hi

growman · « **on:** February 07, 2010, 20:31 »

Helo not sure where i should start as i am new, also new to the allotment game.
What is the most important thing to remember whilst on the allotment?

My grandad has just handed his allotment over to me, i wish to start being self sufficient but dont want to follow his tactics as his veg was not realy successfull. i hope one day to show veg at the local show,possible awards i hope anyway, could do with some tips.
Thanks in advance.

min200 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 07, 2010, 20:35 »

Hello Growman and welcome to the site!!

Now thats a really open question so be prepared for the ocean of answers!! I would say just plan and rotate well. Keep putting goodness back into the ground

digalotty · « **Reply #2 on:** February 07, 2010, 20:41 »

now is the time to buy some seed potatoes and start chitting them wile your gathering infi and deciding how to divide your plot and if you can get some rotted down manure on there great

growman · « **Reply #3 on:** February 07, 2010, 20:48 »

Thanks for the welcome most kind.
thanks too for the tips, please excuse this question but what is (chitting)?my apologies as i dont know that phrase.

Im good for rotting comp as the allotment owners have a huge pile at the bottom of the allotments, apparently we pay a one off fee from the farmer for the year, so no problems there.

The old addage put back into the ground sounds good to me, my grandad has always thrown his veg he didnt use back into the ground,i shall follow his example,least he got that right. thank you for the tips.

DavidT · « **Reply #4 on:** February 07, 2010, 20:49 »

Good evening Growman and welcome to the site. There is one very important rule when it comes to gardening. Never take out more than you put in. This means, don`t forget to keep your soil fertile, feed the ground, not the plant.

growman · « **Reply #5 on:** February 07, 2010, 20:57 »

Thank you david, i will do that.
Eventually i want to grow for show as i said,i have grown before but not in an allotment.was a small greenhouse, but i have to say it feels good once you have grown something from seed,all the way through watching it develop, then eat it.
Self sufficiency would be good but thats some time off i think, untill i am successfull with the allotment, cant wait tbh.

digalotty · « **Reply #6 on:** February 07, 2010, 21:03 »

chitting is when you put potatoes into a cool but light place and they take about 6 weeks to grow shoots, just ready to go in the ground.
if you use the search at the top for info you will find allsorts of helpfull info

growman · « **Reply #7 on:** February 07, 2010, 21:17 »

Thanks digalotty.
My grandad says bone meal(i think thats it) is realy good for the ground,but i want my ground clean and fre from pesticides,is it a pesticide?
He says its crushed chicken bones,doesnt sound too good to use that.

digalotty · « **Reply #8 on:** February 07, 2010, 21:24 »

well its not a chemical and does feed the soil

growman · « **Reply #9 on:** February 07, 2010, 21:27 »

Thanks again, PHEW!

Aidy · « **Reply #10 on:** February 07, 2010, 21:57 »

Best advice I could give is talk to the other plot holders, get an idea what grows well and what doesn't, always feed the soil and plenty of hard graft.

Edit: Nearly forgot, hellooo and welcome.

growman · « **Reply #11 on:** February 07, 2010, 22:21 »

Thank you Aidy.

Togalosh · « **Reply #12 on:** February 10, 2010, 18:31 »

Hiya,

I'd say get a few good books (that's tricky in itself), see where your Dad was going wrong (if you think he was) & start to put things right. ..but if he was growing food rather than an ornament then he may well have been doing well. There's 100's of tricks to growing show veg..I'd bet they are closely guarded secrets mind !

Chitting is getting your potatos ready to be planted by putting them in a good spot so they grow little buds (4 or 5 I think)..but very importantly take off the really long runner before planting. I did not know to do this until I saw BBC's Countryfile last month. I have never read this advice anywhere - before or since.

Good luck.

DavidT · « **Reply #13 on:** February 10, 2010, 18:56 »

Quote from: growman on February 07, 2010, 21:17

Thanks digalotty.
My grandad says bone meal(i think thats it) is realy good for the ground,but i want my ground clean and fre from pesticides,is it a pesticide?
He says its crushed chicken bones,doesnt sound too good to use that.

Bonemeal encourages root growth and is especially good for all rootcrops. For a general, non chemical, fertilizer use fish, blood and bonemeal.

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