New allotment!

[weetabixface]

anyone have a fool proof idea for doing a DIY shed haha?

pallets, lots and lots of pallets

how much of slope do you have? One side of my plot is ~1 inch per foot in both directions, which has been a challenge

you could add some terraces to level it out in sections, or if you are planning raised beds deal with it that way

W

[Paulie]

Wish I was 5'2" - I'd be about a foot closer to the soil!

[Bluenowhere]

That gives me hope! I fell it'll be never ending, it's growing quick with the forever changing weather so looks worse now that when I started last week, I was just putting it there as i was putting my tools in it and didnt want it near the start, originally I wanted it it the entrance of plot, but for the first year anyway I think i will sow seeds at my house so i have a better chance of looking after them lol.
anyone have a full proof idea for doing a DIY shed haha?

Don’t give up hope. Honestly sounds like exactly what happened to us on the bits we didn’t deal with quickly enough. If you dig out the roots the very best you can year two is so much easier.

That’s okay then, I’d never heard of a frost pocket when I started so thought I’d mention it

That’s what I’ve done the last two years, next year I’m going to try down the allotment for the first time!

We got a very cheap small shed from gumtree and extended it with old fence panels which we replaced in our garden.

[Jay-ell]

That gives me hope! I fell it'll be never ending, it's growing quick with the forever changing weather so looks worse now that when I started last week, I was just putting it there as i was putting my tools in it and didnt want it near the start, originally I wanted it it the entrance of plot, but for the first year anyway I think i will sow seeds at my house so i have a better chance of looking after them lol.
anyone have a full proof idea for doing a DIY shed haha?

Glad that you now have a spark of hope in your heart. Starting a new plot can be daunting but it can also be exhilarating as everything is going to be new. Your plot isn't in that bad condition judging from the photos - some other plots need a touch more TLC

Take your time and go at a pace that suits you, just cover everything else. You'll remember the first time - the first home grown strawberry, the first new potatoes, the first crop of onions. You want that first time to be special and memorable so take the time to get things right.

As long as YOU like what you're growing and enjoy the time you're putting into it then it's worthwhile. Don't worry about what others think, so grow your beans and tomatoes together and others can't get their heads around that then that's their problem.

If you think that there's going to be too much to work next year then growing stuff like pumpkins, winter squash and main crop potatoes that will be in for a long time and (once they get going) hold their own against weeds. Cucimbers can also be grown on the ground but don't have as dense foliage as giant pumpkins.

If you do go the pumpkin/squash route I have to warn you it may be hard to eat the harvest - both my sister and mother have decided that a pile of winter squash make a nice "kitchen ornament" - a bit like plaits of garlic or strings of onions (sometimes I wish I hadn't started them, it makes them harder to eat)

[MissPea]

Well... it lasted 6 days before it has blown away the winds have proved too strong for my little flyaway.
Back to square 1 with the storage for my tools...

[muck lover]

Congratulations on your new plot. I agree that covering the soil will be a good move.
If I were you I’d go and get cardboard to cover the soil. Weigh it down until winter rain soaks it. And then mulch with any organic matter you can get your hands on. Autumn leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds or peelings- anything that will break down eventually. It may take a Little time but you will get there!

[Jay-ell]

At this time opf year once you've dug an area up you could sow some winter green manure to occupy the ground till spring. September is a good time to sow these.

Green manures lock up[ nitrogen from the soil and build up organic mass, both with their roots and with the above ground parts. They also help to keep other weeds at bay by covering the ground. You pull them up/chop them down when they start to produce flowers or about a month before you want to plant out in the soil (gives time for them to die off and break down ) and either

1. Dig them into the soil (more hard work and more digging)
2. Run over them with a mower and mulch the soil with the shredded remains (may take longer to totally break down but can be raked out the way)
3. Add them to the compost bin.

