Advice please...

[becky250970]

I'm getting an allotment at the beginning of June on a brand new site so I have a complete blank canvas. The size of the allotment is approx 101 sq yd. I'm trying to get a basic plan in my head of what I want to achieve. I have access to unlimited pallets to edge my beds but just wondered what the average/ideal size is for a bed or is this just a personal preference? I wouldn't want to walk on the beds unless absolutely necessary. I do want to grow the main groups brassicas, legumes etc. and I will be erecting a greenhouse for my peppers etc. Any advice???
Thanks in advance.

[Hans Mum]

there'll be loads of advice coming your way, my twopenneth worth is to make your raised beds about 4' wide so you can weed them from either side without having to stand on them, think about permanent crops such as fruit bushes/rhubarb/asparagus that you might want and think about an area (nr your greenhouse maybe?) for sitting & surveying your plot and having a cuppa

[SarzWix]

Yup, I'd agree with that, my beds are 1.2m wide and I can reach to the middle from the path with no problem. Don't make them so long that you try and jump over them rather than walk round either.
Work out where the sun is going to be throughout the day, so that you don't site your greenhouse & shed where it will cast shade over your beds, and don't forget space for water butts/compost bins too.

If you're like me, you'll draw your plans a good few times before you're happy with them, and even then you might change your mind a few times, so I'd say don't edge the beds straight away, until you're sure that your plan is working!

Some books, like Andi Clevely's Allotment book, Sarah Raven's Great Vegetable Plot, and John Seymour's Self Sufficiency book (amongst others ) have good sections on planning your plot. Might be worth a gander at the library to see if you can borrow a few.

[becky250970]

Thanks to you both. I'm going to sit at lunchtime, pencil and graph paper in hand and have a go.

[Alison]

My beds are 4' by 10' and I have (or will when I've finished digging them all!) have 12 of them based round a 4 year rotation ie 3 per year. When I clear the other end of the plot I may well build another 4 but that's not definite yet. As people say, draw up a plan but keep it a bit flexible and review as you go along. You won't be able to do it all at once and as you use the first bit it may make you change your mind about the next bit.

[Lottieval]

Completely agree with Alison and SarzWix, do you know yet in which direction your plot will run? You may not have as much choice as you like but you'll find something that works, The shape and size of mine dictated that my beds ran E-W rather that N-S but it works fine and as it's on a slope things don't really shade each other. I think the point about not making them too long is really important, you might feel you are wasting growing space by dividing into two but if you walk on them to cross to t'other side to work you're defeating the object. Good luck, it's really exciting I waited 4 years for mine as there are only 6 in the town, been going on it for 3years now and love it.

[snohare]

Just to be an awkward so and so - my beds were all 1.2m (4') wide, I have recently narrowed them all to 1m ! I reckoned that this width is easier for buying fleece, netting, etc which often comes in 1.5m widths which makes a hoop for a 1m bed, and also with a bit of a bad back, it makes the stretching that much less. Depending on aspect, it may also speed up the warming of the soil. Since they are relatively short (2 - 3m at most) I make the longitudinal paths between them narrow and save space that way, while leaving the paths at each end wide enough for a wheelbarrow; between that and the width of the beds, I reckon the growing area is about the same as usual.

[becky250970]

Thanks for the advice everyone. It really has given me food for thought. I don't yet know the aspect as the allotments have not yet been finished, I've just been give the size. We've been told they should be open at the beginning of June and that is when we will be allocated our plot. I can't help but plan a little.

[Lottieval]

I don't know about plan a little, my head would be buzzin' and I'd be growing all sorts of things in pots which would probably be going mad by the time the lottie was ready to plant them! Is it going to be bare field or will council or whoever owns it rotovate it for you? You've only got about 5 weeks to wait (hopefully), there's loads of stuff you could be starting off. See what I mean, don't listen to me or you'll soon be as batty as I am!

[becky250970]

I know what you mean, Lottieval. I am trying to play it down a little as I will drive myself and everyone around me mad. The site used to be private allotments (years ago) but whoever owned them sold them to a housing developer but the council wouldn't grant planning permission for all of it to be developed, the council have got some land back and are converting back to allotments. Its bare land at the moment and I do know that my council do rotavate for new tenants. I have started off some toms and peppers that are suitable for pots so if we are delayed then they should be alright.

[DaveInBraknell]

Hi Becky,


My golden rules as follows (it is working out, what with watering, moving things, wheelbarrows moving around, planting distances et al.)

1)Bed no longer than 4m long. You'll get bored of walking around it and take short cuts otherwise.

2)Bed no wider than 1.5 m, you can reach the middle easily from the path and it gives you some good metrics on planting distances 30cm appart gives 3 managable rows, 45cm (larger brassicas) gives 2 rows. Thats 20 cabbages/caulis per bed or 45 plants at 30cm distance (Approx)

3)Paths no wider than 50cm, otherwise your wasting space. Any narrower than 50cm and your going to be putting your size (x) feet into the bed next to you. Also 50cm allows you to move a wheelbarrow down the plot and move it around nicely.

Bit like a roman grid system I know but it is efficent. On my plot using this system we have 26 beds, albeit 5 of them are 3.5m long due to space limitations. Problem is to much space now and a tendancy to overgrow lol, beauty is we have a permanent fruit beds permanent asparagus beds 6 beds of tatties (early, main and second earlies) 4 beds of brassicas.



Dave

[snohare]

I'd add another rule to Dave's, which I think is the over-riding one: if you know of a successful system, use it ! Dave evidently has exactly the template for success that he needs; if I was starting up again I'd probably try to follow that, rather than "growing one organically" as I have done. But in the end, it will often depend on the measurements of your plot, mine is full of corners that can't be used or modified, a rectangular un-tree-shaded area you can plan a lot more effectively.
At the end of the day, the loss of a few centimetres will scarcely matter unless famine strikes....

[Maximillian]

START BUYING LOADS OF SEEDS!!! oh sorry, should i be sharing that?!

[becky250970]

LOL!!! Maximillian, I already have. I'm addicted to buying seeds. I'm waiting for a huge order to arrive as we speak.

[tootles]

My advice for the firs year would be not to make any permenant beds. Use a row system until you have seen your plot throughout a whole year cycle. Then you will have a better idea of drainage, shade, winds and what sorts of things you can or can't grow. Paricularly if this is new site, there are no 'old boys' to ask or follow.

When I built my plot, I had all my beds running N-S and downhill. I was really tempted to make nice neat raised beds (thankfully I didn't) I realised halfway through the season that the water all drained N-S and the veg on the S side were much less happy than those on the N end. This year I am trying a E-W row system.

I would sow seeds at home, ready for planting out asap. Leave the heavy building and long term planning 'til the Autumn.

(It's very exciting though isn't it!!)