[jimmytheshed]

Four years ago i became self employed, got myself an allotment, with poly tunnel which does well for us. I can come and go between jobs water early or mid day or when i finish. alls well.
well times are hard, and ive now landed a fall time job, which will take up most of my free time. I dont want my plot to become a chore to me, as I love doing "the thing" as such. I also dont want letters, that its got to weedy and so on. how does everyone else cope being at work all the time?

[Christo]

Hi Jimmy.
First of all, well done for managing to get full time work in the current climate.
It must me tough going from being your own boss however.

I manage with a full time job, plus commute and 2 kids. It's weekends only and, during summer, I popped over every other day to do some watering.

I reckon you'll probably end up enjoying the allotment even more than before.

All the best with it.

[upert]

weed-suppressing fabric.

[jazzbyrd]

Hi there ,

You could cover some areas of your allotment so that you have less to look after until you get into a routine with your new job etc. We both work and find that even 1/2 an hour (which leads to more) a day will be enough to keep on top of the weeds. We like visiting our plot late evening during the summer months. We also have to spend quite a few hours on the plot on either a Saturday or Sunday. It not a problem though because we enjoy it. There are a few allotment holders on our site that visit their plots for an hour before work.
You will find a way if you really want to enjoy your plot.
Good luck....

Jazz

[digalotty]

i like to have all the heavy work done over the weekends and watering and weeding i catch up in the evenings as best i can,  i only have a half plot so i can manage it quite comfertable this way,     like you i didnt want it to become a burden so i am happy with my space

[Azazello]

I just do a session at the weekends and a couple of evenings during the late spring and summer. What really made the difference for me was a decent hoe and remembering to put a foot or so between each row  - that way weeding is moderately easy to keep under control. "A little, often"works best, I've found.

Fabrics and mulches are useful too, the latter are useful to help retain soil moisture too.

[Totty]

I work 6-5 mon to fri and 6-12 on sat. I need to get to the plot every day for the chooks, so am in the routine already. When the nights start getting longer its clearly alot easier to spend a bit more time up there of an evening. Enjoy every moment of it!

Totty

[jimmytheshed]

Hi Jimmy.
First of all, well done for managing to get full time work in the current climate.
It must me tough going from being your own boss however.

I manage with a full time job, plus commute and 2 kids. It's weekends only and, during summer, I popped over every other day to do some watering.

I reckon you'll probably end up enjoying the allotment even more than before.

All the best with it.

Thankyou for your comments, i will be working 5.5 days a week and time off will be chatching up on contract work i already have. so not to much time really. reckon i will have to teach the wife how to do it haha.last time she came down to help weed she pulled half a row of parsnips out before i noticed

[Lulu]

I work full time and mostly I get to my lottie on my days off which is not always a weekend.  I try and have a really good session on once a week and if I don't do a job one week I do it the next.  Having raised beds helps me greatly with this and the fact that I am not bound by rules of allotment society, as I have very weedy paths which one day I will tackle.  They get strimmed regularly in the growing season.  In the summer I am there more often to water in the evening.  This year though more thought has gone into what to grow, for example, I'm not growing tomatoes on the lottie as they need to much attention so they are just going to be in the greenhouse at home.

The help is of course - OH - I make him work for his runner beans

It is a haven after working all week and despite it being hard work sometime its not something I'm going to be giving up - its therapy

[Elaine G]

I work full time and travel 25 miles each way to work. I also have a husband and children (not young)
Sometimes my plot gets very weedy, and I don't see much of it in the winter. I have learnt to avoid crops that need a lot of attention, like tomatoes.
But, I value my time there, even if I just sit and eat the peas 
I can't think of a better way to de-stress after a bad day.
Good luck with the new job.

Elaine

[kingdhesiii]

I wrk about 60 hrs a week average id say and also like to keep my social life going so the plot gets what ever time  left which to be honest isnt that much.
Id say i spend about 4 hrs a week on the plot. If I am getting behind then the odd time I will try spend a full day on it. Hard it is tho to balance it all.

[nickmcmechan]

Good thread. I work (very) full time too.

I reckon I can spend a few hours on a weekend day and when the lighter nights get in, maybe a week-night too.

I've read up a bit on it and one of the tricks seems to be plant closer together thn you normally would - its gives you smaller crops but helps to keep the weeds down.

I do wonder, as its my first allotment, which plants (other than tomatoes) to avoid as they are less hardy and higher maintenance?

[Rangerkris]

I spend part of my day off when i can down the plot, i work close enough to pop along at lunch and do a bit when i can be bothered. Now the weather is warming it will become more often.  It don't matter if i go back to work covered in mud for me.  Also my wife goes down now and again to do some weeding and planting. This year the in-laws have both packed up work and have every intention of helping out.  It can be done just need to look at a few hours a week that you get paid for in veg rather than money.

[Swing Swang]

It all comes down to time management.

When planning your plot some crops are much more labour intensive than others, and other demand a lot of time, but only at certain times of year.

So seeds that need sowing in plugs, potting on, and planting out may not be the way to do it for you. Or the reverse could be the case because the first two stages could be done at home.

Mulches - all types - sand/bark/membranes/compost etc to keep weeds down.

Some crops cause fewer weeds to grow - squash is great for this

Put more down to soft fruits as once the initial work has been done they don't take up a huge amount of time. Ditto asparagus (but a lot of work initially).

To my mind brassicas can be a lot of hard work - I plant a variety of kales only and don't bother with cauliflowers and the like because of this.

SS

[New shoot]

Some really good ideas here 

I work full time, have a good commute each way and have 2 plots (they make 1 full size plot between them) to look after, so life gets a little rushed at times  :blink:

The larger plot is 50% down to soft fruit and mulch - very productive and little work.  I do no fuss crops as well and usually start stuff at home in pots and transport it to the plot when it is big enough to cope with a bit of neglect.  I don't do brassicas either other than a bit of PSB and kale and use chard as my greens as it's easy and doesn't attract pests.

If I get bare patches attracting weeds, I bung any old thing in to cover the soil.  Last year I did 2 yellow courgettes with bush toms all round the edges and just bought in plants as I had nothing left to go in.  Cost very little and even though I lost a few toms that went over and grew a few yellow barrage balloons, it was a very productive little experiment