Got my first allotment!

emilyka

lbt wrote: »

I am on the waiting list for an allotment (12th so it could be some time) but a friend has let me share some of hers while I wait.

I would love to see some photos of other people allotments if anyone has any?

Pete - I hope you'll keep us up to date

I started a website for mine but unfortunately have spent too much time on MSE and completely forogt about the website :rotfl:I will update it as soon as I have nice weather to go down and take some piccys. Website is http://www.mylittleallotment.co.uk/


Em

lbt_2

emilyka wrote: »

I started a website for mine but unfortunately have spent too much time on MSE and completely forogt about the website :rotfl:I will update it as soon as I have nice weather to go down and take some piccys. Website is http://www.mylittleallotment.co.uk/


Em

Wow! You have a good site and you've obviously worked really hard! Look forward to seeing some updates

PeteW

PeteW wrote: »

...and it's a bit of state!

Anyone any suggestions on how best to start tackling this beast??

OK, well I've now finished off the raised beds in my garden, so today i made a start in the allotment. It's now gone from the mess above, to the slightly improved mess below:

babyshoes

Wow, that's a big improvement. Well done! How big is your space? Looks smaller than ours, which is half a plot...

I second the plan of doing a little bit at a time. With all that grass, you will have loads of roots to get out as you dig (and believe me, you want to get them ALL out - I made the mistake of wanting to get growing too quickly when we got our plot last year, and we are still paying for it).

Get a quick crop into the first bit you dig straight away if you can, something like a short row of lettuce and/or radishes. There is nothing quite like your first crop, even if it is a slightly undersized radish and a few lettuce leaves! Seeing something growing in a neat line will give you the motivation to carry on with the back breaking work for a bit longer...

The other option is to get the black weedkiller fabric stuff, and plant a few things through it. It is supposed to be good for things like squashes, which will trail over the top of the fabric. You will just need to dig a hole through the weeds and grass to plant your small plant, then cut a cross in the fabric over the hole, and then plant through that, and fill with lots of compost. Water gets through the fabric, but weeds struggle to get through, so it should kill off most things, except for stuff like bindweed and mares tail. I hate bindweed - planning a serious glyphosphate assault this year. I thought I could just dig it out last year, but underestimated it by a looooooong way! There is no way any normal human can get rid of that stuff just by digging.... Bloody roots snap and even a tiny tiny piece of root can grow into a new plant! Useless stuff, spawn of the devil it is! <end of rant>

Next year, you can lift off the cover, and simply dig over the ground, removing roots as you go, and should hopefully be sans weeds, at least to start with. That is the theory, anyway!