[Jasonc642]

Hey guys and gals I'm hopefully getting my 1st allotment on Tuesday and am just wondering what's the 1st thing I should be doing, I've have past expierence with helping my grandad on a plot so I sort of know what to do but I've never started one up myself, I'm also new to this site so hi I'm Jason 19 and live in the north east of England so any help would be great thanks )

[Yorkie]

Welcome to the site Jason and congrats on your new lotty when you get it 

If you click your username you can edit your forum profile to show your general location.  It's very useful for us to know whereabouts you are when discussing growing stuff.

At this time of year I'd spend it planning, digging if it's not too soggy or frozen, and general preparation work.

Get a good seed catalogue and discover that you'll only have room to grow about 50% of all the packets you're interested in!

If you click on the Growing Help link just underneath the top banner, there's lots of useful articles including clearing and planning the plot.

Oh, and put a spade and fork on your prezzie list for the big day in 2 weeks time 

[lmpd]

Hi Jason and welcome - and congrats on your plot, it's great to see someone so young taking on an allotment. Why not post a couple of pics, it'll make an interesting before and after - plus it'll make giving a bit of advice easier!!!
 

[LilacSandy]

Hi Jason,

Try chatting to the guys on the allotment, they will give you great advice on what does particularly well on your soil and the best varieties to chose for the first year.

[clairebeau]

Hi Jason!  Welcome to the site.
I'm a newbie too so I can't offer much advice apart from planning. If you can get hold of a long enough tape measure your plot, make a list of whats in there already, what you fancy keeping and get rid of. Take LOADS of photos and spend these dark evenings making wish lists, drawings and plans of what you fancy doing over the coming years.
How fantastic that you're young and so keen!  I have 2 sons who are half your age and 1 is really interested in gardening so our new plot is to encourage him for the future really...I look forward to seeing how you get along with your patch and wish you lots of success.
How about keeping a diary on here?  I've started one and I hope to use it as encouragement for myself and look back on what we've achieved, and to remind me that it's not a race and nature has her own way of doing things.

[Carrot Man]

Hi Jason and welcome
I am newish to the site also and from what I see so far, it's a really good group of people on here with some sound advise
Don't ever be afraid to ask a question if you don't know something
We don't all know everything
A question is never a silly one if you don't know the answer
Good luck

[Christine]

Get a selection of simple books so that you can grapple with the basics over the really bad weather. Knowledge is important.

Make a list of things that you like to eat that are reasonably simple to grow for the first season whilst you learn about your plot.

Talk to the neighbours to see what they have to say about the soil and stuff that does well there.

Take any good weather in the next couple of months to get the allotment cleared of any rubbish that is there and dig up any obnoxious weeds such as couch grass.

[Jasonc642]

Thanks guys you all seem canny ) I'll try and put all the information on when a get home and drawing plans sounds good ) and yeh am glad you all don't think us young ones are yobs ) but I've been brainy up with allotments in my life so you it's always been something I've wanted to do, But yeh I'll try and keep things ipdated and posted for yous ) what would people say is a good thing to start off?? I was personally think potatoes, runner beans, onions, cabage, carrota and if theres a greenhouse tomatoes. And what's fruit like to grow cause I like my fruit? ) also I'm thinking about getting hens cause my grandad had them, but I don't know what to do really so thanks peeps yous all seem kind and helpfull )

[Yorkie]

Oh you're an oldie compared to some of the members on here 

[Janeymiddlewife]

Hi Jason, your list looks good to start with - bottom line is what do you like to eat? 
You'll need to check whether you can keep chickens or not, also whether you can plant trees (ie fruit trees) or not - every site has different rules. If you like rhubarb, it's worth asking if anyone is going to divide an old clump and might give you some to plant. Raspberries and currants can go in this time of year - you can pay a fortune for them, but a lot of fruit will grow from "cuttings" if you can persuade people to donate you any. 
You can grow cherry tomatoes outside in pots or open ground if there's not a greenhouse, but you will need to start them off indoors and gradually get them used to outside temperatures.
Potatoes are easy but need a fair bit of room, cabbages will need netting against pigeons; runner beans are allegedly easy, but I've never had much luck, do better with mangetoute (easy peasy) and french beans - but you'll always find some things you can grow and some things you can't. Sweetcorn is also fairly easy and tastes great - you'll find a lot of info on this site too - happy growing!

[Goosegirl]

Good for you - I would, like others have said, to dig in as much compost, manure, grit (depending on your soil type) so it can over-winter. Meanwhile, choose a small selection of seeds to plant next year - don't go overboard - D.T.Brown are good and do seeds without P+P. I would recommend just growing a few of the veg you plan to, in case not all succeed, then you haven't lost too much ground and effort. How big is your plot, how sheltered are you and what is your soil like? Peas do take up a lot of room, but I grow sugar snaps as you can harvest them, eat or freeze, or leave them to mature as peas. Grow just a few pots - get them loose from a garden centre or a small packet of a type that suit what you want them for. This is your trial year and just go for it!!

[catweazle]

am glad you all don't think us young ones are yobs )

i know what you mean, im 23 and most of the oldies on our site thought i was there to nick the scrap.

my top tip (and i know some will disagree) is dont be afraid of using weed killer if its overgrown

good luck

[Carrot Man]

That is a very wise thing to say for a person so young but yes I agree
There are too many people on my allotment who come in and think they are going to be 100% green and then end up with an unmanageable jungle because they haven't been able to control the weeds while in there dream world

Also so many people think it's a part time hobby to pop down when you want to.
I am down every Saturday and even then it's not really enough to stay on top of things

Learn from the old boys as they have so much experience to share
That is if you can get them to share it with you, as the people on my plot hate to share secrets

[catweazle]

thanks,

i wouldnt have been able to clear mine inside a year without weed killer, what with work I only have evenings and weekends (many times i found myself parking the car faceing down the plot so i could use the headlights to see where i was digging)

many thanks catweazle

[Jasonc642]

Good news people I have a plot conferemed but the bad news is a wont be able to get it till after January but atlest it's conferemed ) good times