The Poultry Keeper

mojo · Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2006 6:08 pm Post subject:

make sureyou get one with reverse so much easier on the back...by one who knows,,,,,,,mojo

NannyP · Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2006 7:11 pm Post subject:

Mojo, you're such a chauvenist sometimes, us women can have machines like that you know Wink

Lisa, take care of your back and get a rotavator, and the hoe looks great and I can just picture what you mean by letting gravity do the work.
Very Happy

Spana · Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 2243 Location: North Cornwall

Hi Lisa, your new hoe looks a beautiful tool. I love hoeing through the rows of veg on a summers evening, but if the ground is wet, forget it. The other thing is use it often so you're only cutting off small weeds.
The best and most used tool I have for any gardening is a paint scraper, the thing you use when paint stripping, but you do need to be kneeling down. But for weeding and hand digging its great.
If you are going to use a rotavator on new ground, its best to dig out perennial weeds first as they can regrow from bits of cut up roots but the annuals can be left in

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 7372 Location: isle of lewis

i use mine all the time and at the moment i'm turning
a peat bog into garden Sad

it doesn't really come much wetter although parts of my garden does Embarassed

you raise it above your head over your shoulder and let it drop it cuts into the ground
and turns it over like a spade with just a pull Very Happy

waited years till they came into this country
the other thing that it's great for i found on the allotment is if your ground is dry you can make a dip between the rows and run your water betwen the rows it's the way they water in dry areas of the world and the plants need watering a lot less Very Happy

,i cannot use an ordinary hoe here as the ground is just to wet and i'd love to have to water my plants in the garden Wink

.
suz

jooles · Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2006 12:42 pm Post subject:

Is this your first year with your lottie Lisa? If so, won't the Council rotavate it for you? I don't have a lottie but I know that when you first take one on here they do that for you if you ask.

Otherwise, perhaps you could hire one, or see if one of your lottie neighbours has one you could use.

Lisa · Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2006 12:50 pm Post subject:

No, its not my first year (its just got rather overgrown again because of my back problems last year stopped me finishing what I'd started).

When I first took it over I did ask the site rep, and at the council offices, if the could recommend anyone to rotovate it. They certainly never mentioned anything about doing it for free - would have been great Razz

Someone I rang up offered to do it for fifty quid! Although there is a lot of couch grass on it, so I'm not sure if rotovating be the best thing anyway. I think hard work is probably going to be the thing - especially for the bits I want to put the more permanent stuff like asparagus and strawberries.

I did get part of it covered last year to smother the weeds, and that has worked quite well. But there's still the other half Laughing

jooles · Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2006 1:10 pm Post subject:

I think we must be very lucky here. I understand that they are really cheap too. If only I had more time Rolling Eyes

. I know a friend of mine took one on a couple of years ago and they offered this free service to rotovate it for you.

£50 sounds a bit steep!

I think your back is going to suffer - I can see it coming ... ouch!

nigel · Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2006 1:22 pm Post subject:

Our Council do a free rotovate for all newbies too.

In some ways i wish they hadn't I now have thousands of Docks thanks to them slicing up the roots, but it did break open the compacted stuff which saved a lot of hard physical work.

Aussie Chick · Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2006 10:24 pm Post subject:

The worst thing I did was rotovate! As Nigel said, it just chopped all the weeds up to make thousands of new ones Evil or Very Mad

I weed by hand or hoe now, much easier.

Spana · Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 2243 Location: North Cornwall

When Boscastle flooded my veg garden took a right bashing. I tried really hard last spring to get it going,but it beat me. The ground had gone down so hard and cold and where the water had broken the rabbit wire the little devils ate everything that I did get to germinate.
I came out, closed the gate and didn't do anything else in there until the autumn when by this time it was a mass of weeds.
I got my OH to spray it off.
Over the winter we have replaced and made higher the rabbit fencing. I have rotovated and spread muck on two thirds and dug again with a spade and its starting to look good. But without the spray I don't think I would ever have had the inclination to get it going.

mojo · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:51 am Post subject:

lisa whatever system you use MIND THE BACK.luv mojo

poultry poofs · Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 10:11 pm Post subject:

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 7372 Location: isle of lewis

the tool she's talking about isn't like a hoe it's on a right angle with a trangle blade ,if your really good with it you can take out a whole dandilion roots as well ,but i'm not that good Sad

.in italy it's all they use for everything ,water chanels ,digging holes you use it the as way as you use a spade ,lift it over your shoulder and let it drop gravity does the rest ,i'm total in love with mine when i left portsmouth it was the first tool to be packed and it finds itself used for just about every job here except mucking out the goatshed Wink

suz

fenwoman · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:00 am Post subject:

It depends on the weeds I think Lisa. I like a Dutch hoe, one you push and the blade goes just under the surface and cuts weeds off in their prime, rather than one you chop down with like a mattock. It would also depend a lot on the soil type. My heavy clay is a pig to dig or hoe. There are plenty of 'no dig' gardens and because mine is such heavy clay, heavy and wet in winter and like concrete in summer I use a no dig method.
I would say, if it is friable soil dig it and use the hoe for weed control. At least if you dig it, you can incorporate a good dollop of manure or compost at the same time.
I have to lay the manure or compost on the surface and wait for the wormies to drag it down.

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

I think if you have couch grass then rotovating is not the way to go ~ as it will only break up the roots which will then grow. Once you are rid of the couch grass, which ideally should be dug out then the hoe is the best method ~ a little daily will kill off all the weeds in their primeand will even get rid of some of the perennials by weakening them so much that they just give up hope and die!