First steps today 4th January 2012

OK, so this is the story of the taming of a totally overgrown allotment which is 5 rods and 5 feet deep in brambles. It looks like this as of the 4th January 2112...

 

To tackle the brambles we have invested in some strange new heavy duty hand tools which are completely new to me but are reckoned to be effective at dealing with the vicious brambles.

 

Top left is an Azada which is used like a pickaxe to break up the soil and lever it backwards, easier than a spade (on the back!) on very hard ground. This will not come into it's own until the brambles have been ripped out and burned. Centre is a 3-prong draw fork which is great for ripping bramble roots out of the ground after the top growth has been cut down. On the right is the primary weapon for hitting the brambles, it's called a slasher and whacks down the bramble growth quite easily with dashing sweeps of the blade.

 

So.... after 2 hours I have an area about 10 yards by 10 yards clear of bramble growth and a substantial heap of bramble cuttings ready to dry out and burn! The slasher proved to be impressive and effective, it made me feel like a Ninja felling an army of viciously armed opponents!

 

No... not a miracle! ....this is not the completed thing already, it's the allotment next to ours. We have not yet met or seen the owner but I rather suspect they will be happy to see what we are up to as they appear to have had a battle to stop the brambles creeping onto their very tidy and weedless plot.

Back for another session today 5th January...

Another 2 hours has almost half the area finished...

 

The pile of brambles drying ready to burn is getting quite large...

Hopefully I should start clearing the roots and a chance to try out the 3-prong fork after a few more days like this ...