friday!
Thanks!
Andy

[Lady of Shallots]

Hi AndyP!

Well I also took on an allotment yesterday, and it looks rather similar to yours at the moment!

A few bits of advice... the weeds and what to do with them...
I would be surprised if you're not allowed a fire on your allotment - I would assume if it was well contained it would be fine, such as using a metal incinerator bin type thing - like a big metal dustbin but with a hole in the top and the sides. As long as they're dry, all the weeds should burn!

I think you can put any weeds without seeds in your compost bin, anything with seeds would be better off being burnt or taken to the tip.

My allotment seems to be mostly covered in Grass, so I'm thinking of attempting to cut the grassy soil in 'turfs', turning it upside down, and building some kind of 'earth' wall around the allotment with it, it probably won't work but would be interesting to find out! My other thought is building a little 'hobbit house' at the end to keep bits and bobs in, as I have no shed yet!

As for the glass, all I can recommend is get yourself some decent 'rigger' style gloves, which are made of a really tough suede like material that should protect your hands. I got mine from Wilko's for about £2.50.

Now the stones... hmm! How about collecting them until you have enough to make a pretty shingle path? Otherwise keep them and bits of pot to go in the bottom of planting containers (if you're using them) for water drainage, of in the bottom of your greenhouse if you have one, to help keep the ground moist?

Anyway that's all I can think of for now, hope something there is useful to you. Good luck with your new allotment, I look forward to hearing how you and your fiancee get along with it!

Lady of Shallots