Breaking new ground.
By definition, every croft has at least some arable land, whether it's flat, fertile machair, or peaty feannags amongst the rocks. In most cases, this once-precious land will not have been cultivated for very many years. Drains will have blocked up, the hooves of generations of sheep will have compacted the soil, and a dense mat of grass and weeds will be established over the surface. How do we set about bringing such land back into cultivation for potatoes and vegetables? I have no experience of working machair soils so I intend to address the problems of typical peat-based heavy land that has been improved in the past, but allowed to revert in more recent times.
Let's start with drains. Before even thinking of cultivating, the drains need to be opened up and running freely. This should be done in the winter if possible so that a start can be made as soon as there is any dry spell. For really big drainage jobs it's worth hiring in a digger; for small areas you can't beat a spade. Also in winter the vegetation should be got down as short as possible. This can be done by either letting the sheep enjoy the ground for the last time, or by strimming really hard and raking up the resulting debris.
Now there are choices. It would certainly help at this stage to cover the area with black polythene, well weighted down with sandbags, tyres, or pallets. This will kill off much of the vegetation and make the next stage easier. Alternatively a thick mulch of seaweed could be applied. This does three things. It suppresses the vegetation, feeds the land as it rots down, and encourages earthworms to get to work on the soil. Whatever is left of it can be incorporated into the soil. So the ground has been drained as best it can, and as much vegetation as possible has been got rid of. Now, as soon as it's dry enough, the surface needs to be broken up, but there's a trap here to be avoided. Don't rush out and hire a rotavator and expect the thing to work it's way into virgin ground. Certainly, if you go over it often enough you might end up with something looking like soil, but what you really have is a bit of soil and lots of chopped-up couch grass, dockans, thistles and buttercups which will soon form a green carpet over your nicely turned ground. There are a number of ways of avoiding this. Unless we're taking the organic route from the outset, the vegetation can be sprayed with the weedkiller glyphosate, carefully following the product instructions. Alternatively the surface growth can be removed by turfing (a backbreaking task) or buried as deeply as possible by turning with the spade or ploughing by tractor.
Now you can wait hopefully for the spring east winds to dry up the surface a bit. At this stage, shell-sand can be added to sweeten the soil. Application of lime is best done a bit later. Now you can use that rotavator to break up the lumps on the surface, knock out any annual weeds that have appeared, and give a nice consistency to the soil for planting. Traditionally, potatoes are used as a pioneer crop. This is because they don't need a particularly fine soil, they shade out weeds once they get going strongly, and when lifted, the weeds can be cleared out as well. Kerr's Pink will tolerate heavy, peaty soil, as will the delicious Edzell Blue and the old Lewis Black if you can get them. (And if anyone can, please can I have some?!)
Original by Donald Murdie, Feb 2001
Let's start with drains. Before even thinking of cultivating, the drains need to be opened up and running freely. This should be done in the winter if possible so that a start can be made as soon as there is any dry spell. For really big drainage jobs it's worth hiring in a digger; for small areas you can't beat a spade. Also in winter the vegetation should be got down as short as possible. This can be done by either letting the sheep enjoy the ground for the last time, or by strimming really hard and raking up the resulting debris.
Now there are choices. It would certainly help at this stage to cover the area with black polythene, well weighted down with sandbags, tyres, or pallets. This will kill off much of the vegetation and make the next stage easier. Alternatively a thick mulch of seaweed could be applied. This does three things. It suppresses the vegetation, feeds the land as it rots down, and encourages earthworms to get to work on the soil. Whatever is left of it can be incorporated into the soil. So the ground has been drained as best it can, and as much vegetation as possible has been got rid of. Now, as soon as it's dry enough, the surface needs to be broken up, but there's a trap here to be avoided. Don't rush out and hire a rotavator and expect the thing to work it's way into virgin ground. Certainly, if you go over it often enough you might end up with something looking like soil, but what you really have is a bit of soil and lots of chopped-up couch grass, dockans, thistles and buttercups which will soon form a green carpet over your nicely turned ground. There are a number of ways of avoiding this. Unless we're taking the organic route from the outset, the vegetation can be sprayed with the weedkiller glyphosate, carefully following the product instructions. Alternatively the surface growth can be removed by turfing (a backbreaking task) or buried as deeply as possible by turning with the spade or ploughing by tractor.
Now you can wait hopefully for the spring east winds to dry up the surface a bit. At this stage, shell-sand can be added to sweeten the soil. Application of lime is best done a bit later. Now you can use that rotavator to break up the lumps on the surface, knock out any annual weeds that have appeared, and give a nice consistency to the soil for planting. Traditionally, potatoes are used as a pioneer crop. This is because they don't need a particularly fine soil, they shade out weeds once they get going strongly, and when lifted, the weeds can be cleared out as well. Kerr's Pink will tolerate heavy, peaty soil, as will the delicious Edzell Blue and the old Lewis Black if you can get them. (And if anyone can, please can I have some?!)
Original by Donald Murdie, Feb 2001
