Help with my first allotment!

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andy2017

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Help with my first allotment!
« on: May 04, 2017, 09:40 »


Hello

I have just inherited my very first allotment - I am very new to this! I have a bit of experience in gardening but none in terms of 'grow your own'!

As you can see from the image, my allotment will require a fair bit of work and organisation before I can think about growing anything. I am looking for any advise on where to start with my space and what could work well / what will be fairly straightforward to grow etc?

My allotment is in Manchester, England.

Thanks in advance

Andy

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azubah

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Re: Help with my first allotment!
« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2017, 10:26 »
Looks good. Is the poly tunnel yours?

You could put some potatoes in now, clear the weedy bits, get some cabbages started. What do you like to eat?

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andy2017

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Re: Help with my first allotment!
« Reply #2 on: May 04, 2017, 10:39 »
Yes it's a good size plot - the poly tunnel is mine too :)

Potatoes are the main thing I'd like to grow to be honest, good to know I can do that this year.

I plan to clear it all out this weekend, get some sleepers in and tidy it up. I would like to be growing potatoes, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, courgette, cucumber, strawberries, lettuce and onions.

The poly tunnel does have a grape tree in it which I like the idea of but I'm not sure what condition that is in.

Other than clearing out the weeds etc I'm not sure where to start!

Thank you

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I Love Spuds

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Re: Help with my first allotment!
« Reply #3 on: May 04, 2017, 11:22 »
I'd suggest you get a patch cleared and turned over quick and get some spuds in.

Looks like you have a raised bed type thing on the right. You could build up the missing side and fill in with compost and use for carrots. Maybe expensive if you buy the compost, but at least there'll be no stones in it. Carrots like deep soil, free from obstructions.

Your plot looks good  :)
Remember to enjoy it, good luck.

PS - The Article & Advice section on the main site has a wealth of information. Well worth checking it out.
Mike.
"Every time I learn something new, it pushes old stuff out of my brain" Homer J Simpson

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whitehill1

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Re: Help with my first allotment!
« Reply #4 on: May 04, 2017, 12:35 »
Hi,welcome. the plot looks good. make use of polytunnel most in your first year while you clear and prepare the rest. right sode one looks like compost area.  use this compost for planting /earthing up potatos and for planting in the tunnel. just clear small patches for which you can not grow in polytunnel.

all the best

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andy2017

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Re: Help with my first allotment!
« Reply #5 on: May 04, 2017, 13:34 »
Thank you both

Great advise, I will be getting on with that this weekend :)

Thanks again

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Enfield Glen

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Re: Help with my first allotment!
« Reply #6 on: May 04, 2017, 14:48 »
Looks like you landed on your feet. Polly tunnel, raised beds, compost bins, nice paths, weed under 2ft tall......

Most of the unused pots at out site look post apocalyptic!

Good luck.

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8doubles

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Re: Help with my first allotment!
« Reply #7 on: May 04, 2017, 16:51 »
You have a nice  plot there ! Bit of hard graft and the right weather and you will get great veg !

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Urbanite

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Re: Help with my first allotment!
« Reply #8 on: May 04, 2017, 18:28 »
very, very lucky...thats an easy do-er...My first priorities would be to get some spuds in, clear the tunnel and sow/buy some summer stuff to fill it, use the tunnel to its FULL potential by starting off stuff for outside, also start some sweetcorn now(if you like it) and plant out when youv`e cleared the space, I found in my first year watching it grow, kept my motivation up after months of clearing couch,nettles,brambles and old carpet paths,hence sweetcorn is my HAPPY crop.Is that your shed too? :D good luck for the season ahead...little bit,but often.
. . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .

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gobs

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Re: Help with my first allotment!
« Reply #9 on: May 04, 2017, 21:10 »
Dandy. 8)

Yes, I agree. Growing will be much more pleasurable than just clearing. You have not missed anything yet, just about. It's miserably cold. Young vegetable plants are readily available from seed companies and GCs too nowadays. So you can still do the onions too from seedlings if you shop around asap. They can be planted out in May, as the weather warms.

So, I'd say cover everything you can, thickly with compost or manure, many weeds will die and clear the poly and what you can. It seems a nice layout too.

Corg, cuc, beans, you can sow now. I never sow them sooner than May, same with corn. Cabbages there are for every season, so that's fine, too. Potted strawberry plants, that are good to plant now, you can buy in GCs.

The grape pruning is a late job in the year, you can just forget about it and watch it throughout the season. They are very long living plants, so it's likely to be fine. Lettuces are successional sowing things, so any, any time.

Is it the end of your plot, where the wooden shed is? Are the trees on your plot? Where is North? Between the poly and trees, there could be quite a shady area. You might want to move the rhubarb here for next year and plant your strawberries here.

Apart from the nice row of fruit bushes by the path, there could have been a mint and such invasives, herbal containment by the composters, if you like, you might just want to fix that.
"Words... I know exactly what words I'm wanting to say, but somehow or other they is always getting squiff-squiddled around." R Dahl

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goose

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Re: Help with my first allotment!
« Reply #10 on: May 06, 2017, 09:59 »
nice plot!  I wish mine looked like that when I took it over!  you will have it ship shape in no time!

I agree with what others have said re getting some spuds in/using poly tunnel to bring things on until you can clear some beds and the large built up thingy (not sure if it is a raised bed or emptied compost heap), fill it up and sow carrots in there, or if it has been a compost heap previously and you don't want the outlay of filling it up, you could try and plant some pumpkins/squash in there as I have seen really good results doing so.


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Thrutchington

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Re: Help with my first allotment!
« Reply #11 on: May 07, 2017, 18:27 »
Great plot, best to do a bit at a time, don't try and fix the whole plot in one go. It is very easy to grow stuff, I have had mine now for 4 years and have learned loads as I have gone along. Good luck and hope you get plenty of satisfaction from growing your own organic vegetables.


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