An overgrown acre

rightee · Post by **rightee** » 05 Sep 2012, 06:25

I'm going to get the scythe on it!

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 05 Sep 2012, 07:59

Why would you want it weed free later?

Little John · Post by **Little John** » 05 Sep 2012, 09:46

biffvernon wrote:Why would you want it weed free later?

Presumably because it's only an acre and so in order to maximise production, all other competing plants need to be eliminated.

We all know that in an ideal world you allow other plants to co-inhabit a growing field. Partly because it encourages other forms of life that may well benefit your intended crop and will generally keep the land healthy into the very longer term. Also, it's just the right thing to do for the sake of biodiversity. These concerns, though, will inevitably take a back burner for people when they only have an acre to work with, for better or worse.

I'm not saying it is right. I'm saying it is inevitable.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 05 Sep 2012, 11:08

An acre is a very large area for one person to grow food on by hand. That's why I suggested concentrating on food growing beds of whatever size one can realistically manage and leave the rest of the land to provide other ecosystem services.

Creating an acre of desert as a first move is a bad move.

Catweazle · Post by **Catweazle** » 05 Sep 2012, 11:10

biffvernon wrote:Why would you want it weed free later?

I would think because you can't eat weeds, they smother your plants, they compete for resources.

Why have random weeds when you can plan and sow for a purpose ?

Little John · Post by **Little John** » 05 Sep 2012, 14:20

biffvernon wrote:An acre is a very large area for one person to grow food on by hand. That's why I suggested concentrating on food growing beds of whatever size one can realistically manage and leave the rest of the land to provide other ecosystem services.

Creating an acre of desert as a first move is a bad move.

Ok, yeah, I can see where you are coming from there. It's true enough that if someone who has never grown before completely denudes an entire acre that they intend to cultivate by hand, it is highly unlikely in the first year or two that they are going to actually use all of that acre. That being the case, they may as well leave it covered with natural flora.

However, I stand by my original response that, once up to speed with hand horticulture, an acre is not that much to fully utilise and so anyone wishing to maximise their food output from such a site would be likely to want to keep all non-crop plants down.

rightee · Post by **rightee** » 05 Sep 2012, 14:47

We've grown veg before but a lot less than an acre, so we will do it in stages, keeping the weeds down but not bare soil (which isn't good either as you'd lose the topsoil)

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to get a scythe off Simon Fairlie, think it should handle the weeds.

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 05 Sep 2012, 15:48

rightee wrote:Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to get a scythe off Simon Fairlie, think it should handle the weeds.

I've got a ditch blade and a bush blade for mine, as it's mainly used for long grass and weeds.

rightee · Post by **rightee** » 05 Sep 2012, 15:54

I've got a ditch blade and a bush blade for mine, as it's mainly used for long grass and weeds.

I can see this is going to become and expensive hobby

Little John · Post by **Little John** » 05 Sep 2012, 16:10

rightee wrote:
I've got a ditch blade and a bush blade for mine, as it's mainly used for long grass and weeds.
I can see this is going to become and expensive hobby

Get yourself a petrol brush cutter. You know you want to.....

£200 quid and you're good to go with a reasonable quality one that will last. It wouldn't take more than about two gallons of petrol to take the whole acre down in a day or two at most. If you are only doing it once a year, it would probably last you for several decades

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 05 Sep 2012, 16:52

A scythe from Simon Fairlie is much better than a noisy petrol head's toy. An acre is a lot to cultivate by hand but easy to control with one of those beautiful scythes. And you can hear the birds sing at the same time.

hardworkinghippy · Post by **hardworkinghippy** » 05 Sep 2012, 16:57

Rightee, what a great opportunity !

I manage more than an acre myself and it's not too time consuming or hard work. I've rarely used more than hand tools - but then I go slowly making a bed at a time. It took me about four years to be fully self-sufficient in fruit and veg.

I'd identify the weeds you've got to find out what the growing conditions are, then leave patches of weeds that form clumps and shapes and ones that please you. As you say, it's much better to have weeds that bare earth. Just live with them, they'll be useful to somebody. You might find that some of the weeds are useful plants, especially if the plot's been used by a good gardener.

Pigs are brilliant but won't they get nicked if you're not there ? Chickens are good too for fertilising and clearing land - in fact I couldn't manage my garden without them. .

Start forming a few beds by cutting down and in some case digging out (Brambles, couch grass etc.) then cover the bed with loads of animal waste, mulch then use that area to chop and drop your next lot of weeds. Pile it on and next spring the bed will be glorious black earth.

The paths are what's left over when you've done your beds. Leave them wide enough for a barrowfull of stuff.

woodburner · Post by **woodburner** » 05 Sep 2012, 22:45

biffvernon wrote:A scythe from Simon Fairlie is much better than a noisy petrol head's toy. An acre is a lot to cultivate by hand but easy to control with one of those beautiful scythes. And you can hear the birds sing at the same time.

I'd use a scythe in preference to a strimmer any day. You don't have to throw them down and run when you come across a nest of irate wasps.

Emordnilap wrote:Trouble is, left alone, most land will get choked with nettles and brambles and extremely tough grass,

In the longer term, land reverts to woodland if left alone

Little John · Post by **Little John** » 06 Sep 2012, 09:38

I'm only pulling your legs about the petrol brush cutter folks. Well, at least partially anyway, That is to say, there will absolutely come a point where the cost of purchase, fuel and maintenance of such items will become prohibitively expensive. At which point possessing a good working scythe will begin to look rather clever.

However, for some (indeterminate) time yet, a petrol cutter is relatively cheap to buy, to fuel and to service and it's a lot quicker. Particularly if you are not a young man/woman.

Post by **adam2** » 06 Sep 2012, 10:06

Agree that a petrol powered machine is not the best choice in the long term, but for use now has a lot to commend it.
Even if petrol costs £5 a litre, the amount used is so small that it is probably still worth it.

Electric alternatives exist and are worth considering if a suitable power supply is nearby.