Green manures for sowing this time of the year can include

• Field Beans/Broad Beans (if you leave a patch in you even get beans)
• Mustards (might be a problem if you're growing brassicas and have club root issues)
• Winter Vetch/Tares
• Forage Peo
• Fodder Darish/Daikon (long roots penetrate down and once the top gets chopped off rots down to a deep hole filled with organic matter. A brassica so the same as mustard
• Grazing Rye
• Phacelia - may survive over winter in sheltered sites

Having used grazing rye before I would avoid this if you don't want to totally redig the plot in spring as it grew back for me after strimming (twice) and needed to be dug. It did produce alot of root mass though (which in turn made it harder to dig - you can't win)

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=373
https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/gre...saAhPMEALw_wcB

Mole seeds do decent sized packs of green manure
https://www.wholesale.molesseeds.co..../green-manure/

[MissPea]

Hi muck lover, thank you, that was my plan but lack of organic matter and copious amounts of couch grass and mares tail have made me dig the whole thing up. although not actually as daunting as I though.
I am planning a no dig from next year though.

I have phacelia bought in bulk from premier seeds, already sown in one part, should I be worried? as I'm thinking my site is quite open, if it doesn't survive the winter do I chop this up before it dies of leave it to die itself. or if it does survive do i keep it growing until spring? sorry for the questions! can tell I'm new to this.

[Jay-ell]

Green manure is simply growing something to cover an area to keep the weeds down, stop the nutrients washing away and produce extra organic matter to bulk up the soil.

It's survived overwinter in Newcastle, don't know about Glasgow. If it dies off that's fine, just leave it to break down and rake off any residue just before you plant/sow and pop it into the compost.

If it survives then you want to give the roots long enough to break down so hoe it off a month before you want to use the area. It might be possible to pull it up with some of the roots to make sure it stops growing (twist as you pull from the bottom to snap off the rest of the roots). So you could clear it around Feb/March/April.

It's also a good idea to cut it back before it produces seed so if it's still in cut it down when it starts to flower. If you have a lawn mower then running the mower over the stems and leaves will break them into small bits which will then break down quicker.

Having dug up the plot now I doubt that you'll want to dig it all in so you can either rake it in to the top of the soil, use it all in a smaller area so it produces a thicker mulch to suppress seedlings or add it to the compost bin.

[MissPea]

Thank you very much that helps! Can I ask one more silly question �� there’s been a few times I have dug up some roots of weeds etc and I’ve came across what looks like perhaps an old bonfire (only small patches) and old screws and parts of metal also in amongst the black soil like those along with something else have been burned. Is this gonna affect my produce?

[Jay-ell]

Well, they won't have an iron deficiency for one

Got loads in my beds. The danger comes from using your hands in the soil incase of jabbing yourself.

[MissPea]

Not been to the allotment in 2 weeks (holiday, weather, work) but got there yesterday and this is the progress. Decided the best thing for the first year to do traditional beds as I’m running out of motivation due to the volume of the couch grass and mares tail also normal grass which seems a bit more difficult to remove than any of them.
I also added a temporary tipi for placement for the kids, (and peas and squash) anyone know where’s I can get the big bean poles rather than the bamboo canes?
I have potatoes (one row) in the first, and green manure in the remaining, and green manure up the back right hand side.
Also have back fabric membrane up the back to get an idea where my shed will go 😍

[MissPea]

That was meant to be hazel stick bean poles***

[MissPea]

So I’ve been up the past couple of sundays in a row and got quite a lot done. I’m almost finished digging it all over I have my compost bins sort of up (stuck together with slabs, still need to screw them together) and slabs are down for my shed when I get it.
I also went up today and got my autumn and summer reaspberries in. Might be too close together but we’ll soon see! Also have green manure in a most of the beds, except the first where my potatoes have died in the frost 😫.
Feel like it’s coming along quite quickly now.

[Chestnut]

Wow! You’re making great progress. Keep up the good work ;-)