Just got our first allotment - what to grow for the first year?

charlies-aunt

:)We have been to view our first allotment today - its a half plot and we have inherited from the previous owners - a strawberry patch, three bushes (black or red currants as a guess), half a dozen raspberry canes and some clumps of non-identifiable vegetation.

We have some gardening experience but have not tackled anything like this before and would be grateful to know whether we should leave the inherited plants in situ and see if they come good... or is it best to dig everything up and start anew?

The soil looks good and we plan to enrich it with well rotted manure - would it be a good idea to grow just potatoes this year to break up the soil ..or could we grow an assortment??

Ideas gratefully received!

Gefjun

Hi charlies-aunt,

Firstly, congratulations on gaining your allotment and welcome to the world of Grow Your Own!

I'd leave the plants you've inherited in situ and see how they do this year before you decide what to do with them. Get a book from the library and see what you're meant to do with them to get them to perform the best they can this year. I think the raspberry canes need to be cut down to ground level about now to promote good growth and fruiting in the coming year. If you've got the room, leave the other bushes to see a) what they are and b) when they fruit as it might be that they come into season at different times of year and give you fruit for most of the year, plus always remember that you can make jams, preserves, bottled fruits if that's your thing.

Other than this, I'd dig a load of manure into the ground and grow whatever you fancy. I'm not great with stuff which needs repeat sowings (only been growing veg for two years and just not very organised) so I tend to stick with veg which keeps producing off the one sowing, like runner beans, kale, courgettes etc. Just keep it simple for the first year so you don't get disheartened if things go wrong, then review at the end of the year, and work out the following year from that!

Yorkie1

I agree with Gefjun, don't disturb the existing plants - see what sort of a crop you get off them this year. Raspberry pruning will depend on whether they're summer or autumn fruiting, don't cut down any canes which look relatively fresh as they might be this year's summer raspberries.

You've got the plot at the right time of year, you can start planning it properly! You can grow more than just spuds, but I wouldn't put in any permanent planting this season until you're more familiar with the plot and where the sun / drainage issues are, if any.

Make sure that you are on top of the weeds - either by weeding or covering - before they start growing properly, or you will be fighting a constant battle to get back on top of them.

And take piccies! It's always good to look back on what you've achieved.

charlies-aunt

Despite the weather - the raspberry canes are still showing last years leaves and look very sturdy - Summer or Autmn - I dununo! Should I be cutting them back or wait??

The currant bushes are covered in buds so fingers crossed for some nice healthy bushes....do I just leave them alone?

The allotment site looks like it will be in full sun as its in an open site bordered by hawthorn hedges to the north and west aspects - a few weeds but nothing a few hours weeding can't shift

The strawberry patch has thrown out quite a few runner - should we uproot these or sit tight and let them mature?

Looking at the other plots - I guess that the biggest threat is from rabbits as they are all neatly fenced off with small gauge chicken wire to about a foot high!

angelavdavis

You are very lucky getting your allotment at this time of year. We eventually got our allotment in mid-June last year and the soil was rock solid and although strimmed, totally choked with weeds so we couldn't do a lot with it (we actually started two lasagne beds and covered the paths with weed suppressant - planting some additional courgette and squash seedlings I had over from the garden). I had a great crop so it was worth it!

You are also blessed with some fantastic existing plants. We had a tayberry, which we originally thought was a raspberry - so I second that it is worth leaving the plants a year so you can find out definitely what they are and when to prune as has already been explained by other posters. Just cut out any dead wood to prevent disease.

Re: the strawberries, I would fill some pots with potting compost and pin the new plants into the pots, they should be ready by end March to plant in new borders. If they have already rooted where they were, leave be, but ensure you have a maximum of a couple of baby runners per adult plant and cut off the extra or they may be weaker plants.

I suspect your plot neighbours are simply fencing off their plots cheaply - unless the wire goes for a foot underground! Having said that, I'm not sure chicken wire would keep a good rabbit back!

I have just used fence posts and wires and plan to train some espalier fruit trees as a boundary as I can't stand the weeding at the bottom of chicken wire boundaries personally.

As has been recommended, plan your plot and find out where the free manure is in the area ready for spring when you can stock up and get a good amount into the borders ready for your plants.

charlies-aunt

Thanks for all the great tips

There is a massive poo pile at the local livery which we have been invited to help ourselves to - its 3-4 years old so well matured . As soon as weather permits, we'll give the plot a good weeding and then dig in as much horse manure as we can manage to cart there

Hmm. stupid question ...can we use the well rotted manure as a mulch around the raspberry canes and bushes? or will it be too strong?

Hmmm ..having a rethink on the wire netting now - didn't realise that rabbits could be so determined! :eek: Rambo rabbits :eek: Thats the Watership Down image shattered :rotfl:

Spent a happy hour last night browsing seed catelogues for ideas but confess that we will buy cheaper versions from Wilkos as we've had great success with their seeds in the past for small space/container gardening.

Linda32

charlies-aunt wrote: »

Spent a happy hour last night browsing seed catelogues for ideas but confess that we will buy cheaper versions from Wilkos as we've had great success with their seeds in the past for small space/container gardening.

Hi

I do that as well :money: Its nice to do at this time of the year.

Your new allotment sounds great and pretty much like ours at this time of year.
As people have said, its the best time to get one.

Grow whatever you like to eat, you'll get bored if you only grow potatoes.

Good Luck. :T

Quenastoise

Congratulations on your plot - we've been on the waiting lists here for one and a half year now and still waiting !

Have a word with your fellow allotment-keepers, besides being neighbourly you might pick up tips about soil quality, pests and predators and the site in general

cootambear

The strawberry patch has thrown out quite a few runner - should we uproot these or sit tight and let them mature?

If you like where they are leave them be, if you move them there is a good chance you will kill them at this time of year. you can cut the `cord` that connects them to the mother plant too.

strawbs decline in production after year three, if you have some plants that are poor fruiters, you can remove them to allow more space for your little runner plants to flourish.

it is of course up to you what you wish to grow, most on here I think grow things that are expensive in the shops (eg strawbs) and taste far better than shop bought (eg strawbs).

nodwah

We got a plot last summer which sounds similar to yours - we inherited a lot of fruit bushes - about a quarter of the plot - quite good as they'd cost a packet to buy new.:T

We waited to see what they produced to see if they tasted good and just took out any duds at the start of the winter.

I would have thought that very well rotted muck would be great on your fruit bushes.

All my lottie neighbours have limed their soil after turning it over but we didn't get any digging done before the snow started and now the ground is totally frozen:( :rotfl:

charlies-aunt

Hi Cute Mouse

We have been waiting for two years for either a full or half allotment and we were delighted to be offered a half allotment a couple of weeks ago.

After many years of container gardening, we are really looking forward to growing things actually in the ground! Although we had great success growing potatoes in small dustbins

The previous owner has covered over part of the plot with heavy green/black pvc - which we think was perhaps to smother weeds but we will need to lift that to get to grips with digging it over.

Weather permitting, we will be going down and removing this and general debris at the weekend.

Is it a sign of middle age that we are looking forward to this? :rotfl: