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What a result, and still plenty of time to lick it into shape.....enjoy 
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Many congratulations - don't give up too quickly on the shed - patching it up may be easier than building a replacement.
You might want to check with other allotment holders what protection for their fruit they use like bird-netting - growing fruit is one thing keeping it until its ripe and you can enjoy it, can be another matter altogether.Comment
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Looks brilliant. I agree with Nick about the shed. Repairs will be cheaper than going for a new one. Sheds are a ridiculous price!
Hope you all have lots of fun there.Comment
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Willl certainly be looking to patch up the shed. It has some slats missing but is still dry inside so should be good if i can patch it up.
Really chuffed yo get a plot with a lot of fruit, means that it will be relatively low maintenance and great for the kids.
The abandoned plot next door has a large fruit cage with metal mesh. I may ask the allotment officer if i could take it down and rebuild it over the crops on my plot. What do you think, would that be worth doing?
Heres a picture of the cage: -
PS the allotment is in Forest farm, so a nice quite area and only 5 minutes drive from the house.Comment
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Love Forest farm - nearly had a plot there myself once! I'm surprised they have vacant plots.
Were you offered the plot next door? Just curious!Comment
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Originally posted by Rapscallion View Post
Absolutely bang the cage would be worth it - even if you have to buy a bit of netting as long as the fruit is OK, you'll be quids in. Gardening can be very rewarding, but there is nothing in it quite so disheartening as seeing a lot of the crop you have looked forward to eating disappear to pests.
BTW I have a not very good cage for my soft fruit, but one part which I can recommend is that I use some old wire netting at ground level and keep the plastic stuff for the top. The reason being is that the plastic is easier to take down and store over winter or whatever, whereas the metal wire mesh stands up better to hoeing or being slashed at when trying to control the weeds at ground level.Comment
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Some more pictures
Overall view of the plot, blackcurrants in the front
Fruit bushes, blackcurrant on left, an unknown bush and some raspberries on the right
Strawberry patch to the left, herb patch in the middle and a small apple tree against the fence on the right
Pretty much the only space that doesn't have any fruit on it. About a 7' square area covered in plastic sheeting, no weeds underneath but have been told would need a month or so in the sunlight after raking and digging to get the soil good again.
Shed and plum trees. The officer thought the plumb trees looked quite old, but i think i'll give them at least a year to see if i can get some life into them.
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Will have a word with the allotment officer to see if i can dismantle and reuse. Not certain that i will get a positive reply as it is one of the few redeeming features of that plot. If not i have some piping that i can use to create a few frames, but will need some ideas as to how i can use the piping to make a frame high enough for the blackcurrants.Originally posted by nickdub View Post
Hi - there is a waiting list - i have been on the waiting list for 3 years or more, but they had winter clearcut of people not looking after their plots and that resulted in 5 plots available. Pretty certain the waiting list is still the same.Originally posted by veggiechicken View Post
The plot next door was recently taken (by a garden designer i believe), but i think i would still go for the plot i have due to the amount of fruit plants there. That will mean it is quite low maintenance to start and i can add in some veg crops if i see that i have some more time available. Quite tempted by some mange tout and sugar sand peas though! Perhaps on that plot in front of the shed...Last edited by Rapscallion; 27-01-2018, 05:20 PM.Comment
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thats a good plot for a new starter theres plenty of bare ground under the black plc all you have to do is brush the leaves off and compost em then roll the sheets up and plant stuff,you can do em one at a time nice and steady ! well done on getting a good plot .atbDal.Last edited by Dalrimple; 29-01-2018, 02:45 PM.Comment
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"Shed and plum trees. The officer thought the plum trees looked quite old, but i think i'll give them at least a year to see if i can get some life into them."
Definitely right to try them for at least one year if not two. They don't look old to me, but they definitely look too close together to fruit properly. Hard to say what's happened, someone amongst the other allotment holders might know. Either they've been planted too close originally or some of the trees originated as suckers from the roots I'd guess.
I'd wait until late spring and see if they all appear to flower and leaf up in an identical manner. If they are all the same type I'd take out 3 or 4 then completely with a bow saw - any that looked different I'd wait and see how they went later in the year. If you're unsure, then please post some more photos when the trees are in flower.Comment
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Thanks - thinking about growing some mange tout or sugar snap peas on that area.Originally posted by Dalrimple View PostComment
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Originally posted by nickdub View Post
Will do. Shall take some more photos when they are flowering.Comment
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PS, i have been reading up on no-dig gardening. Never knew it was a thing and sounds great! But to do it properly i need to ensure i have paths to get to the plants so i don't walk too much on the growing soil. So have been planning a rough design - would the following roughplan be any good?
I am likely not going to make any larger changes this year, but i like to have a plan!
A couple of questions,
- can the strawberries be lifted and re-planted? Or am i best taking runners from the bed this year and making a new bed from those?
- Can i lift and re-plant the rhubarb or raspberries?
- to kill off the weeds between the blackcurrant patches and also to feed the plants should i just lay a thick cover of manure / compost, or will i need some plastic or fabric also?Comment
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Be aware that no-dig gardening, as I understand it, requires making a LOT of compost/mulching materiel, so probably to be successful you either need to buy in some supplies such as straw from a local farmer or get another source, such as leaves from the local authority.Originally posted by Rapscallion View Post
As to your questions :-
a) I'd leave the strawberries where they are for now = less work and likely to be more successful
b) "moving the rhubarb or raspberries" can be done now but I'd advise against it. These plants both occupy the ground for quire a while, so the main issue you tend to get is perennial weeds growing amongst them. If you can prepare a space over the summer to make sure there are no weeds in it then you can move the plants you want in to it this Autumn.. Maybe grow some peas and or beans in that space to help enrich the soil ?
c) how you tackle weeds in the blackcurrants rather depends on what they are - a photo would be handy - putting down carpet or cardboard won't hurt anything, but it may not be enough.Comment
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I believe in Do nothing until you know what you're dealing with.
For example, do you know whether the raspberries are summer or autumn fruiting?
Or whether the strawberries are old and worn out and not worth the effort of moving them.
You don't really need many paths between fruit bushes as you only walk around them occasionally to prune or pick. Weeding is done with a hoe from outside the block.
As Nick said, you need to identify the weeds before deciding about action. I pull up perennials like dock and hogweed and hoe the heads off the rest.Comment
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