Jolly Plot News 29th March 2025

Plot News 29th March 2025

We have a new Plot for 2025 and its beginning to take shape.

To dig or not to dig that is the question.

Over the Equinox, I made a great start on the patch over a few days, but it was tough. I believe in NO dig regenerative gardening. Every piece of ground is different, and I felt this plot needed a little help to clear out the deep-rooted weeds that had taken over every inch, trying to heal the soil from within. Something had been going on under this ground, so I took advice. To see if my gut feeling was right. I gave a call to my brilliant friend Sheila Dass. She has created the amazing Edible garden at RHS Wisley and is a real expert on nature-friendly gardening, now working at the National Trust, so she knows her onions, as they say, and I trust her judgement.

This weekend, over the eclipse, I welcomed some of the Edibles team from RHS Wisley and the brilliant Sheils Dass to the plot to help clear the land and give it a chance to reset and prepare it for its organic no-dig life going forward. This was an overwhelming task, so I could not be more thankful for the fun and energy this crew put into the land yesterday. Once again, this is proof that community is the greatest nourishment of all! The day was full of exchanges of knowledge and laughter.

We put a lot of community love into this year's Jolly Trolly menu. On this new plot, we plan to grow as many pickles, herbs, and ferments as we can.

Our full intention is to create no-dig beds, but the number of docks and deep-rooted invasive weeds on this land has made it impossible. It was like a gut full of parasites that needed some help to clear before it could absorb the good stuff. We've had a few people ask why we are digging on our Instagram, so here is Shiela who has such incredible knowledge of Growing food that you can read her explanation of why I chose to dig before not digging below.

Sheilas Day at Jolly Allotment

My day yesterday was an abundance of riches.

Wonderful people, fabulous forest dog, incredible food (all day!) and just a big bucket full of joy. Thank you Polly for hosting us for gardening fun and brilliant conversations with some of your incredible food and endless inspiration.

It was so great to spend the day with the team too and of course Forest Dog who stole our hearts.

Now, many people will know me as an advocate of no dig, and Polly and I discussed options a few weeks ago about how to progress things in her garden which had a patch of ground very overrun with docks. These of course were suggestingthat things were under repair in the soil. There seemed to be a bit of a contrast with other areas of the garden, but for various reasons this is the area that is best for a veg patch in this space.

We could have gone with cardboard and compost and we talked pigs and even diggers to (as rabbit proof fencing needs to go in) but I suggested to Polly to dig a hole first to see what was going on. This revealed that, as I suspected, something had gone on here and it was also full of large stone debris. So, we decided to remove the abundant docks while extracting these large stones using human pigs. We also started the trench needed for the rabbit fence.

The beauty of this was also a day of joy and chat about what to grow and all sorts of other things. We didn't 'turn it over' but disturbed the top of the soil and the docks came out easily. Our forks and spades hit the big stones often, and we removed those. Next, Polly will add a layer of compost (soon to avoid the soil exposure for too long) and will get on with growing and seeing how the soil responds in the year ahead.

It's so important to be pragmatic and really ask yourself what works for your situation. Sometimes disturbance is necessary. As we talked with Polly about food and nutrition, the analogy with that is strong. We often seek instructions for things but sometimes it's just not about a prescribed recipe.

Sheila Dass

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