Just taken on an allotment

[DonSpillacy]

Hello Dorothy

It's actually very sturdy inside despite what it looks like. We're allowed any size of shed/greenhouse so I'm planning on re-using an old 7'x5' shed at home and building it around the exisiting shed and water butt so it will become an L shaped mega shed. That's a job for next year though... Some of the other sheds up the allotment are brilliant, real mish mash of recycled bits and bobs. I put forward an idea for a charity shed calendar but no one else was that interested.

[DonSpillacy]

I'd never eaten marrow before, to be honest I'm not a massive fan of courgettes, but it just seems that marrows are the sort of thing you have to grow at an allotment.

I bought a single marrow plant from a garden centre (75 or 80p) back in April and had it in the greenhouse for a few months (where a slug ate nearly half of it) before putting in at the allotment.

All I did was cut a circle of earth out and pop the plant in along with a bit of compost. I wasn't expecting miracles, but this is what it looked like on saturday morning.



Harvested it and along with a chilli and an onion from the allotment...



(And some bought mince and cheese) I ended up with this.



Have to admit, it was very nice. Despite marrow not really tasting of anything and being a bit watery, it was a good change. I think I'll pick the next one when it's a bit smaller as, despite making some chutney, some of the other half got wasted.

[DonSpillacy]

A year on

As it's now just over a year since I took the allotment on, here's before and (fairly recent) after photos.







I still haven't sorted out the shed or greenhouse, but they're still standing after the winter gales which is good. Most of the plot (bar the bottom dumping ground) has been dug over and I'm racing through this year's planting.

Future plans include sorting out the greenhouse (I've found some polycarb sheets for £4 each on ebay), finishing the path off and tackling the bottom of the plot. I reckon none of these will get done before xmas though.

[DiggerSean]

Nice work Don, certainly made a big difference in only a year. I got my polycarbonate from ebay too. Can't remember what I paid for it but was about the same price you're quoting. Think I made an offer and got it a bit cheaper. Only thing I would say about it is make sure you secure it well into the greenhouse, otherwise strong winds carry the sheets for miles!

[DonSpillacy]

Nice work Don, certainly made a big difference in only a year. I got my polycarbonate from ebay too. Can't remember what I paid for it but was about the same price you're quoting. Think I made an offer and got it a bit cheaper. Only thing I would say about it is make sure you secure it well into the greenhouse, otherwise strong winds carry the sheets for miles!

Thanks DiggerSean. The allotments are quite exposed and on the side of a hill, so I'll take your advice and secure them very well.

[Enthusiastic Newbie]

Absolute beginner git plot today and don't know where to start....

As the title suggests I'm completely new to all this. I got a plot today 5sq rods and it has been somewhat neglected. There seems to be a plum tree, gooseberry bush and a blackberry bush in there somewhere. I literally know nothing about even the most basic gardening, I'm 26 and never even had a garden. I am, however, full of enthusiasm and not afraid of hard work. I intend to take my 6 year old daughter with me at weekends as I recently went into her school to grow lettuces and beans on their vegetable patch. This consisted of me digging a long line and sprinkling along a packet of seeds for the lettuces. For the beans I tied some sticks together and poked in the seeds around each stick. The kids then watered them and they all grew successfully. Rather more by luck than judgement. Anyway we both enjoyed seeing the results what we had grown and decided we wanted to build on this.
Any advice gratefully received (especially in very basic language without advanced terminology!!) Thanks in advance

[DonSpillacy]

Hello EnthusiasticNewbie and welcome. You'll probably get more help if you post this as a new thread as more people will see it.

The plot looks good, apart from all the grass! My suggestion would be to keep the tree and fruit bushes, you've then got a choice of blitzing with weedkiller and starting again, or taking the long way round and digging all the grass and weeds out. Using weedkiller or not is a personal choice, I decided not to, but the previous tennant on my plot did weedkill everything a few months before he gave it up. If you do choose to dig and weed by hand, strim it first then make sure you cover as much as possible to help kill it off and stop it regrowing (black plastic, old carpets, cardboard, anything the light can't get through.)

In the early days of mine, I found it best to plant something everytime I went to the allotment (even if it was just a few spring onion seeds) - this way it doesn't just become a chore of digging with nothing to show for it.

Good luck, although it might seem overwhelming at first, tiny steps will get you there.