Been offered my first allotment, pics plus where do I start!

[JaniceH]

Hi all
After only a couple of months of waiting (its a really popular site, so thrilled) today I was offered my very first plot. Its a half plot on an established allotment site and had been previously owned by someone who was described as 'starting things and never quite finishing them'. The plot is therefore filled with 'stuff' and has a massive overgrown apple tree which is coming out (its beginning to overshadow other people's plots and is leaning rather). The plot is going to be cleared of rubbish and the tree by the council and then we can get on it. We will be allowed a little shed and were told it would be best to site it where the black compost bin is currently. Looking at the pics, it makes it look tiny, but the plot slopes away slightly and makes it look smaller.

Im sure I will have lots of questions, but in the meantime, once it has been cleared of rubbish, if this was yours, what would you do first? I cant afford a shed yet. My overall plan is to have 6 raised/edged beds (4 veg, one fruit and one flowers), a small shed and little paths with weed suppressant and woodchip. Im just twitching a bit about getting a bed ready for potatoes.

Right hand side, it goes from the blue leaved plant at the right hand side of the screen to just past the blue plastic hoops.


Left hand side of the plot with the overgrown apple tree, you can see how much it has been neglected. The plot runs to the black compost bin.


Just off centre of the plot, you can just see the 'archway' that is dead centre and some of the 'stuff'. Sadly most of it is in a worse state that you can see in the pic and very little is salvageable.

[Bigmallly]

Congrats on your new plot Janice, don't try & do everything at once otherwise it will stop being enjoyable. Have a mosey around some cycle shops or large retailers & try and get as much cardboard as you can. Once cleared, cover the plot with cardboard leaving only the workable area exposed, this should hopefully weaken any weeds that may be growing............Little & often but most of all enjoy it.

[spamvindaloo]

I don't think that looks too bad. Mine was a forest of tall weeds when I got it with junk hidden amongst the weeds and was really uneven with random hills and holes everywhere. I tackled mine by strimmimg (actually the allotment Secretary did that for me), clearing the junk, killing the remainder of the weeds with Glyphosate (many people on here will disagree with this but it worked for me), then rotavated (again, many will disagree with this one) to level and prepare the soil before covering (I used weed control fabric but you can use other stuff like cardboard).

What you can do will depend on what your soil is like, i.e. type of soil and condition, at the moment my plot is very, very wet.

From what I can tell from the pics, I'd get rid of any junk, and try to remove anything large and unwanted (shrubs etc). Then cover the ground and try to dig a small area at a time if it's not too wet. Try to plan your layout although this will change many times. Don't put tall stuff like trees and raspberry or blackberry canes to the south as they will block the sun. You can put soft fruit and trees in at this time of year if you know where you want them to go and you've got the area ready. Not too much actual growing can be done at this time of year but you can get things ready. Read as much as you can on here as there's ton of great advice. Plus check out various allotment channels on YouTube. Then hit the seed catalogues and order everything in sight (well, most of it)

[Scarlet]

Lucky you! It looks great what are you thinking of growing besides your spuds?

[muddled]

Congratulations Janice!

Do you have space at home to start seeds?
Windowsills places like that?

Do you have any kind of time frame for when the council will have it cleared?
Are we talking a couple of weeks?
Or possibly months?

This month there are 'seedy Sunday' and 'potato day' events up and down the country. There is a thread on here somewhere about them.
If you find one locally you'll be able to get loads of advice there along with a fantastic (and cheap) selection of seeds and seed potatoes.

When you have an idea of when your plot will be cleared you can sow seeds indoors so you'll have little plants ready to put in each section that you clear...but don't start them too early. Plants started a little late will usually catch up. Plants started too early get leggy and weak and rarely give good crops.

If you're chomping at the bit to get started, buy a cheap pad of graph paper and measure your plot. Make several possible plans on the graph paper of where you want things to go and (importantly) how much space you need for paths, composting and for each plant. Some things, like brussel sprouts for example, take an awful lot more room than you'd imagine!

Take lots of 'before' photos to measure your progress.

What fun, I'm excited for you!

[skeggijon]

Congratulations on your new plot. Compared to plots I have taken in the past, I actually think it looks in really good condition.

[JaniceH]

Just a bit of an update the plot is getting there. It's taken six full car loads of just junk and just over a month to get to this. The previous tenant had been described as digging big holes and just planting in them and it appears that was true as it was like a lunar landscape, complete with foot long parsnips and beetroot the size of my hand! Despite being only in my early 40's, I've got some damage in my back and my mum is 70, so we got the gardener who mows her lawn to dig over, remove the couch grass and level the plot for us (no rotovator). The plot is now going to be covered in weed membrane before our raised beds are going on and wood chip paths. I'm still saving for my little shed.

[Bigmallly]

Your gardener has done a great job.

[JaniceH]

Thank you, getting it dug over once completely means that we can do everything else ourselves. It feels like a bit of a cheat but the site has a rule about getting a certain percentage cultivated quickly after taking on a plot.

[Bigmallly]

You do what you need to do at the end of the day. No point in injuring yourself when you don't need to.

[veggiechicken]

Looks great, Janice. Not really a cheat as some people would hire a rotovator to turn it over - but wouldn't get such a good result as your gardener has.
Have you decided what you'll grow yet?

[JaniceH]

Looks great, Janice. Not really a cheat as some people would hire a rotovator to turn it over - but wouldn't get such a good result as your gardener has.
Have you decided what you'll grow yet?

Yes, I've loved the planning part which will evolve over time as well I expect. I'm going to have 7 raised beds, 4 in rotation, one a permanent fruit bed/cage with Autumn raspberries and a black currant (Ebony) for jam. One is permanent strawberries also for jam and eating and one for cut flowers. The front edge of the plot will have lavender Hidcote as a mini hedge for bees and cutting. Hopefully going to get an old English climbing rose for the archway with sweet peas on it too.

Veggies wise it will be this year in my rotation beds 1 bed Kestrel and Cara potatoes. 1 bed carrots/onions/leeks, 1 bed French beans/peas/squash and final bed salad and broccoli

That's the plan anyway haha

[KevinM67]

It's looking good Janice.

Although, regarding the permanent bed for strawberries - I wouldn't recommend it.

If you are going to have a bed for flowers, I'd try and squeeze in another - that way you can rotate your strawbs over a 3 year cycle.

[alldigging]

What a good idea getting someone else to do the first dig - especially as it sounded a bit treacherous.

[Root66]

A proper dig in the first place has really helped my plot. My neighbour took his plot on at the same time as I did and in the same condition, but did not bother clearing properly. He thought just rotovating was good enough and he has a much harder task removing deep rooted weeds. A good move in acquiring some help with this first major task.

Nice one Janice.