Report D023 ***

Problem: Docks in Triticale & pasture
Where: Shropshire
When: July 03
Status: Organic
Area: 16.19 Hectares (40 acres)
Detail: Wet / Clay Conditions / Imported workforce
Report:

Cheshire (D022): Worked alongside a farmer and his workforce to show how dock clearance in a small pasture could be achieved. We cleared about 0.5 acre in a badly affected area of a paddock near farmstead. Discussed the work over lunch.

Shropshire (D023): Worked alongside farmer in 40 acres of Triticale containing many Docks. They grew from broken sections (caused by the cultivations), and were difficult to locate. It was raining heavily and the heavy soil was cloying. The following principles applied:

  • Make all efforts to remove dock plants before ploughing OR
  • Remove them with chisel harrows before sowing OR
  • Remove them in a crop when the weather is dry.

Lazy-Dog Tools now make a complete ‘slip-on cover’ for the L-D pivot, which prevents clay balling up, when cultivated ground is sticky