I'm not sure if this is the correct place for this post so please accept my apologies if it is the wrong place! I just took on a starter plot recently - approximately 12m x 3m. It was covered in weeds and I have managed to clear them, hoe the new sprouts, and double dug the plot pulling up any couch grass roots I could find (interestingly this bit was relatively therapeutic!).
As I was getting closer to finishing the digging over of my plot a chap came over and asked me if I was going to leave it like this over winter to kill the bugs etc (as apparently my neighbour, an ex farm hand does), or if I am going to start planting now. The first option hadn't crossed my mind as I thought I would start planting as soon as I could, seed type permitting etc. He told me that the guy who had my plot before was "in the business" and I was lucky as it had good soil thanks to him.
Should I be planting, letting it sit as it is over the winter or is there something else I should be doing? I read somewhere else about putting some manure over it too.
I also found a bunch of potatoes of various varieties in the soil. If I leave these in will they grow next season, or will they compost? They were spread throughout the plot so if they will grow I may have to dig a few more up as I don't want just a potato plot!
We have running water between April and the end of september, so is it necessary to have a water butt? Most plots do, but I think that is historical as my understanding is that the allotment site only put in the running water in the last 12-18 months.
Finally, I wonder if someone might be able to help me work out how many crop types we could realistically and sensibly expect to plant on a patch of this size? There are only two of us so we don't need huge amounts of any particular veg, but I would like to try planting a variety of veg, e.g. Corn, beans, Courgettes, radishes, Carrots, potatoes, raspberries - and we have a potted red falstaff tree in our garden that we are thinking of replanting in the allotment where it could thrive a bit more.
In case it helps here is a picture, and you can just see my neighbour on the right who is leaving their plot over winter. On the left hand side you can see our other neighbour who also has the one towards the back - they started in the same position as me with that patch and have already planted stuff but still have a lot of weeds re-sprouting.
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