[alang]

Could i ask  what materials you cover your exposed veg beds with in winter? I read in CS mag that some people use the black silage plastic used by farmers. I don't have access to that (i think) so what other easily available materials would you  recommend?

[doganjo]

Cheap black poly bags, carpet, cardboard - i fill mine up withn poultry floor bedding, top up with a layer of compost then cover, some of them have winter veg or manure crop.

[alang]

Cheers Annie 

Will source some cardboard and black bags from work. I just thought the silage bags would be thicker than normal bin bags.

I am intending to cover the bare earth in a layer of 3" compost then cover with a protective bag/card layer to help stop erosion over the winter.

[Fleecewife]

Our problem is holding down the covers.  Cardboard is great inside the polytunnel, but outdoors it needs manure or similar on top, then something to keep out the light.  Bin bags we find too small, bale wrap too flimsy, so originally we used an old tarp or two.  Then, when we started using alternate patches year and year about, we invested in a large, heavy tarpaulin which fits the whole area.  It still has to be held down with breeze blocks, old stobs or dead pallets, and the terriers still do their best to rip it to shreds, but it's lasted several years already.  One drawback of using an impervious cover is that it collects water, which is heavy on the soil below and compacts it, once the manure part has rotted down.

[pgkevet]

Mine are covered in weeds.

[Lesley Silvester]

You could always sow some crops such as clover that can be dug in next spring.

[Backinwellies]

We collect old carpets here! (always someone throwing out an old bit of carpet!)   the just expose the bit we are to plant into ….  might look a bit strange but saves masses of weeding!!!

cut into squares make good weed control for new trees too!

[Terry T]

I find that any covering gives a great home to rodents and as these eat vegetables it doesn’t work for me.

[sabrina]

I bought a big roll of the black stuff you put under bark. It goes down in the winter then off when I need the beds for planting. quite cheap to buy and has done me 2 years. Still need to hold it down though. I also have thick black plastic type stuff that comes with holes for planting already there and pins to keep it on the ground. Used that this year to save weeding. Worked well enough. My trouble is we have a lot of farmland around us full of weeds so always drifting seeds on the go. Never ending weeds in fact. Pity they are not worth money !

[Lingon]

If it is only to keep weeds away, wool is a good cover.

[alang]

Thanks for the replies. I think i'll use weed barrier sheeting to cover the mud and compost over winter. That should allow the rain through but keep the wind from blowing the compost away.

[cloddopper]

Is it not better to dig the compost/manure in a row at a time during winter digging that way it goes down deep and stays there as well as allowing all weathering actions to take place naturally ?
Come spring give it another tiling  to aeriate it & disturb any fresh germinating , sow / plant in a followed taut line  as soon as you get a fine enough tilth .
 
 A decent long handled hoe is just about the best green thing you can use to keep all weeds under control if you use the row method of growing .

For such crops that are only an inch or two between the plants in the row leave the weed in the row till you can get hold of it then cut it off below the ground. If it is a pernicious deep root perennial weed slice it level with soil and put a small pinch of cooking salt on the cut stem to kill it off all the way down the root .

[alang]

Is it not better to dig the compost/manure in a row at a time during winter digging that way it goes down deep and stays there as well as allowing all weathering actions to take place naturally ?

I'm trying out the Charles Dowding no-dig method on the raised beds

[DavidandCollette]

Unfortunately the problem with most coverings is that they make great slug hotels. I think that this season I will be mostly relying on regular going. (One of Jessies tips)

[Fleecewife]

I find hoeing is near impossible here, except inside the tunnel, because in average years it's way too wet.  Last summer was a revelation     I use organic slug pellets under membrane in the growing season, with fair results.