Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi guys,

I have just been down to see my freshly-rotivated allotment plot and now I know I need some advice. I know I cannot plant much from now until next spring, but I would really appreciate as much advice as you can give me.

My plot is 10m by 20m and I plan to grow lots in 2008, but what do I do to my plot until then. I am more than happy to dig the ground and prepare it fro the spring, but will it need doing again next year etc.?

All advice and tips gratefully received, as I am a beginner.

Cheers,

Stuart

Welcome to the whacky world of allotmenteering there is plenty to do you could put green manure on part of the plot for digging in next spring if you check out WWW.organicplants.co.uk they might have some cabbage or cauli plants that can be planted now japanese onions ,Garlic ,can be planted end of september and broad beans the right sort of course good luck hope it all works out jacob

Unless all the weeds were killed off BEFORE it was rotovated then the best thing you can do is wait for them to sprout from all the chopped up roots, then either weedkill them with glyphosate based weedkiller, or, dig them out by hand.

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Hello Leicesterweb, welcome to the vine.

I don't have an allotment but I'm sure you could be getting on with building compost facilities, 4 pallets wired together is good, or how about getting some sort of shed put up that means you can set up guttering and rainbutts to make the most of the impending autumn/winter rains.

You could be planting out leeks around now.

Also a good thing at the mo is to do some research, get down the library and look for these books..

How to Plant your allotment by Caroline Foley
Your Organic Allotment Pauling Pears
The Allotment Handbook by Andi Cleavely
Allotment Gardening : An Organic Guide for Beginners By Susan Berger

All the Above are available from Amazon, just type allotment in the search
These Below from amazon also but dirt cheap from The Book People.

Grow Your Own Veg by Carole Klein
The Half Hour Allotment by Lia Leendertz.............both of these dirt cheap from http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webap...0001_10051_100

Finally think about what fruit you might like, we are coming up the the ideal planting season, ie autumn.

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Roll on Summer.

Well done on getting your plot.
We got out plot about sept so only managed to plant a few things. We had loads of weeds growing after a few months, one of my neighbours recommend just digging it over ( leaving the weeds in the ground ) as the cold weather would kill the weeds off.

At first we was un sure BUT he has been growing for 30 years so decided to take his advice and it worked. We did add manure and weed it before we planted the spuds but it was alot easier to manage and not as hard as we thought.

Lozza

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also plant some overwintering onions and Garlic, makes the plot look atleast it being used and also gives you a boost when you start to get Veg from the plot.

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Congratulations and lucky you getting it rotovated for you!!
Work out your plan for crop rotation, soft fruit etc

In your brassica patch it's still not to late to sow spring cabbage or overwintered cauli's. In your legume patch you will soon be able to sow Aqualunce Claudia and Epicure Broad beans. Japanese overwintering onion sets and Garlic can be sown a bit later in there designated areas.
As has been mentioned, the dormant season for hard and soft fruit will soon be with us and you could prepare the sites in advance. Autumn is a good time to apply manure and lime....but not together!
Most of all, have fun with the planning and don't try to do too much at once!

PS Invest in a shed and a stove with a kettle so you can have a well earned cuppa now and again!

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Hi Leicesterweb, congratulations on getting an allotment.

I've just made an order from Jacob Marley's link to the organic plants. Should be here mid Sept. Thanks Jacob!

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I've had my weetabix...

Well done on getting your new plot! Here's where the fun starts! I've covered over my dug ground with black plastic to prevent weeds from growing. If you are planning to grow potatoes try to get hold of some well rotted manure, make sure it is well rotted as fresh will be far too strong for the spuds. Dig this well into your spud patch and they'll love it. Don't manure other parts of the plot, just the spud bit then rotate your crops (you'll find this in a good gardening book). You can get online and order some seed catalogues, I've just ordered Thompson and Morgan, Dobies and Marshalls and will spend many happy hours browsing the seeds and deciding what to grow. A good basic book to get you started is The Vegetable and Herb Expert by Dr Hessayon. It'll give you all the basic information you need for growing all your veg, seed depth, spacing, when to sow, care of your crops etc. If you are planning to grow runner beans decide where they are to go and dig a trench and chuck in your kitchen scraps, these will compost down and by the time you sow your beans next year they'll have a great start. All the very best of luck!!
Eden

Now is the time for fantisising , dreaming and planning and making your first plot plan and looking at seed catalogs , by xmas you would have got to reality that you can't grow every crop you want, and would have drawn another plan by then.
A basic plan should have your shed , greenhouse and compost heap at the north end and not casting shadows on another plot and allow for all of them even if you have not got any at the moment ( two bins will be needed for compost ) . the rest of the ground can then be split into beds or traditional long rows and thats a desision only you can make .
don't be in a rush to plant , planning will pay dividens first and save disapointment later as plants in the ground when you change your mind , means either pulling them up or waiting untill there grown before the next stage of your planning.( your not alone on this first step i've had mine a year and plans change daily and i'm on about plan 7 myself ).

p.s welcome to the vine and the world of the biggest recycling club !

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---) CARL (----
ILFRACOMBE
NORTH DEVON

a seed planted today makes a meal tomorrow!

www.freewebs.com/carlseawolf

now in blog form ! UPDATED 01 / 04 / 08

... and for the planning and recording stages, I am finding The Vegetable Growers' Almanac from www.thevga.co.uk very helpful. Not dead sophisticated or wizzy but relatively easy to use, fairly comprehensive and reasonably priced.

KK