[smkirk]

Today a friend and i agreed to take over a rundown allotment. We have no experience and little time but big plans! Where do we start.

[John]

Hello and welcome - tempted to ask if you've considered psychiatriic help
I wrote a little article on clearing a new allotment in the information section which might help you and there have been a few discussions on this forum recently about what you can plant now.
What's your site like? How long's it been vacant? The more info we have, the better advice we can give.

[frances]

Good Luck

I started my allotment in May - luckily it wasn't too over grown.  Weeding and keeping it down is the hardest thing for us so far.

You will enjoy it once you have started. I got a really good book called the allotment handbook by caroline foley from play.com and it had got loads of tips on how to start and what to plant up etc.

[Oliver]

New allotment - Welcome and good luck. You will find it a great joy. Just take it slowly, you will not be able to do a lot all in one go so just dig a nice bit and plant stuff that will yield this season to give you a boost.
salad stuffs for starters - mixed leaves - they hatch quickly and there is still plenty of time.
Runner beans - they can also go in now - if you can start them off in the warmth of the house, so much the better
The worst part about an allotment is keeping on top of the weeds! They are determined to grow and keep you busy, but eventually, as you get the perenniels out, it is easier to deal with the annuals. Of course its very easy to lie on the shed roof and watch them!

[Celtic Eagle]

Good Luck from the Eagle, I took over my Allotment in April very overgrown even more now the weeds have grown. But I have about a quarter of it working now.  Pick the clearest area and work on that it will seem so satisfying and inspire you to the rest. Then hire an industrial strength strimmer and chop the rest down then stack it up and let it rot . At least then you can see the rest of the ground and you only have roots to worry about. Good Luck and welcome to the mad house

[basketcase]

Hi sm!  

Does this stand for sado-masochist?!  I've been working my plot since just before Christmas and thought that was hard enough to clear.  Having got back to the plot on Friday after more or less a week off due to a chest infection, I've seen what can happen in a short time.  You have my sympathy.

Not been on the site here for long, but everybody's really helpful and friendly.

[ang]

Took on our allotment at end of April. It was completely overgrown with weeds. We decided to just to do half the allotment and get that ready to use and leave the other half to do when we had time. OH strimmed all the weeds down etc and then we began to dig. We have cheated a bit and put some of the weed suppressent (don't think its spelt right) material down on some of the other half of the allotment that we're not going to get round to yet. It is hard work so don't overface yourself with wanting to get it all done if you're not going to be able to do it. We stacked all the cuttings let it dry and then burnt it. We've put plenty of potatoes in as we were told that they're really good for clearing the ground. I think there's still time to plant potatoes but I'm not an expert I'm sure someone will give you advice. There are still weeds coming thru but keep pulling them by hand.  Happy digging.

[mixdiver]

Just taken delivery of my patch too - have had it nearly 2 weeks! and am aching all over whith the digging - have invested in a petrol strimmer to get rid of the bramles etc,etc, It is a great form of therapy and keeps me away from the tv at night

Good luck

Mixdiver