[SCassin]

Well been struggling over the last few days to find out who looked after some local allotments as I heard it was a new site and has vacancies.  Managed to speak to the lady today and have had a little look thro the fence lol and they look very nice and ideal for our needs.  I am meeting her on Thursday to go over the plans as to which are available, cost, etc and then I can make my choice.  So excited been years since had an allotment since moving to Wales have grown at home and in tubs due to young family and health.  Im in remission now and kids old enough to enjoy helping - so excited.  Maybe not the best time to motivate kids when winter approaching but looking for suggestions as to what I can start with.  Plot is currently grass as it a mown field lol just marked out.  So thinking of doing a patch and maybe calling it kids corner and let them make their mark - suggestions for September in South Wales (UK) be appreciated 

[Fairy Plotmother]

Well done on finding your allotment. Hope you have fun 

[Nobbie]

Congratulations

I'd recommend overwintering onion sets and garlic as these don't need too much looking after unlike sowing seeds. If its been grass a while you may not want to grow potatoes for a few years until the wireworms have gone. I did this my first year and was very dissappointed that every spud had holes in it. Three years on and very fews holes in my current Desiree maincrops

[SCassin]

I have a veggie plot at home which Im reclaiming from raspberries lol and hoping to use that for spuds next year - keep the allotment for what I would call the nicer veg, carrots, lettuce, runners etc but obviously have all the excitement now and want to keep kids interested so ok I will get some sets never grown onions before other than spring onions.  Garlic would be fab we eat loads of that and I use lots in my pasta sauces and chutneys - cool - thanks

[Yorkie]

Might be an idea to add your general location to your forum profile so we can remember whereabouts you are 

If it's just grass at the moment, now's a good time to start clearing it (you might find the weather gets a bit muddy into the New Year).

If you do manage to get some bits cleared, then overwintering onions or garlic would be worth trying.

If you choose to grow spuds next year, beware of the high risk of wireworm infestation - it's often there for the first few years after grassland has been clear.

[Welsh Merf]

Congratulations

I'd recommend overwintering onion sets and garlic as these don't need too much looking after unlike sowing seeds. If its been grass a while you may not want to grow potatoes for a few years until the wireworms have gone. I did this my first year and was very dissappointed that every spud had holes in it. Three years on and very fews holes in my current Desiree maincrops

Sorry, but I have to disagree here! I got my plot last October, and at the time it was grass and weeds - never been grown on before. I marked out my plots, dug them over, and covered them with horse manure over winter. In the spring of this year I rotovated, and the first crop I planted were potatoes. I have just finished harvesting my 1st and 2nd earlies (Red Duke of York, Pentland Javelin, and Maris Peer). I took them to the landlady of my "local" who was a MAFF qualified potato grader and QA grader, and she told me that they were fantastic, especially the Red Duke of Yorks. I have just handed over my first maincrop plant (Desiree), and I will get her "judgement" on those tomorrow........fingers crossed!!!

[Yorkie]

Feel free to disagree, Welsh Merf 

However, whatever your own experience, we have seen numerous threads on here where people have grown spuds on a newly cultivated plot and have encountered this problem to their great disappointment.  If people are warned that it may happen, they can take preventative steps or at least be prepared for the possible outcome.

[BobE]

Others have suggested to me (DBG was one) to try Autum sown broad beans.
This was the suggested planting way...
End of October :
Aquadulce Claudia’ AGM: Long pods. Can be sown in spring or autumn. Plant 80 seeds at 6" spacing.
If you get a 6 foot by 4 foot bed ready thats 8 rows of 10 seeds per row.
Im going to try this this year.

[TheWhiteRabbit]

SCassin - how old are your kids?

We took our plot over last September - the first trip to do some work was a disaster, they were bored within 30 mins and we got nothing done (mine are 2 and 5) so we got a playhouse from Freecycle and that kept (keeps) them amused for longer stints.

In terms of growing...raspberries, raspberries, strawberries, raspberries and maybe some blueberries! If your kids are like mine, they'll eat their own weight in berries. There probably isn't much specifically you can grow now other than salad type crops. Pak Choi seem to grow ridiculously fast, so those might help.

[Mr Dog]

Congrats to you! I know how excited you must be as I hopefully get the key for mine tomorrow (Royal Mail permitting!). It's overrun with 'fat hen' so I'm hoping the old petrol strimmer will still fire up otherwise I'm off to buy a scythe. Apparently the last holder kept hens and didn't grow anything - it should be well manured

[Sparkyrog]

Congrats to you! I know how excited you must be as I hopefully get the key for mine tomorrow (Royal Mail permitting!). It's overrun with 'fat hen' so I'm hoping the old petrol strimmer will still fire up otherwise I'm off to buy a scythe. Apparently the last holder kept hens and didn't grow anything - it should be well manured

fat hen pulls easily 

[Yorkie]

(and is edible  )

[diospyros]

My previous experience of growing veg is by double digging beds into established lawns and simply turning the turf upside down into the bottom of the trench, so one spit deep.  My thinking is that the shorter a plant is, the shorter its roots will be.  So if I inherited a grassed over allotment I would be asking for time to mow it to get the sward short and tight so I could use this method again. Or possibly cutting removing and stacking turf, but not digging or rotovating and trying to pull all the little bits out - ugh! Also, both times no problem with growing spuds straight away.

[Yorkshire Lass]

Congratulations on getting your new plot, I got mine this week and it is rather exciting 

[SCassin]

My daughters are 9 and 12 so a lot easier to get to help and keep entertained than little ones.  One wants to be a farmer when she grows up (mmm) and loves anything to do with helping in the garden, with the animals, etc so should be easy to motivate.  The other wants to travel the world and would rather spend time on her ipod etc so as long as she has signal if she doesn't want to help I think a deckchair and her phone will be enough lol.  Only time will tell and Im planning on choosing a plot not to large that its scarey