[Tigerhair]

If, as I am hoping, I get my new allotment toward the end of next summer, what are the things you would plant first - i.e asparagus, fruit, etc?  What would you recommend?....

[Steve.P]

Hi Tigerhair,

Not sure what size your plot will be but if you have the room, and the soil condition is right, the choice is yours.  Asparagus is a long term vegetable, that will take a few years to get established, so you may wish to plan where it goes carefully, as well as the fruit. Not sure what the rules will be on your site. On ours, trees are not allowed, only bushes. You say that it might be the end of the summer when a plot becomes available. This would mean that winter veg will be your best bet.

[Poolfield2]

If you want to do asparagus, you could save money by planting it as seed this year and it will be ready to plant out when the plot is dug and ready and WEED FREE. I grew from seed and I got more than half the seeds to be productive adult plants and it was a huge sense of achievement as well as cheaper, I didn't have access to a greenhouse at the time and so just started them off on a window sill.

Good luck with the lottie.

[richyrich7]

Depends on the condition of the plot IMHO until you know that then it can be difficult to plan, asparagus and fruits will need good weed free soil for them to grow best. I'd be starting with the standard autumn/winter fare onions garlic etc and plan from there.

[pushrod]

if it has been a vacant/unused plot i would start with manure and a big black plastic sheet  

[Ygerna]

Potatoes.

Get the ground free of weeds, dig it over, plant the spuds, bank them up, and then dig them up when needed. A great way to prep the area AND still get something out of it too.  

[Tigerhair]

Currently it's been a grassed field used for hay for years.  That's about it!

[DD.]

Potatoes.

Get the ground free of weeds, dig it over, plant the spuds, bank them up, and then dig them up when needed. A great way to prep the area AND still get something out of it too.  

If, as I am hoping, I get my new allotment toward the end of next summer,

Not in summer though!

[richyrich7]

Currently it's been a grassed field used for hay for years.  That's about it!

Dig it over, bury the turves upside down if you have to deal with them, chances are you could have wireworms in the soil they seem to like grassland. By digging it over you will let the birds and other wildlife at any pests in the soil. Then in spring you can plant what you like.

[woodburner]

Hay meadows are low in fertility, get as much manure as you can, and forget about carrots and parsnips for the first year.

[johndf1]

If you cannot get it until the end of next summer then I would suggest that you dig it over then put in a green manure crop of ryegrass.  This makes a mass of grass to dig in towards the end of the winter.   With two diggings you should be able to get rid of most of the perennial weeds like couch grass then you are ready for planting - probably potatoes as a first crop.  Maybe you could include with the grazing rye some winter tares as well to fix nitrogen.  I would not bother with asparagus until you are sure that you have no couch grass etc left.

[Christine]

I'm with johndf1 - it's no good planting things till the soil is right as that is just a waste of effort in obtaining things.

You could well spend time getting supplies of well rotted manure and compost lined up so that when you get onto the site you have all the supplements you need to get the soil into the best state possible.

Strawberries need to be second year to crop so the sooner you can get an area cleared and these in the better - but john is right about getting rid of all the couch grass. Also it is advisable to add plenty of well rotted manure and/or compost to ensure that the soil is rich enough for them to get a good start. The same preparation goes for herb beds.

I've found it's certainly worth building raised beds for these items so you can get on with the construction and soil preparation as soon as you get on site.