Grow Your Own needs your advice for new allotment holders!

[Glutton4...]

PMSL - Nice one TS!!!

[SarzWix]

Once the excitement has worn off, expect to get a period of panic The "what have I done? How on earth can I manage?" feeling hits everybody to a certain extent after the first flush of excitement wears off. Don't let it take over, don't run away - come on here and have a read through some of the other "I'm panicking" threads, remember that 'slow and steady wins the race', and stick to your plan! Retail therapy helps too

[Alison]

Listen to advice of other people but trust your judgement. Regardless of how much somebody was telling me that I couldn't hope to clear my plot without weed killers, I had no intention of using them. I didn't and it's fine. Yes there are weeds but that's fine, I can keep on top of them with regular weeding, hoeing etc. Also, if something works for you then great, there are 1001 ways of doing lots of things, try and few and work out which is best for you on your plot. Don't feel obliged to do something in a certain way if you don't want to.

Oh and I've still not had that panicky feeling that Sarah is on about so either it's in delay on me or I was enjoying myself too much to notice!

[SarzWix]

Not panic maybe Alison, but a feeling of being overwhelmed?

OK, some of you will have seen that I've been offered a lottie. However, it's a bit of a state and needs a lot of work to clear. After quite a bit of dittering I've pretty much convinced myself that I'll be OK when I've got it sorted but I'm quite overwelmed by the amount of work needed to get it into shape[...]

You were lucky to have known about the Vine already too, some poor people haven't found it yet

[chriscross1966]

You might well want to look at more than the traditional four-set rotation.... if you grow squashes and pumpkins (and the other cucurbits) then they're pretty much devoid of outdoor pests in this country, demand only a bit of watering after you've laid out some mounds of manure/compost for them to grown on and will happily grow through plastic mulch.... make them a fifth rotation and your soil is getting better (from the poo) and all the normal soil pests are getting another year to die in.... plus you get these lovely looking long-storing vegetables and the kids get halloween pumpkins.......

Set aside an area for fruit bushes, they're easy enough to grow, modern varieties are fairly pest proof and heavy cropping and they cost stupid money in the supermarkets....

Grow something strange, Oca, Yacon, Tree onions, walking-stick cabbage, giant anything.... And grow it near the front of the plot where other plotholders will see it.... it will always be good for a few of the old-guard to see soemthing they haven't and it leads to them talking more (OK there are some that won't stop once they've started)... plus it's fun .....

SLow and steady with the digging, if you have a big vehicle then remember that pallets will hold down weed mulch and can then be used as fuel for the incinerator ...

Get an incinerator, if you have an overgrown ploit you will have too many weed roots to use the "stick em in a black bin liner for two years method and wait for them to die" method of disposal.... you'll need some wood to fuel it though..... (see above)

Don't be too scared of weedkillers adn other chemicals but equally, they should be thought of as a last resort on anything where you want to grow stuff...

[Alison]

Not panic maybe Alison, but a feeling of being overwhelmed?


You were lucky to have known about the Vine already too, some poor people haven't found it yet

Lol - it seems that I've just got a bad memory! Although in my defence I was thinking more about when I'd got going, honest

[snakeshack]

the best advice is to use other plot holders experience tempered by your own judgement.
Set realistic goals for your first season & each visit to the plot.
Take lots of pictures when you visit so when you think you are overwhelmed you can look back and see how far you have come.

[geoff]

Don't be in a great hurry to buy tools. Put the word out amongst friends, relations, neighbours and colleagues at work. Most people have all sorts of stuff lurking in their sheds and garages, and would be glad to give it a good home. I was given a wheelbarrow, a fork, a spade and various other odds & ends
Similarly, established allotment sites tend to accumulate tools, as when people give up an allotment they also tend to give up gardening altogether. So drop some heavy hints to the Wise Old Men that all allotment sites seem to have

Wander round the perimeter of your plot, tidying or repairing paths and fences. This is usually one of the easiest and most satisfying jobs you can do. It will announce to the world in general and yourself in particular that you've arrived, and mean business

[chuffa]

Get all the info you can from the council. Talk to other lottie holders, they should be willing to let you know all you want, ie where to get seeds, compost and maybe a rotavator. Read old books on gardening. And learn about what you want to grow for you and not for other people. Join this forum as you will always get help.

[crazywitch]

having nearly completed my first year on my plot,which was a jungle infested with perenial weeds, buried rubbish and rotting sheds, i would like to think i've learned from some mistakes. talking more to other allotment holders is a must, i found out that rabbits were a severe problem the hard way i underestimated the amount of time and effort it would take to clear rubbish and falling down sheds. i really enjoyed the potatoes, especialy the rooster and charlotte, but got hit by blight cos i didnt spray and apparently used same site for potatoes that previous holder used, again could have found out if i had talked some more to neighbour. Things i did right mainly only tackling about a third of plot first year and treating the rest of the jungle with a systemic weedkiller several times lol. I didnt put any overwintering crops in for this year but instead have concentrated on rabbit proofing my growing area, removing old shed,digging out old dead roots and generally clearing up plot and making ready for my first, sucessful i hope, full growing year. my best advice to anyone new is to talk to other plot holders and read some good books. i got a good one when i subscribed to grow your own lol

[HeyWayne]

Before doing anything, assess your own needs and skills.

If you're a complete beginner like me, then half (possibly more) of the stuff you'll read/hear about what you should and shouldn't do will be overwhelming, and difficult to digest.

The fastest way to learn is by making mistakes - don't be afraid of them.

[ladylottie]

Hi

Well, I'll go along with everything that's been said by the grapes already!

When I took over my plot (in the February of 2008) everything was fine and I was digging the ground over nicely and removing the weeds etc., but then by April onwards I seemed to be faced with a yellow sea of either creeping buttercup flowers or dandelions! They didn't seem to get any less no matter how much I dug! It was quite daunting!

But, I had a lot of encouragement by plot holders on the site. On one particularly bad day when I didn't seem to be making any progress at all - a man came up and gave me a big flowerpot full of new potatoes - then I remembered why I'd taken on the lottie in the first place - lovely fresh food

Also - I took photos of the plot right from day one, and at regular intervals after that. I have loads now after almost two years at the lottie. Whenever I have been a bit discouraged, I look at those early photos and - yes - feel a bit proud of how much I've achieved. I'm really glad I took those early photos now, and of course, I have a record of what has been planted where (and how well it did). Because you won't remember as time goes on. (Unless you have a better brain than mine.

So for my tip I would say - take the photos - they'll really encourage you. But most of all - ENJOY IT.

[mogs]

This is a REALLY hard one - don't be too eager to get things in the ground - patience really is a virtue and whilst you'll spend hours mollycoddling your plants and dodging frost, your neighbour, who refuses to plant anything until he sees well formed buds on the trees and hedges will catch you up, or worse still, overtake you and sit there looking all smug. Well that's my new year's resolution sorted!

Ooh and do, as suggested earlier, take lots of before pictures - you soon forget what it looked like in it's derelict state and this can then give you lots and lots of very smug moments comparing pictures with your now abundant (hopefully!) plot and especially sharing them with your neighbouring plot holder.

[mogs]

Ooh and start a diary on day one - I love reading this in Winter - happy memories of sun filled hours watching my efforts turn into edible items

[geoff]

Have a wander around the neighbourhood of the allotment and locate the nearest pub, and chip shop!