New Year - New Allotment!

I have been following the 'Back To Eden Method' for several years.

In the Autumn of 2024 - I took on a half allotment in Stoke Hill, Exeter.  My plan was to experiment with the new method on this blank slate site.

The allotment was very overgrown,it was evident that the site had not been worked for the last couple of years.  So initially I removed weeds and cleared the site by strimming and then digging out the invasive grasses and some of the bigger weeds. There was quite a bit of concrete and wood etc hidden in the grass. I also needed to remove a lot of landscape fabric which was very well hidden under the soil and grass. 

The fruit trees have been heavily pruned (butchered) - so it will be interesting to see if they bounce back from this and if they ever go on to be fruitful again - I hope so!  A couple of them had multiple suckers which needed removing before applying the mulch.

I chose an allotment which had good access - because I needed to cover it with woodchips. I found two tree surgeons who could deliver woodchip to my site.

I then got hold of enough cardboard over time to cover the ground intially and on top of that I put a 6 to 8 inch layer of woodchip all over the allotment site.

It took roughly 2 months to get enough loads of woodchip to cover the whole site.

The back to eden method is not a quick fix solution and to get the full benefit the organic matter needs time to start to decompose. For optimal use of woodchips this can take 1 to 2 years according to weather conditions.  The perennial weeds will likely make their way through the covering - and will need to be removed in the first year and possibly second year.  There was what I thought could be bindweed and certainly couch grass on the allotment.  Bindweed can take a couple of seasons to remove (According to Charles Dowding) and couch grass will need to be removed as it arises for the first year or two.  I am hoping that I will find a way to control couch grass because this is a bit of an unknown quantity with the back to eden method.

So far I have planted fruit bushes round the outside. Blueberries, blackcurrents, redcurrents, whitecurrents, gooseberries, raspberries and rhubarb. In this coming season - 2025 - I plan to start to experiment with growing vegetables. In the first year it will be harder - because the woodchip needs some time initially to begin to break down and form good topsoil.

I will give an update in future to tell you how this method has performed - the successes and failures!

Thanks for following along on my back to eden allotment growing experiment!

Happy Gardening - And a very happy new year!

Sage. xx

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At Kingdom Plants I have a keen interest in old and new methods of gardening.  I have found that some of the new methods can challenge the accepted wisdom that every gardener takes for granted.  It is good to unlearn and relearn from time to time.

Where appropriate I try to incorporate what works best for your individual garden.  If you need some help this coming season - call me in for a free garden consultation.