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I fancy an allotment but a friend has said I can have a corner of a field instead. It's available now without having to wait plus is near to home.
He has 21 acres for his horses and there is masses of unused space so sounds a good idea.
I am only interested in bulk crops of potatoes, carrots and onions - nothing fancy. (The back garden / lawn at home is going to be dug up to provide space for more delicate crops)
Question is what sort of area should I fence off ?
The idea is to try and produce enough for our own needs - both my familly and him / partner.
I'll suggest an area of 1/4 acre which is 1200 sq yards or 100 feet x 100 feet.
Is this going to be too much, just right or not enough ?
I can scrounge a plow to break up the ground (behind a 1952 old Grey Fregi tractor ) and then would used a large hired cultivator to break up further.
Obviously converting a field to growning land will need turning over this year to be ready to plant next.
This is something I've never done before so is all new to me but I'm early retired so am thinking that with machinery it's going to be just as easy to do, say, 1/4 acre as it is 1/8 !

Paul Humphries.

Wow how exciting for you id take as much field as you feel able to cope with maybe more and do 1/2 at first and if you think you need to do more next time then youve got it especially if you have a storage place as well

That's actually a good idea - just fence off what looks within easy handling to start off.
This would be a major project for me and might fail but very little outlay so worth trying.

Is horse manure suitable for digging in ?
It's on the land and not mixed with straw from stables.
With 7 horses there is quite a bit lying around

Paul Humphries

Hi there Compo. Sounds brilliant, I wish you the best of luck. I wouldn't worry about the bhorse muck lying around especially if you not intending to plant things yet. Just plough it in and let the worms and soil bacteria get to work on it. By the time your ready to start planting there will be no sign of it.

Just be aware that when planting potatoes in what was previously grass land there can be a problem with wire worm. Cultivation soon gets rid of them but they might be a pest in the first season. Please don't let that bother you, it should not put you off, what sound like a great venture.

Go for it and have fun. It would be worth doing just to have a go with the old tractor and plough. It's an allotmenteers fantasy. Enjoy it.

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Thanks for the support as I did wonder if others might think it was silly idea.
We have got allotments locally but, like most areas, there will be a waiting list.
A couple of the horses are cart pullers so it could be fun to see if they would pull a plough

The friend also has an Allen Sythe he was going to scrap as no use. You can get cultivator attachements so I might rescue that for a play as well.

Paul Humphries

Jealous over here too! Hope you manage to go for it, and please keep us posted with developments! Good luck!

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Suzanne (aka Mrs Dobby)

'Garden naked - get some colour in your cheeks'!

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Last updated 12th September 2008 - updated balance sheet!

You have pushed us into doing what we have been "planning" for ages,Compo. We bought a field to exercise our numerous dogs on and always plan to have a bit,a quarter of an acre would do ,to grow crops on.
These would have to be things disliked by rabbits as,despite our sighthounds best efforts they flourish.
The field will be cut for hay as soon as we have a spell of good weather and I will ask the farner if he can plough us up bit come autumn.
I was thinking anti-rabbit crops----spuds,onions,leeks,rhubarb! garlic.
Can anyone suggest anything else?

Rabbits round here seem to like onions!
Would be worth investing in rabbit fencing, I have it round my veg plot (it was here when we moved in) and it keeps all the rabbits out.
Next problem is the chickens of course

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http://clairescraftandgarden.blogspot.com/

Yes, my brother has just told me that rabbits will eat onion tops,the little swines! So apart from spuds and rhubarb??

Lucky you Compo, try and get some photos of before and after. And good luck.

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good Diggin, Chuffa.

If I were you I would house a few pigs on it for a year or two, they will do all the fertilising and digging up for you and make lovely sandwiches at the end of it!

They don't cost too much to keep and the slaughter/butchery is probably available cheap enough locally - apologies for even suggesting it if you are veggie!

Sorry to disappoint you, but rabbits will eat spuds - or at least they will burrow into your ridges and remove the tubers. They might not though - they did it to my earlies last year but haven't touched my spuds this year.
I haven't had a problem with them bothering my onions or shallots, but then what's a few tops when you have 15,000 to worry about.
The only real problem I had last year was my winter brassicas, particularly the Black Tuscan Kale and my sprouts - basically all demolished by bunnies !!

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Rat

British by birth
Scottish by the Grace of God

Blog updated Wednesday 17th September

dont put horse manure with carrots as this will cause them to fork this also goes with any root veg

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http://newplot.blogspot.com/

rain rain go away

You would have to be on a lightish soil(a nice Sandy Loam would do!)
On a heavy clay soil you would just get a hard pan of soil where they had been. Handy if you want a lake,though!

I suggest you'll need to invest in an electric fence especially to keep out animals and so its vaguely movable fencing when it comes to turning a tractor.

A standard allotment is about 300 square yards. 30'x10' About 80 metres to fence in. I think you are best to start with that sort of size and you can always expand or what you can fit in 100 metres of fencing must be about 625 sq metres. so about two allotments.

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Paul

Compo, did you do anything about your corner of a field?
I ask because I was a bit worried about everything being eaten by rabbits and badgers but looking across to a nearby field I saw that someone had planted up about an acre.
I went in to have a nose and see that they have spuds,carrots,parsnips,onions,brassicas,courgettes etc all growing well and, as far as I can see, not eaten to the ground.
Neither do they have any form of netting around the plants. I've never seen the people on the field so can't ask them how they manage.
Have you planted anything yet? and if so, what?

I found this thread really interesting. We'll be moving in the next 12-18 months as we've bought a plot and will be building our new house, unfortunately the garden won't be as large as the one we have at the moment. Was giving serious consideration to renting or buying a field to give us more growing space. We live in the country so hopefully there should be some possibilities.

Good luck with your search for a field. It took us two years of looking before we got ours. You may have more luck renting.

Happens here all the time, you see fields with small areas marked off and used for domestic growing all round us here - including one of the bestest veggie gardens I've ever seen in my life.

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TonyF, Dordogne 24220

Chicken wire is great for keeping the rabbits out. Its a good idea when rolling out the wire to bend over at least 12 inches at the bottom facing the outside of the plot and peg it down at intervals- this deters them from burrowing under the fencing I don't know if I've just been very lucky but I haven't had one rabbit in my plot and there are loads in the area.