[nickmcmechan]

The crops I would like will be

apples - I have 3 fruit trees in my home garden I'd like to move there - when is the best time of year to move them?
garlic - I use lots; can you buy seed cloves anywhere?
onions
herbs - various - we use a lot of coriander, basil, rosemary, tarragon, thyme, parsely, dill, oregano and marjoram (I assume this would count as part of the '75% of the allotment must be vegetable crop')
salad leaves - various
green beans
brussels
brocolli
cauliflower
tatties - (potatoes anywhere in the world other than scotland)

and if i put a greenhouse in

tomatoes
chillies
peppers

I suppose my question really is: this is my first go at an allotment and if it becomes all time consuming I'll probably jack it in; so I want to start easy and simple. Out if my list what should I maybe wait to do until my second or third year as those crops maybe require more maintenance or are a bit more difficuly to grow?

Ta.

[arugula]

Hi Nick,

All the veg and herbs you mention sound quite straight forward, although I can't give you any advice on the apple trees. Also depending on the varieties you are considering, you should be able to grow some tomatoes outdoors although other varieties will much prefer a greenhouse in our Scottish climate. One last thing, We've personally found chillis far easier and more rewarding to grow so far than peppers.....

All the best when it happens!

[eli]

i'm a newbie and have found chillies wonderfully easy to grow outdoors and really prolific, therefore a great moneysaver if you eat loads of them, like i do :-)

[nickmcmechan]

thanks, didn't realise cillies couldbe grown outdoors and yep i eat lots too!

in fact all the stuff i've listed are things i eat lots of, except tatties, which my wife (boss number one) insists would be good to grow

[eli]

people have told me not to bother growin caulies till i'm less of a newbie :-)
they appear to be a bit more needy than some of the other stuff.
i've found french beans to be a roarin success and dead easy to grow too.
but don't make the same mistake i did of only givin them five foot canes to climb up!
net season, i'll make them eight feet at least :-)

[nickmcmechan]

people have told me not to bother growin caulies till i'm less of a newbie :-)
they appear to be a bit more needy than some of the other stuff.
i've found french beans to be a roarin success and dead easy to grow too.
but don't make the same mistake i did of only givin them five foot canes to climb up!
net season, i'll make them eight feet at least :-)

great advicem thanks, will give the collies a miss for a while

we eat tons of green beans so i'll make sure they've got plenty to climb on

[Kleftiwallah]

Garlic cloves from "The Garlic farm" Isle of Wiggit.  or "the Really Garlicy Company".  you may have to Gurgle that one.   Cheers,   Tony.

[savbo]

just got some super garlic from Jennifer Birch but I think stocks might be getting a bit low on some varieties

[Yorkie]

Spuds are easy, ditto beans.  If you're not entirely sure about whether it will become too much of a commitment, I'd leave the moving the apple trees until you're sure - you don't want to be moving them twice. 

The right time to move apple trees is when they are dormant, i.e. any time from now till about February.  Make sure you take as big a rootball as possible, move them immediately and dig the hole on the plot before you start digging up the trees, so that they are ready to go straight in.  Keep them very well watered for at least the first year, both in winter & summer. 

NB. How big are they already / are they on dwarfing rootstock?  I would advise against putting full size rootstocks on an allotment, they will become big trees with lots of shade and competition for other plants re. water / nutrients.  Also double check that trees are allowed at all - some sites don't allow them.

[eli]

regardin what herbs to grow, i've grown a few different things and have found chives and garlic/chinese chives to be immensely useful, and much more versatile and handy than i anticipated!
i often put in them food that requires onions if i'm all out and they can make a big taste-difference. i used to think they were a bit pointless, if you know what i mean. but not any more! and the garlic/chinese chives are just brilliant :-)
i now have loads of the both of them and once they get established  their will to live and get bigger is just brilliant, and you can divide the clumps when they get too big for your liking.
and they make great little borders between other things.
i've become quite evangelical about chives for beginners like us, as you might tell ;-)