[alexroyall85]

Evening all

Just taken o  a new allotment of 1/4 an acre. Now planning out what to go where. Any ideas for space fillers?

Thank you in advance

Alex

[mumofstig]

Squash, courgettes and pumpkins fill a space quickly

[Yorkie]

What do you like to eat?!

[alexroyall85]

Was thinking about asparagus and maybe some fruits trees plus chickens

[Fairy Plotmother]

Welcome in! Take it slow and easy is my advice.

[New shoot]

An orchard area would be a good idea.  You could have a nice little collection of trees that could keep you in top fruit.  I would also consider building a fruit cage and planting a load of soft fruit.  A clump of rhubarb, a row or two of raspberries and a strawberry bed would also be high on my list.

Asparagus are a great crop, but they do need a lot of soil preparation.  Establishing a decent bed would pay dividends in years to come.  Other perennial veg to consider would be globe artichokes and seakale, which are also delicacies 

Chickens are great fun, but will destroy everything you plant, so they will need an enclosed coop and run somewhere on the plot.  As they are on a plot, rather than at home, make sure it is really secure and consider an automatic pop hole opener and closed, to make sure they are safe at night.

Other annual veg that fill space quickly with little faff are squash, courgettes and pumpkins as mumofstig says, potatoes, big leafy greens like perpetual spinach and chard, cabbage and purple sprouting broccoli, peas and beans, sweetcorn, outdoor cucumber and bush tomatoes.

Potatoes would be the first in and you would need to be quick to grab some seed spuds now, but you could start sowing the rest bit by bit, depending on what facilities you have for this.  If you haven't got a greenhouse at home, a plastic covered growhouse and a cold frame would be be useful.  Some of these will need netting against butterflies and birds (basically all the brassicas and the peas) but again, you have time to sort this out 

[3759allen]

take a breath and think and plan, then think and plan plenty more times.

if the plot is clear now i would do potatoes and squash as suggested, and any annual plants that you like.

any space you don't use then weed, mulch and cover until next year.

structures, permanent plants and livestock are a long term thing and you want to do it right from the word go. take this year to see where you get the sun and wind, if you have dry and wet area's, and if the soil varies through the plot.

i tend to have my best thoughts and ideas when i'm no where near the garden, it's surprising what comes to you when your not thinking of something and there's no time pressure.

[Raf]

Some good advice's here already.

I would just add that from my experience (having 180 sq m) do general plan and start as small as possible just to get feel how much time it takes to weed and take care of the plot properly with the time you have.

It is better to have smaller area that you can maintain and utilize properly, usually you will have much more harvest this way as well and less frustration.

If you are not in hurry I wouldn't even grow anything this year but sheet mulch as much area as you can or at least for your veggie beds (that's what I did last summer when I took the plot), this will smother weeds and next spring you will have fewer perennial weeds here and there to clear off. This will also give you time to prepare plan of the beds, crop rotation, where the fruit bushes/trees will go and how you will look after them going forward.

[sunshineband]

That is a massive allotment alex, so lots of room to play with. There have been some excellent suggestions for space fillers already, but my personal priorities would be to plan an orchard area as bare rooted trees are still available and are much more economical, plan a soft fruit area and include Autumn fruiting (primocane) raspberries are they grow with no faff and will give you a  crop later this year, and plant potatoes: seed potatoes in good condition are still on sale, but not for much longer.

[fatbelly]

As sunshine band says 1/4 acre is a really big plot.
Get your Spuds and Onion sets in ASAP. But after that take your time. I've planted Spuds and Onions at the end of April on 1 previous occasions and they were fine but no later than this month for a good crop.

[fatbelly]

And one other piece of advise keep on top of the weeds. Hoe them every time you go the plot.
I ensure that each visit I set aside 20 minutes solely for hoeing regardless of what other jobs I have set myself.

In my experience its the weeds particularly in July that dishearten most people and cause them to give up.

[Yorkie]

If you are not in hurry I wouldn't even grow anything this year but sheet mulch as much area as you can or at least for your veggie beds

This is a risky strategy depending on your local rules. On our site, you'd get a warning letter if you simply covered and left it completely ungardened for a year.  We want to see steady progress, however small each step is.

And one other piece of advise keep on top of the weeds. Hoe them every time you go the plot.
I ensure that each visit I set aside 20 minutes solely for hoeing regardless of what other jobs I have set myself.

In my experience its the weeds particularly in July that dishearten most people and cause them to give up.

Absolutely.  Cover up (not carpet), weedkill, dig, strim - whatever floats your boat but don't let the grass grow under your feet or it rapidly wins that battle