[gaztop]

Hi all,

Please can you cast an eye over this novice first plan I have for our new allotment for next year. The whole plot is westerly facing and is in sun from 10am - sunset.

Will the raspberries block the sun from letting the garlic grow? Is there a better position to put it?
The rhubarb, strawberries and raspberries will stay in their positions for a few years but if I rotate the rest of the crop have I made any schooolboy errors?
The fruit bushes at the top already exist and are a mixture of blueberry, gooseberry and blackcurrant.

All replies welcome

[mumofstig]

The only things that hits me in the eye is the space for lettuces. You never need a huge planting at a time, it would be more than anyone can eat.......It's usual to plant a few and then a few more through the season, so they tend to go in gaps or places where you've just harvested something else from.

Likewise leeks, many people put them in when they've lifted their early potatoes - so they don't need a bed of their own 

Are you not growing carrots or cabbage or french/runner beans?

There's an awful lot to think about  ............. I keep altering my plan through winter - and it usually gets changed again when I come to actually plant what I've grown from seed 

[Sparkyrog]

no need for space for radishes they are so fast they fit anywhere 

[Beetroot queen]

Beetroot, lettuce etc look very big spaces. You maybe drowning in beets at that rate, we have one 8x3 foot beet bed and we are harvesting 6lb odd a day most days

[gavinjconway]

A fundemental mistake in my view is.... How do you get from one bed to another etc. without any paths?

I would get a centre pathway minimum of 18" wide then grow your veg in rows like a herring bone cottage garden style.. Then get builders planks as pathways between blocks of your veg. See my pic of mine below.. You need to get between everything to weed etc. If you have little blocks of veg dotted around the place you will get all sorts of veg competing for light etc. as well.

One would normally need more onions than beetroot, pumpkins are creepers so need to be along the fence, you only need 3 courgette plants, too many parsnips and radishes in comparison to other veg...unless you love them!! Lettuce need a small patch and successive planting..

[RookieJim]

How many courgette plants are you planning on having? The are prolific and produce plenty of courgettes on a weekly basis.

I have 2 plants and my family are sick of the site of them already.

[gaztop]

Great, thank you for the comments, re-think during the week!

Less lettuces, beetroot, add french beans, bit more swapping about!

Any thoughts on the position of the raspberries?

I like the idea of growing a variety of soft fruit, any suggestions on what else i can add?

Cheers

[ghost61]

How about currants? Rd and white for eating, black for jam etc? Small fruit trees?

[gaztop]

What about adding a grape vine, would that be an option?

[surbie100]

Tayberries or loganberries are very tasty and can be grown on wires, so they won't take a bed in themselves, but could go along a border perhaps. Or an arch. You can put climbing french beans up structures too - trellis the shed for more growing space?

I bet you find the plan changes a lot before you get things in the ground....!  I put radishes in the furrows of the potatoes this year - not the best plan if you need to earth up more, but they were pretty quick to go in and out. I use beetroot as an inter-cropper too as it's fairly speedy and I don't need an awful lot of them. Are you planning to pickle a lot?

And are you including things like chillies or herbs? Or tomatoes?

[gaztop]

Okay, took the advice on board.
shortened the beetroot, parsnips, radishes and lettuce beds. added a blackberry (or tayberry) and grape vine (?longer term project!)

Added the leeks to replace the first early spuds, and added french beans.

I don't fancy growing carrots or cabbages in the first year. Should have enough space for 3 courgettes.

Is this revised plan good for companion and rotating planting?

Thanks all

[gavinjconway]

Too cluttered with small patches willy nilly... How are you going to get to each bed without standing on another? I'll do a plan and post for you on how I'd do it.

Blackberries / brambles are a weed and grow on fences.
Leeks need to be in long before your spuds are out.
Grape vine - I'd put it in the GH if you had one. Really you dont have space for it..
Pumpkin in a space of about 2x2 will be for 1 only.

[devonbarmygardener]

Its also worth thinking about how you are going to rotate the beds for the following year after?
Having similar sized beds and putting in happy companions makes rotating easier

[gavinjconway]

All taken care of here... You basically have just under a half plot so you can get loads in that. Also just think about growing what YOU want to eat... not what others say you must grow..

Rotations are important so as said above you need similar size blocks to move around.... the important ones are spuds not to follow spuds and the rest are ok if pushed for 2 years each. But its so simple to rotate using colour codes. There is more blue Lugumes and brassicas but don't worry - they can  be spaced anywhere..

Hope you like the more tidy plan.. more workable and just far easier to attend to. As I said above I get builders scaffold planks and place between rows to act as thin pathways so I don't compact the soil between the rows.

Remember all your brassicas need fine netting to stop the dreadded moths and butterflies laying their eggs which turn into mean leaf eating machines!!

[mumofstig]

Too cluttered with small patches willy nilly... How are you going to get to each bed without standing on another? I'll do a plan and post for you on how I'd do it.

not everyone will want to do it your way.
Some people prefer patches of things 

Blackberries / brambles are a weed and grow on fences

  mine are not weeds, I bought them and I planted them there!

Leeks need to be in long before your spuds are out

I don't agree with you there, as i posted above 

many people put them in when they've lifted their early potatoes - so they don't need a bed of their own