Wooooooohoooooooooo!!!!!

[Novice Gardener]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, I'm sooooooooooooo excited. I've not been on the waiting list for a lottie that long - only a couple of months, but I've been emailing the Allotments Officer on a weekly basis to see if any plots have become vacant as I'd visited all the sites locally and seen a few that looked untended and she kept emailing back saying no, but I've just received an email from her offering me a plot at a lovely site about 5 minutes away from my house. Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooooo, yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
I've got to phone the rep when I get the letter and arrange to meet him/her over there. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

[piskieinboots]

hard to stop smiling isn't it

[moggssue]

Oooohhhhh how exciting!!!!!!!!! So do you know which plot you have? Well done - just goes to show that persistence does pay off.

[dinky_doo]

when i was looking for my plot i got the reps number and got a plot the next day
but when we went to have a gander at it the rep said "it needs a quick trim "
thistles 4 ft high pampas grass all over the place
we were a little shocked but got stuck in and now its looking brilliant
all the best in your new plot enjoy it

[shirlthegirl43]

Many congratulations Novice Gardener. Take it gently and enjoy yourself.

[HeyWayne]

Welcome to the world of the insane! Now the fun really begins in earnest! Good luck with it and be sure to keep us posted.

[Novice Gardener]

Thanks everyone. She did say part of it was a bit overgrown, but that one of the other tennants is willing to rotivate it for me. I was only saying yesterday that I've run outta space in my garden. I've just been out and bought some potting compost so I can get some more bits sown in loo roll thingys. I've not stopped grinning like a lunatic

[TPeers]

Errr..... rotovate? Perenial weeds? Not to rain on your parade - but not wise!

Congratulations on getting your lottie - I'm sure you can't wait to get started, but chopping perenial weed roots into the soil with a rotovator is really not a good move - you will have deep-rooted nasties comming up for years!

I know it is harder but it would be better to strim to remove top growth and stop seed setting and then slowly dig by hand, removing all thick/white roots.

Still - gives you something to do while you wait for all those lovely seeds to germinate and will give you an excellent feel for the ground as per clay or sand, moisture retention properties and whether it is stony or not (a problem for carrots, parsnips and other tap root crops such as salsify)

[lottie dolly]

congratulations novice gardener,the hard work will repay you when you taste the first home grown meal

[bluemoon]

Congratulations! I just love reading posts like this.

[pete10]

Nice one this where the fun starts

[zazen999]

Excellent news. Ours was rotavated when we got it; and my OH had a bit of a hissy fit tonight as we had to dig up the main crop spuds - dig out all the couch grass/deep perennial spiky weeds and replant the spuds. I took us 2 hours to do about 5 ft of space.

Not good - but I had to get the spuds in otherwise we wouldn't have had any at all.

Ours is 9 minutes walk from home; we walked it tonight as every other time we've driven due to having to take tools/compost/plants/etc there. Not bad - 9 minutes.

Anyway - enjoy the ride; and good luck whichever way you sort those weeds out.

[Novice Gardener]

Awwwww, thanks again for all your advice. The lottie lady said she'd posted the letter out first class, giving me the name of the lottie rep who I had to call to sort it all out, but I couldn't resist popping down there earlier. Well if its the plot I think it is, OMFG it's HUGE. And its covered in what looks like a good years growth. On the plus side, all the other plots look really well cared for, so hopefully there'll be peeps there eager to give me lots of advice/and/or help. Funny how you can read something, but not really read it..... I'd bought a book about lotties by Susan Berger (or summink like that), first time I picked it up (about 3 weeks ago) I skimmed it from cover to cover, then I re-read it, paying most attention to the bits about sowing and growing so I could take heed with my raised beds in my tiny garden..... but tonight, well I've read and re-read and re-read the bits about preparing your plot, and planning and the like.......oooooooooooooooo, I'm soooooooooooo excited

[chuffa]

Hi NG, like shirlthegirl says, take your time. Years ago when i got my first lottie, i had the same ooooooooo and yaaaaaaaaa. I wanted to get stuck in grow every thing and feed the fivethousand. The easy thing was to get it rotavated then plant, plant and plant. Because my hours had changed at work, the lottie ended up becoming a burden not a pleasure, growing more weeds than veg. On my new plot i took my time to plan it out. Drew a plan of the lottie, what crops i wanted to grow, the rotation, the shed, compost heap, paths, the lot. If you miss some crops this year, there is always next year. To help you, try and get hold of Andi Clevely's book, The Allotment Book. Most of all, enjoy yourself and have a great time.

[Novice Gardener]

Well, it's officially mine now. I met the guy over there last night to go through everything. Its HUGE - well it is to me - its 125sq metres. Theres a bit at the top with potatoes growing, but more weeds than potatoes, then the rest of it is covered with thistles, couch grass & brambles. I won't get my key till next week, but the site representative has offered to meet me there on Saturday to give me a hand with digging the weeds out. I want to take some piccies before we start so I can see how far I'm getting with it