My first year as an allotment owner

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meriad

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My first year as an allotment owner
« on: August 06, 2018, 10:47 »
With apologies for the very long post, but I really wanted to share my first year as an allotment owner and hopefully inspire anyone else that is thinking of taking on one (and they've stumbled across this fab forum)

August last year I took on a ½ plot – totally over grown with bindweed and couch grass being the main problems.  I managed to dig over and clear ½ the plot by hand and was very pleased with myself and the progress –  alas then a string of 50th birthday parties on the weekends happened, swiftly followed on by a rather miserable, long and cold winter.  When I went back in February this year the entire plot was overgrown once more and my heart sank.  As determined as I was to be organic I decided to glyphosate the area instead – not everyone’s cup of tea I know, but sometimes needs must.  So a chop down of everything followed by a few sprays a few weeks apart  (I think I sprayed 3 or 4x in total) and I finally got the plot to a point where I could start thinking about planting up etc.

I work in London so commute in every day and was quite determined that the allotment should work with me and my working hours and be something fun and enjoyable vs becoming an unmanageable project so I figured raised beds would be the ideal for my circumstances.   I ordered 5 of these  https://www.greenfingers.com/product.asp?dept_id=200486&pf_id=LK7511D so a total of 10 raised beds which have taken up just over ½ of the allotment so far.  A friend used to have two allotments but because of her working hours and work commitments had to give them up and she very kindly gave me a rotovator on long term loan and what a blessing that was….   1/2 day spent cleaning up and then rotovating the one half of the plot and I was ready to install the beds.  One bag of compost and one bag of top soil per bed mixed in with the rather sandy soil and I was good to go.   Two weekends ago I rotovated the remaining half and now it's all lovely and clear and easy to keep on top of any weeds that pop up.

The two rows of raised beds are situated very close to the edges of the allotment each with a 2ft gap between then giving me just enough space to walk between them; in hindsight I think I should have gone a bit wider but it’ll just have to be OK.  But there is a much wider path between the two rows so I can fit a wheel barrow if needed.   I’v got ground fabric and SmartCover from Gro-Sure that I still need to install between the beds to keep the foot paths clear, but that will have to wait a bit until I can remove the marrow plants; they'ver taken over the foot paths  :lol:

By the time I got everything ready it was quite late in the year, so for this year I’ve gone with vegetable plants that were bought from garden centres or given to me by friends.  Next year I'm hoping to grow as much as possible myself from seed.  I've got marrows, courgettes, butternut squash, green beans, peas and sweetcorn.  I also had a lot of tomato plants that self seeded from last year in my greenhouse so I planted some of those out as well as peppers (oh and a melon that I bought in error  :wub:).   A friend gave my some Cape Gooseberry plants to try as well and last but not least my absolutely all-time favourite – beetroot; just absolutely adore them.  All that filled 8 of the 10 beds so I’ve still got 2 spare. 

It’s been a very interesting learning curve; and every time I’m on the allotment and end up chatting to the various plot neighbours as they walk by I learn something new and it’s been such huge fun.
I’ve learned
- courgette / marrow plants grow HUGE when not confined in a pot.  I swear they’d take over the world if you let them
- Sweetcorn grows sooooo much better when in the ground vs in a pot like I tried at home last year
- French beans need more support than I gave them; they’ve been blown rather skew by the wind two weekends ago
- WolfGarten tools are just THE best  :D
- if you don’t stagger your planting it all ripens at the same time and you just can’t eat it all
- spending money at Hampton Court Flower show / online is so easy to do when you’re just starting out and think you need it all – oops!
- allotment neighbours are such friendly lovely people


So looking at the past year and what I’ve done I’m very very pleased with my decision to go with raised beds; it definitely was the right thing to do for me.   I need to read up a bit more about crop rotation / planting ideas because next year I ideally would like to try sowing in intervals; so have raised bed 1 with just a few of everything (just not marrow!) and then 1 or 2 weeks later repeat in bed 2 and then later in bed 3 etc… so I hopefully can get regular harvest for a few weeks vs all at the same time.  I’ll be adding lettuces, outdoor cucumber and garlic and onion to the list of things to plant and create a herb bed.   I still have the other ½ of the plot that hasn’t had anything planted yet so I’ll just keep that clear for now and next year use that for the marrows – they’re really not ideal for raised beds.   And maybe some potato plants, but not sure about that one yet.  I want to attach some conduit clips to the sides of some of the raised beds so I can easily attach pipes to make poly tunnels for an extended growing season (I say hopefully) – so lots of plans and ideas; just not sure how it’ll all work out.  I need to think about green manure or covering the beds that won't be planted up in the winter to keep weeds at bay.

So all in all, as I reflect back on the last year it’s been a year of at times really really hard work but such fun and so worth it.  And now that most of that hard work is done the years going forward can only become more fun / better.  My allotment has become my 2nd little haven – it’s such a tranquil place to be and you can really unwind there after a day in London and putting up with the dire rail service. 

So for anyone out there that is thinking about taking on an allotment - go for it; you won't regret it


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Veg Plot 1B

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Re: My first year as an allotment owner
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2018, 11:57 »
Good on you, glad it is working for you.

Something that has worked for me which may be of interest for paths, use cardboard  and wood chippings 4in deep, both should be free & easily availble.

Also have you heard of Charles Dowding "no Dig"?

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Goosegirl

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Re: My first year as an allotment owner
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2018, 12:31 »
You really have done very well and I don't blame you for using glyphosate especially with those pernicious weeds. Just a warning about cape gooseberries - they have very invasive roots so plant them in pots rather than in your beds. I grow potatoes in mine but have no room to earth them up, so I cover any that are showing with a mulch of grass clippings or whatever I have to hand so they don't have any green areas because you can't eat that part as it's poisonous. It's a good idea to cover your beds over winter and during the season to help keep the weeds down. I have a pile of rotted farm manure and some mushroom compost (it's cheap too) which I just spread over the soil. Both of these will help to give substance to your sandy soil. The main thing is you're prepared to work hard in the time you have available and you're enjoying it! Good luck with it all.
I work very hard so don't expect me to think as well.

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meriad

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Re: My first year as an allotment owner
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2018, 12:36 »
I've come across the term no-dig a few times and was meant to look it up in details but haven't yet...  will do so now.

When I first cleared the allotment by hand I had a pile of turf that I ran out of energy to dispose of so I put them in a shallow pile and covered them with cardboard to help them break down - worked a charm.

Goosegirl - oops....   :(  the cape gooseberries are already planted straight in the ground.  Anything in particular I should look out for?

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New shoot

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Re: My first year as an allotment owner
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2018, 13:15 »
Goosegirl - oops....   :(  the cape gooseberries are already planted straight in the ground.  Anything in particular I should look out for?

Physalis peruvianna - the edible cape gooseberry - is not hardy in this country, so won't be a problem. 

Physalis alkekengi - the ornamental form, is a perennial and does spread by thickened roots called rhizomes.  This is the one people grow to dry as Chinese Lanterns, but you don't eat it.

Check which you have and go from there  :)

« Last Edit: August 06, 2018, 13:15 by New shoot »



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