Gonna start me an allotment!

In_Search_Of_Me

Hi all, Hope this is in the right place! I've decided that to get out of the house more, excercise & grow veggies that I'll start an allotment (when I manage to get one locally!) but would welcome some advice (any advice!!) from people in the know as I have NO clue what I'm doing!! Any tips, do's/donts etc would be extremely welcome!! Thanks in advance!

freda

Waiting lists for allotments can be really long, so I hope you get one sooner rather than later!

I'm absolutely no expert, only having a tiny plot myself, but off the top of my head there are still some things you can plant this late on. Things that come to mind are:

Overwintering onion and garlic
I think some salads can be grown under glass
I think some cabbages can be grown in the winter
If you get it now, you should be able to put some leeks in, they keep fine through most of winter (though mine tend to get eaten way before it gets really cold)!
Brussell sprouts
Broad beans
Purple sprouting
Forced rhubarb (although if you force it in the winter, you'll not get much in the summer, I think)


But, in the autumn, its mainly time for getting things sorted for the summer. Think about digging lots of manure in, and store any fruit/veg that is ready (i.e. potatoes, onions, garlic, apples, rhubarb etc etc)

Biddyrolo

If your plot is really overgrown when you get it don't try to clear it all at once and don't be tempted to rotovate as if you have perennial weeds such as bindweed each seperate little piece can grow into a new plant. Chop down the weeds and cover what you aren't working on with black polythene or old carpet etc to kill the weeds.
Dig by hand and get rid of any roots of perennial weeds in the bin don't compost them.
This is all a pain when you want to get planting and sowing but it is worth it.
I can also recommend making raised beds. There are lots of good books and web sites out there, as I'm new to this site I don't know if I can post details but let me know if you're interested and I'll PM you.

In_Search_Of_Me

thanks both for this!! Biddy would love info so feel free to PM away!! The initial plan was 1) Find plot 2) Dig & fertilise with manure (is that right?!!) & 3)read book that amazon are sending!! Re waiting lists there is a wait of a few months for one locally & 2 are yet to get back to me...dont want to get too far away. One thing that would help is whether there is any allotment etiquette? What times do they generally open etc &..Have been thinking about this for a while & want to get it right from the start! What should I look out for in a plot? I noticed that some have no toilet & wonder if I'm right in assuming that as a girlie its best to have one?!! The blurb says about blocks but I have no idea what that means!! Thanks again all!!

SoScrooge

Hi fishface-69

We got our allotment 3 months ago. I did not know much before we started but other allotment holders have been of great help.

I phoned our local council and got a number of a lady who was some sort of secretary of the allotments I had my eye on.

We live in SE London and there was no waiting list for plots.

At our allotments there are two sheds - one sells seeds, etc, the other is full of various usuful equipment to borrow. So we borrowed some grass strimmers and cut the grass. Then we were given a few things like weedkiller, potato seeds, other seeds for free 'to start us off'.

People there are really nice and helpfull.

Somebody is giving us a shed!

Now it is good time to start digging and taking the weeds out - exactly what I am doing now.

The next planting season will be September-October starting with spring onions.

Just to boast off a bit, I am growing now

tomatoes
potatoes
leaks
rocket, parsley, dill
broccoli
cabbages
a few strawberries
mint
lavander

all kindly given by other people.

If you thinking about equipment, I would recommend getting a digging folk. I use it every time I am at the allotment.

Anyway... sorry for a confusing post. I will be happy to share any ideas or experiences..:T


Best of luck!

tanith

Fishface I was thinking the same thing a few weeks ago and found loads of info on my local council website.. it had a list of all their allotment sites with the name and number of the person to contact and lots of info about each individual site... what you could and could not do and if there were any vacancies... it was very helpful then I really thought about all the digging and weeding etc and decided that with my back it maybe was not such a good idea...
I am trying to convince my daughters to share one with me... they do all the hard labour and I can do the planting and some weeding. Of course I will also harvest the crops and eat the produce :rotfl: I might let them have a few bits and pieces :T

Good luck

Pink.

Hi fishface-69,

The replies on these older threads might help you:

i now have an allotment..help..help..help..

Going to see an allotment - tips please?

Do I have time for an allotment?

Pink

Raffles_3

The great thing about allotments is the cameraderie. (If someone nicks your onions, you nick his brassicas.) Whatever the problem, you will find someone there who knows all about it.

It is not necessary to dig. (After all, who digs the New Forest every year?) So hoeing is enough.

If you smoke, you can use your allotment to grow tobacco quite legally. I would not grow hash, as lots of people know what a hash plant looks like. Even if they do not report you to the police, you might turn up one morning to find the plants gone.

In_Search_Of_Me

Thanks all! Feel impatient!! The two people I left messages with havent rung back yet (not unreasonable but I'm itching to hear of there is one locally!!) so in the meantime have got a couple of mags, registered with freecycle & asked if anyon has old tools and looked at the sites suggested abouve which were all really helpful! Tanith I also have a bad back but decided that I'd just try - it may actually help ease things up as I tend to do notning so at least this way I get out more!! Good to know about the comraderie raffles! Certainly hope so!! Will keep you updated but keep the advice coming!!