[mickwood]

Hi Guys!

I've been posting on the chicken forum for a while now and have dabbled in growing stuff in the garden in the very limited borders we have as well as some toms/chilli's in the lean to.

I've had my name down for an allotment for...ooh....18 months or more and basically resigned myself to the fact that I would get one when hell froze over but.....today I got one!!! 


2 days before my birthday - great present!

I've NEVER seriously grown stuff, NEVER had a vegetable patch or allotment and well....where do I start??


I've been told the lotty is cleared so I guess I just need to prepare the soil and I was thinking just dig in some horse manure and turn the whole thing over? (Although the previous owner apparently kept animals on there so is there any issue that could cause me? (He kept geese and a pig)

Do I need to plan what I'm gonna grow? I've heard about people 'rotating crops'? but I just don't know where to start?

Sorry for all the questions but hey...I'm new...I'm keen and I'm a happy happy lotty owner!!

Cheers

Mick

[lucywil]

that's great news, good time of year to be starting too.

i'd get down there and see just how much or little work needs doing and then decide what you want to grow

[Mike.white]

First bit of advice....... buy yourself John's new book....

(I'm not on commission, honest!!)

Oh, and remember - now lotty - we want pictures when you've been to have a look!!!

[alfman]

 Congrats Mickwood, what a birthday present. What I suggest you do is go down and have a look and measure your plot, then sit down with a pen and paper and write down all the vegies and fruit you and your family love to eat. Next thing is plan what your want to grow and plan where your going to grow it. That way you won't run out of room when your half way through your list. You'll probably do what most of us do and learn as you go along. Everyone here will help. Best of luck.

[peapod]

to add to what everyone else says, there may be fruit trees/rhubarb/apsparagus bed etc that is already there and you may want to keep. That may change your plot plans.  Decide as said before what you want to grow and eat, then check the info pages on this site and ask away when youve decided what you want to grow
Congrats!!

[Elcie]

Excellent news, well done.  I remember how excited I was when I got my plot in July last year.  Still loving every minute of it.  Well, maybe not the weeding!

[Jay Dubya]

Hi, another good book is Dr. Hessayon's vegetable expert, very informative and very easy to follow. I wouldn't mind a pound for everyone who started with this book.

[teflon]

Hi, another good book is Dr. Hessayon's vegetable expert, very informative and very easy to follow. I wouldn't mind a pound for everyone who started with this book.
[/quote  I ordered this book a few days ago from amazon. About £4 i think.

[mickwood]

Thought I best get the 'before' pictures posted! Not many weeds and stuff but LOADS of rubbish to clear



And just LOOK what someone left here (Not sure if they're coming back to collect it?)

[woodburner]

Flippin' 'eck what was it like before they cleared it then? 
Good job they didn't put the broody coop on the fire!
I hate clearing grass, couch or otherwise, so I'd cover the grassy bits with cardboard or black plastic, and start forking over the barer areas. (I don't do digging) The soil should be quite good from the animal droppings so I wouldn't worry too much about manure this year, though if you can't find a source of FYM, you might want to think about growing some green manure(s).

[mickwood]

I'd cover the grassy bits with cardboard or black plastic, and start forking over the barer areas. (I don't do digging) The soil should be quite good from the animal droppings so I wouldn't worry too much about manure this year, though if you can't find a source of FYM, you might want to think about growing some green manure(s).

So, if I cover the grass it will die so it won't need clearing? I could dig it over straight away? Won't it just grow back and cause more problems, like weeds? (sorry I am a novice - completely and utterly! lol!)

and...FYM?...Farm Yard Manure? I can get hold of well rotted horse manure for next year 

[DD.]

Pleased you got your plot, Mick.

Doesn't it beggar belief that with so many on waiting lists councils let plots degenerate into such a state?

[Yorkie]

Grass does eventually die under cover - but if it's couch grass (thin long white roots like piano wire) then it will take a year or more.  I think it unlikely you will get away without any digging, especially as the ground will need to be prepared at least in the first year.

Before you start digging, try to make a rough plan of what you want to grow where.  You might want to consider leaving permanent planting until the end of the season / start of next, so that you have a year of seeing what the drainage, sun, soil etc is like. 

Then decide what needs to go in first e.g. spuds.  Clear that bit first, get them in, and move on to the next bit.  Make sure you cover up or weedkiller all weeds soon or they'll become triffids.

Yes, FYM is as you say - just check before you get it that the horses weren't fed on grass which had been treated with the herbicide aminopyralid or whose silage was made from hay treated with the stuff when green.  Causes all sorts of problems if it is contaminated.

[mickwood]

Remember when Birthdays involved drinking, loud music, making  fool out of yourself and public nudity?


Oooh those days are long gone...

[Parsnip]

You don't look too impressed Mick 

Having just seen the state of your lottie when you first got it I'm never going to moan about weeds again!! ( well not strictly true)

That's shocking  Good on you for taking it on.