Grow Your Own Magazine

hi all,
i'm joolz and the proud new owner of a plot 30x90 feet ish. overgrown, unloved and uncared for for god knows how many years as previous allotment manager let things slide a lot. Have made start clearing old dried plantage and digging weeds out but with weather not sure what season we are in has been hit and miss.
hubs has taken old shed on board and is revamping as made solidly in 1700's i think with 3x3 and sides just need replacing.
couple of questions;-
how many seed potatoes do i need for family of 2 aduts and one 4 yr old mash fanatic.
i have bramble. is this same as blackberries? if so do i dig it out, cut it down and retrain up something to fruit.

am planning on raspberries (bushes donated by fellow freecycler autumn fruiting), goosegogs, potatoes, carrots, pumpkins for halloween is must according to littly, salad veg and kale.

any help and advice would be great. and on subject of plot cost. i have to pay £24 from april for yr and water is included and solitary brick loo onsite.

joolz x

Hi Joolz

Welcome to the vine. there are lots of us newbies about! The vine is great, they have offered loads of great advice and are without exception friendly.

Your lottie sounds good - like ours - full of weeds and lots of hard work clearing it. You have a loo on site - that is luxury. Us ladies have to find a non-prickly bush! We pay £22 a year, without water so yours sounds like good value.

Have fun and good luck with the project!

Welcome to the vine joolzabb!

You probably won't have enough room to become self sufficient in tatties (maincrop spuds take up a lot of room!)but I suppose you could work out the weight of tatties your family use per year and average one seed potatoe for every kilo you use annually.
You may get a shock at how many spuds you eat and most allotmenteers concentrate on growing tasty earlies which are usually quite expensive in the shops!

__________________
My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)