Overgrown wasteland of allotment - worth it?!

rach2403

Hi - thanks ang for your advise - have read plenty of your comments before on other peoples threads and guess you have your name for a reason!!!!

I bought a packet of seeds from Lidl a while back and the instructions are only in picture form - they say the are gourds, are these squashes? Sorry to sound so daft!

Also the roundup idea - do you just pour it on, leave for a couple of weeks then dig it over? Think I need to aim to grow something first then next aim to be organic!!!!!!!

Thanks so so much again, am so excited - I meet the man Friday to agree boundaries - is it rude to section your allotment off somehow even if only with string? I just don't want to dig someone elses ground!

Rachel x

rach2403

oh and also how much space does each seed potato need?

Sorry for all the questions!

xx

angie_loves_veg

rach2403 wrote: »

Hi - thanks ang for your advise - have read plenty of your comments before on other peoples threads and guess you have your name for a reason!!!!

I bought a packet of seeds from Lidl a while back and the instructions are only in picture form - they say the are gourds, are these squashes? Sorry to sound so daft!

Also the roundup idea - do you just pour it on, leave for a couple of weeks then dig it over? Think I need to aim to grow something first then next aim to be organic!!!!!!!

Thanks so so much again, am so excited - I meet the man Friday to agree boundaries - is it rude to section your allotment off somehow even if only with string? I just don't want to dig someone elses ground!

Rachel x

Guords are squashes, but are ornamental, not edible.

Roundup - buy as a concentrate, dilute into your watering can as per instructions and pour over the area. Leave for one/two/more weeks, it kills the top growth first then travels down and kills the roots. It becomes inactive in soil, so you can plant 'straight away' - some weedkillers 'infect' the ground for a long time making it impossible to grow.

I do mark my space with sticks and string (surely no-one will have a problem with that - many allotments allow fences etc - mine doesn't) and always if I want to dig a square! amazing how wonky you can get trying to do it by eye!

Re potato spacing - depends on 'type' (first early etc) I plant the earlies just over a foot apart each way, maincrops about 18inch each way. I plant in beds, not rows (ie I do not need to walk between the plants) - if you need to walk the rows, you will need to increase the space between rows to 2ft or so, keeping the 'seeds' 12/18 inch apart as before

Keep asking! I was a complete beginner myself two years ago!

bha.fatboy

jellymid wrote: »

I would second the advice to cover some areas with carpet

No No No do not do it. Carpets are one of the worst things you can put doen. Yes they do cover the land to stop weeds growing but they have so many chemicals that can drian into your soil making it poor for growing. I would suggenst using those balck covers you can buy or something similay like bin liners if you can weigh them doww properly. One of the blokes at my allotments used carpets and he has had to invest loads in top quality compost etc to be able to grow near on anything.
Another tip would be to draw up some sort of growing plans when you have your beds made out. That way you can keep a copy every year which will aid you in your crop rotations

rach2403

Crop rotation? That reminds me, must order those advised books/see if they are in my library!!!!

I'm still really excited about tomorrow - will find out how much of the vast expanse is mine! When people talk about doing a section at a time, does anyone have any advice on how large the section should be? I don't know whether to just (depending on size) tackle it all (roundup, dig, strim etc) first then plant gradually or whether to do bit at a time?

Thanks again all!
Rachel x

angie_loves_veg

I would call a section what you can achieve in, say, 2 hrs/a morning. So if there are two of you, it will be larger than if you go it alone.......and of course some parts will be (slightly) easier than others..... (hopefully)

unless you are superhuman, I would advise against doing it all at once - doing it all at once means that once it is cleared, it will need to be planted or it will just go to weed again, and you have to start over!

If however you find you are superhuman after all, then you can do my lottie too

good luck!

RAS

rach2403 wrote: »

The parish council lady told me to ring the bloke who owns the allotment next door which have just done and he's going to meet me down there on Friday morning to sort it out. He sounded very nice but I have this unreasonable fear that he's going to take one look at me and think i'm not worthy of the allotment or something - especially as I'm such a novice! I just hope i'm wrong on this - sure I will be!

P.S Being a bit stupid - when I cut down all this stuff etc - what do I do with it? Do I have to bring it home/take to tip?

Rach

Sorry to combine bits of two posts, but seems more sensible as the answers would partly repeat.

Your plot neighbour

When you meet him tomorroow, do not be frightened to tell him that you are both newbies. If you are straight up, he and your other neighbours will give you lots of useful hints and let you know when you are about to do something dumb. Beats fouling up anyday. There is a good chance they will give you plants and seedling as well. There are few things plotters want to see more than somewhere derelict brought back to life.

While you are there ask him if there are any problems with pernicious weeds and ask him to show you his plot.

Since you are getting a free year, obviously it is pretty derelict, but there are probably some useful plants in there. Right now, you may not know your redcurrant bush from a hawthorn and the fastest way to learn is to see someone else's plants before you rip up those on you own plot "by acccident". Even those brambles could be a cultivated variety and give you lots of lovely fruit. You have cut out the old canes, and wait til summer. In fact if they are on a patch you do not want to dig up yet, even wild ones could provide fruit this year. Save yourselves a fortune and get loads of fruit this year.

What do you do with all that stuff

This is where the pernicious weeds come in. You want to compost all that stuff except the PWs. Bindweed, couch grass, dandelions, ground elder, creeping thistle, japanese knotweed. Dig them up and any tiny piece of root left behind becomes a new plant. Stick a rotavater on and every small piece becomes a new plant. You do not want them in your compst bin. Get your plot neigbour to teach you how to identify the problem plants on your plot, dig up as much as you can and take them home or dry them out and burn them, then add the ash to the compost.

Since you are clearing some/all of a derelict site, it might be useful to look at photos of composting making using the Berkeley 18 day technique. It does not require you to make a compost bin first, just a heap. Have done something very similiar here (Yorkshire) and it actually took nearer 40 days in the late cold spring, rather than the 18 in Jordan and Mexico. The important bit is the pee. If possible, collect it beforehand and let it get smelly (ammonia) over the previous week, before adding it to the compost pile.

http://photos.permaculture.org.au/thumbnails.php?album=15

brambles, docks and nettles are not pernicious. Loosen the soil and cut their roots off and they will not re-grow, so they can be composted. Alternatively, you could cut the nettles down and harvest them, 2 cuts for greens and soups, one for beer and one to add to the compost later in the year.

pavlovs_dog

what a fab thread! all the best with the new allotment - so excited for you!

rach2403

Wow what amazing advise I have received over the last couple of days! Feel very lucky to have found this forum!

Am ready to be brave tomorrow and ask lots of questions (hopefully not too many to be annoying!)

I have another question though........(perhaps I am annoying you all now!) how do allotment users feel about children on site? Ours are 2 and 4, well behaved in my opinion, and I'd like them to be involved (obviously not in the inital stage with all that weedkiller!) but don't know how any noise is tolerated by other users. Perhaps I am too busy worrying!

Thanks so much again - will let you know how I get on tomorrow!

Rachel

rach2403

RAS - thanks so much for such a detailed response - I think i'll print it out and take it with me!!!!!!!!!!