cover or not

Hi all, being new to allotmenteering I'm not sure about covering largish areas of the plots with plastic or carpets and such, iv received different advise from the gardeners on the site and I'm just not sure what to do, iv spent this summer prepping the raised beds ,the soil is  brought in  decent quality top soil with lots of manure dug in,at the moment its very wet like most peoples,  now do i cover for the winter or not ,i would really appreciate some sound advise as to the good or bad of covering or not

hopefully Alan4711

As was posted on the other discussion today-the concensus is do not cover-let the winter weather do its work.

Then cloche or whatever in the early part of the year to pre-warm part of the plot and to let it dry out

Carpets will just be a soggy rotting mess

Absolutely no need to cover at this time of year - although it will get wet, it needs the air, wind and (occasional) sun to dry it off, the frost to make the soil friable and the birds to get at the slugs and bugs (I frequently see a heron feeding on slugs etc on allotments I pass very early in the morning).  Covering the soil at this time of year will only turn the soil sour.

Nearer to planting time you can cover a row or two where you want to sow seeds using a cloche, or failing that with a sheet of black plastic well weighted down with soil along it's sides and ends otherwise the wind will get under it and rip it to shreds and it'll be all over the other allotments and you won't be popular .  Use black plastic as the farmers do because black absorbs heat better and therefore heats the soil a bit more.

Hi DFA /Soto

 many thanks for the info carpets comeing off ,its a lot of hard work anyway doing it, Now anybody want a free wet smelly big old carpet(must collect),

Alan4711