HELP what to plant where

[inquiries@all-cool.co.uk]

Hi there i have just taken on an allotment and would like some advise o best things to plant and where to plant them.

I like and want to grow everything (part of the problem)

I have a half plot, have made 3 beds one side each 13ft x 11ft (left hand side of photo) and two 10x 6ft (on right)

The two left hand back beds i have added manure to.

the front bed (left) looks like it will mostly be shaded as there are trees and bushes (blackberry) growing. Just before this bed is where i have made a little pond where my son has added frogspawn.

[Gwyndy]

Looks good so far but what you need is a good veg gardening book (I always carry 'The Vegetable and Herb Expert' by Dr D.G. Hessayon - simple and straightforward) and a blank piece of paper. No-one can tell you what to grow - this is a personal choice. Spend a little time in planning and it'll pay dividends.

[Spiderling]

Hi! It looks brilliant..is that all yours? I heartily endorse what Gwyndy says about the "Doctor" book as he tells you all you need to know about crop rotation and which veg to plant together, following each other etc. As for what to grow, well, the only advice I can offer is, grow only what you know you enjoy...to start with anyhow!! Once you have some ground cultivated, get something in it as soon as you can, even if it means buying a few plants from a nursery/garden centre. I would definately get some seed potatoes and plant those for a starter, preferably in the bed which has the "worst" soil, though it all looks good!!! The allotment is your oyster! When we got our plot five years ago, we divided it into four (St George cross style) We planted root crops in the first (potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions, leeks,& shallots, beetroot) Brassicas in the second ( different varieties of cabbage, cauliflower, calabrese, Sprouts) Legumes in the third (broad beans, peas, french beans and runner beans. The fourth tends to be planted with things like courgettes, salad stuff, and things we haven't got room for in the others! We also built a fruit section which has gooseberry, blackcurrant, red currant. We built a cage over it eventually as the birds were harvesting more than us! I now have two greenhouses,in which I grow tomatoes, cucumbers, and sweet peppers. Draw yourself a plan and try to get an idea of what you want to achieve...the first year is mostly trial and error but it all comes together eventually. Good luck and most of all..enjoy! Hope this helps a bit. Cheers.

[snohare]

I am currently planning what to plant this year, and I am doing it by soil type. My reasoning goes thus: some plants want sandy soil, some high in nitrogen, some low in nitrogen, medium, manured, etc. What do I actually have in my beds, or have to put in them ? Well, what I have now, is all I'm going to have this year. So I have perforce had to set aside just one bed for potatoes - that's all the manure I have - and just one for root crops like salsify, scorzonera and carrots, because that is all the sandy soil I have. But high nitrogen, alkaline soil I have aplenty, so I will be growing lots of leafy brassicas this year. Shade hardly matters to me where I am, all I am concerned about is nutrients, beneficial bacteria and fungi.
This is the first year I have really come close to having the right sort of quantity of soil in my raised beds (two boards high, where possible). In future years, were I to be staying with this plot (sadly, I'm moving in August, so back to square one ) I would be trying to fine tune the soil types rather than just getting as much bulk, humus etc as possible, as I have been doing.

[inquiries@all-cool.co.uk]

thanks for your help
starting to make a plan already

[snohare]

Oh, and....always have a Plan B !!!

[Eyren]

Hi and welcome to the Vine! (BTW, hope that username isn't getting you spammed! You could ask the site administrators to change it for you...)

Nice plot - wish mine was half as tidy

As has been said above, a good book is essential. There are several good titles around, so you might want to spend some time in a bookshop (if you have a good one near you) and find one you like. Myself, I'm into organic and no-dig gardening, so I tend to recommend books that advocate these approaches, but I realise that not everyone wants to garden that way. A book specifically about allotments might be a good choice, since as well as being very food-production-oriented they usually cover issues that don't affect home gardeners (like how to manage a plot that isn't close to home).

I would also contradict Snohare's advice (it's a general rule here that everyone has their own way of doing things!) about trying to get the soil exactly right for each plant. If you're going to rotate crops from bed to bed, that's a lot of work adjusting the soil each season! Most veg like broadly similar conditions, as in, most prefer a neutral to slightly alkaline pH, moist but free-draining and fairly rich in nutrients. You can make some adjustments, like adding more manure and fertilizer to beds that will have hungry crops on them, but it's easy to get too hung up on it

The final point that I would make is that an allotment (or garden) is an evolving work-in-progress. Obviously there are some long-term decisions that need to be made, particularly where to site perennials and large structures such as sheds, but everything else you will probably end up tweaking several times before you are happy with it.

So, back to your original question...

1. I would set aside the shady bed as somewhere to grow leafy things that benefit from cooler conditions - lettuce, spinach, rocket and suchlike. Most of these aren't prone to persistent soil diseases, so you can leave this bed out of the rotation and make the best use of the microclimate. Modest amounts of manure (or chicken manure pellets) will keep nitrogen levels high enough to produce leafy growth, but you don't want it too rich or the plants will grow soft and being more attractive to pests. This would also make a good area for your shed if you are planning on having one, but in the meantime, get some fast-growing salad in there to make good use of the ground.

2. I would use the recently manured beds for space-hogging, greedy feeders such as brassicas and squash/courgettes

3. Out of the rest, save your most finely-tilled area for crops that need to be sown direct, such as carrots

4. Use the remainder of the non-manured area for beans, peas, onions and whatever other veg you fancy.

Get some seed potatoes and onion sets (baby onions, ready to grow quickly into full-sized ones) in there asap, and start sowing everything else. Now is when everything is bursting into life. Unfortunately that also applies to weeds, so keep your hoe handy!

Good luck!

[Beanie]

Congrats on getting your new allotment!
In your pics there's wire-mesh fencing panels around two sides of your plot - is that permanent? If yes, the one at the end by the compost bins (looks like it's south-facing, if my deductions are right) might be a good place to put some climbing beans, using the fence for support . . .