Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Welcome => Welcome to the Forums => Topic started by: DiggerDog on December 03, 2021, 21:21
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Hello. I put my name on the waiting list for our local allotments a little while back, the idea being that nothing would crop up until I'd jacked in work in a year or two time. But guess what? Yep, as from today I'm now the proud custodian of a (very overgrown and pretty derelict) allotment.
My half-baked plan is to spend this year just clearing it, sorting beds (and covering with black plastic?) and getting some basics in place - a shed, etc. Next year I hope to have knocked working for a living on the head so I can get started properly.
Anyway, I haven't got much of a clue really so will likely make a few howlers to keep you all entertained.
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Welcome to the site and congrats on your new lotty :D
Good time of year to get planning - just think of all the gardening items and books you can put on your Christmas list!!
It may be worth double checking what the expectations are from the site managers for your first year. On our site, even for the most overgrown plots, we'd expect to see some cultivation during that year - with the rest of the plot under control (covered, etc). If they've said you can spend the year making initial progress, that's fine - but check first so there's no mixed expectations!
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Welcome to the forum and good luck with the new plot :)
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Hi and welcome :)
There are quite a few crops that will cope with a less than perfect plot and still grow, despite a few weeds, so it should be easy to meet any minimum cultivation rules. Come back and ask once you have made some inroads into the jungle :)
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Hi and welcome from me too.. when you get a new (usually overgrown) allotment it can be quite daunting on where to start, what to grow etc, but if you follow the age old adage of slowly, slowly wins the race, you'll get there!
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good luck with the new adventure why not try getting a small section ready to grow next spring with
something that you and your family like to eat this will keep everyone else on site happy and give
you literally a taste of what is to come good luck with your retirement.
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Thanks everyone for the good wishes. I've spent a couple of hours there this weekend and have cleared rubbish ready to take to the skip (so much of it! Rotten plant pots, empty plastic compost bags, old pallets, broken plastic compost bins...) and have had a good walk around.
The site is very uneven and bumpy (under the weeds) with old, collapsed raised beds. I'm minded once it's clear and weeds killed off to rotavate the whole thing, just to get it level?
I like the idea of getting a small section going this springtime. Good call!
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If the empty plastic compost bags are relatively intact (other than the opening at the top), I'd suggest keeping onto them. They are useful for putting weeds into if you need to take tip trips at a later date
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If you do cover any of it with plastic etc, consider applying a thick mulch of well rotted manure under the plastic or membrane(which would be better as it lets the rain through), then when you are ready to uncover & plant your soil will be in good condition & fertile.
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Thanks everyone, very helpful.
I spent a couple of hours today bagging up all the rubbish I'd collected together and taking it to the skip. Looks a bit clearer now but some serious weeds and brambles to tackle next.
Question: what would you all say is the best way to source a load of manure??
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i go to our local stables the owner said i am welcome to take as much as i want i have been going for a few years now i have just finished covering all beds at allotment and beds at home next will be mix for tomato
buckets i think you would be welcome at your local livery yard transport can be an issue good luck.
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Just make sure you double check with the manure supplier whether any herbicide has been used on the grass that the animals ate, or on their bedding. Some of these can affect plants through the manure they go into.
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All now cleared with a brush cutter. Still digging out bramble roots. Satisfying. I've got 10 pallets to collect tomorrow and I'm going to build a hoofing great compost bin thing.
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...but it's been so blooming rainy. I now have 10 pallets on the plot ready, but the place is like a bog. I've decided to stop paddling about in it. With a bit of luck we'll get a few dry days before the weekend and I'll build my monster compost bins on Saturday.
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Hello & welcome.
A couple of random thoughts.
I don't like rotavators, they kill worms, they damage the natural soil structure & every time they chop a weed root in half that's two weeds you've got. Your soil fertility & structure will be great under there somewhere. If you can dig the worst roots out then cover it that would be the best way of getting going.
Hard to imagine at the moment but you need to get water from somewhere. Does the site have mains water? If not you need to plan something.
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Thanks, Coldandwindy (name anything to do with your location by chance?) I will pause to think about the rotavator for a bit. Good news is I have a tap 20 feet away from the plot. Hooray!
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...but it's been so blooming rainy. I now have 10 pallets on the plot ready, but the place is like a bog. I've decided to stop paddling about in it. With a bit of luck we'll get a few dry days before the weekend and I'll build my monster compost bins on Saturday.
Yes always a good plan to stay off the ground when it’s sodden
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Greetings DiggerDog! I like your chosen name because I used to have a dachshund that we nicknamed DiggerDog (for the usual reasons).
If you cut and suppress weeds (black plastic) on some smaller areas now, you may be able to get something growing on those when the weather warms a bit. As others have suggested, see what your allotment folks require.
Good luck!
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I have a Westie, hence Diggerdog for me too. :-)
Right - I've built 3 compost bins from the pallets and started to fill them, and through a friend of a friend I'm off to collect a boot-full of sheep poo at the weekend to mix in as I go. I've also bought a pile of fence posts and wire netting to replace the collapsed fence between me and the neighbours plot (with one very happy neighbour to boot!)
Cor - a lot going on seeing as I've not supposed to have started yet!
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Belated welcome Diggerdog ! . Sounds like you are getting on well , good to hear you have your bins up and running . I find three bins great for a continuous supply of compost. Sheep poo , good stuff !! :)
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A new plot is a nightmare and a dream all in one! Welcome to the 'allotment effect'!
When I started mine 2 years ago I built a perennial weed bin, I screw bolted 4 pieces of corrugated tin together to make a solid bin, lobbed the clods in that and then covered it with a builder bag to keep the light and rain out.
It is now dry dust and I'll be throwing it back on the plot. Reason being is that dumping weeds to the corporation is removing a layer of good topsoil.
I get Digestate from a local energy plant but local horse owners are only too glad to get rid of manure which is usually more straw than anything. I also built three compost bins but used used plastic pallets as they wont deteriorate (they cost £6 each)
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Making progress!
The fences are now replaced, and six beds marked out and covered 6 weeks ago which have now been dug over. I've also prepared a base ready for a shed. Meanwhile, just to get started I've got some seed potatoes chitting back home and some squash seedlings coming along nicely! :D
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Well, I ended up doing far more than I'd planned this year - just couldn't resist.
I've been harvesting sweetcorn, cucumbers, lettuce, potatoes, spinach (what a great crop!) and herbs (basil and parsley), and I've got loads of butternut squash coming on nicely as well as some leeks looking good. I had a few drawf french beans from a couple of plants given to me by a plot neighbour. I think I'll grow more of those next year. And I'll try peas too.
So, mostly a success - just a couple of minor failures including spring onions (sparse and pathetic-looking) and bulb fennel (having no bulbs to speak of yet.)
Over winter, I'm planning to build a lean-to greenhouse against my shed, then chillis it is!