Shall I take the plunge or not?

[Glutton4...]

I'm with Auntie Flum - £20 is a bargain! It is also not too much to lose if things turn out to be impossible due to rabbits/theft/vandals etc. If you turn it down, how long will you have to wait for another?

All plot-holders will have to keep the paths clear, so one of them could do your bit in return for you doing something for them. I read on here recently of someone sinking a wheelie-bin or similar in the ground to store stuff in, and kept it covered over so it couldn't be seen. That's a superb idea, and proves just how resourceful some people can be!

I'd say go for it - you can always give it up if it doesn't suit you. Good luck with whatever you choose!

[elizajay]

I took an allotment that is next to tall trees. We can't have sheds and I have to carry water from a central standpipe and the soil is clay and has plenty of bindweed and horsetail. I have several raised beds which work very well and have put in fruit bushes, step over apple trees and cordon pear trees. I am told that several people failed on my allotment before me and I am philosophical about weeds as are most others on the site. It is fantastic for growing cougettes and squashes. Salad leaves are great and things like pak choi. Leeks are good. I fail with brassicas because even under cloches as the cabbage white caterpillars get them. I am sure beans and peas would do well, but I grow them eslewhere. I had a fantastic crop of raspberries last year. I water little and the tomatoes I grew in a raised bed last year appeared to thrive on neglect. Potatoes have done fine.
I put in asparagus in my first year and regret it. Most didn't survive and they take up a lot of room and don't compete well with weeds. My neighbour does well with them on a more established allotment. They also take a few years to get to producing well. Might be better to plan to put them in next autumn.

[Two_Sheds]

carrying my garden chair back and forth is the thing that gets me. Got to have a sit down and a cup of tea after all!

Darn right. You can have canes right? I'd make myself a bean-screen (French or runners) and hide your chair behind them. Or a large wig-wam with a section missing, big enough for your chair

I would have to invest in a folding wheelbarrow?

Waste of money, useless

how can I keep weeds down without resorting to weedkiller.

Hand-weeding, mulching (lots of older threads on here, do have a search through)

Is there any particular veggies that are easy for a new gardener

Tell us what you like to eat: that'll narrow it down a bit.

Also, soft fruits

Strawberries & raspberries are dead easy. Beg some runners & cuttings from your neighbours in the spring

[Hazel at the Hill]

Down to the bare bones tool-wise, I'd say that a fork is essential, and a spade and a hoe are useful - anything else is handy, but not necessary.

I'd take the plot - you've nothing to lose & can always give it back if it doesn't work out.

[Hazel at the Hill]

I don't know if I'm being daft but carrying my garden chair back and forth is the thing that gets me. Got to have a sit down and a cup of tea after all!

I have one of those folding canvas chairs that slips into a cover which I can keep in the boot of the car, and I have a flask for coffee.

I'd grow loads of spuds to start off, and I wouldn't put in any soft fruit bushes till the following year when you will have a better idea of layout of the plot.

[Flummery]

I kept my path clipped with shears for a year. Now I have an inexpensive push mower. I take it down in the wheelbarrow! Only possible if you live VERY close-by.

[Snadger]

Just look on it as a challenge......I would! I can understand why the restrictions are there and would certainly put up with them if I had to.

You need to be inovative and think of ways arround things. A shed is nice but not a necessity. Dig a hole (in an out of the way part of the plot) 6 foot long, 2 foot wide and 18 inches deep. Line it with polythene or wood if you like. Put your tools in hole and place an old door on top........wallah, tool storage in an underground shed!
If you are allowed water butts you can either build a canopy over them with a downpipe feeding the butt, or sink them in the soil and use the cut off top as a cone to filter rainwater into the butt.
Fences are a pain anyway and you could delineate your plot with soft fruit trees or a fedge (fruiting hedge)
No mention of cold frames? Who needs a greenhouse when you've got a big cold frame or cloche.

There must be others who will let you borrow a lawnmower or you could lawnmower share? A small strimmer could be just as effective? Or dare I say it you could apply growth retardent to the grassed area!

Allotments are about land, and growing stuff on that land, anything else is just frills!

[Jardiniere]

with all that advice you just have to go for it!! And we will all give you further advice as you go along..........looking forward to you first photos in the spring.........

[Alison]

It wouldn't really suit me, one of the things I like about my plot is the serious lack of rules and the main one (well pretty much the only one ) is that you don't annoy your lottie neighbour. However, I'm speaking from a position of having a plot which makes it different. What you need to consider is whether or not if you didn't take this one, would you get another plot on a less restrictive and pinikedy (sp??) side in a reasonable length of time. If all the plots round you have this rather limited view then take this one as you won't get anything better (and at least it's sensibly priced!) but if others are more realistic then it would be worth trying to get one of those for the future.

For the record, I disagree with Snadger about sheds etc being just a frill. Mine is my lovely peacefull haven when I can sort things and relax, shelter from the worst of the weather and get shade from the sun. It also enables me to harvest loads of water to irrigate the plot as a whole.

[Nicos]

(My shed was good if I needed a quick wee in a bucket)

[Two_Sheds]

For the record, I disagree with Snadger about sheds etc being just a frill.

me too, obviously

[Alison]

(My shed was good if I needed a quick wee in a bucket)

Ooooo, forgot about that one - my orange bucket is my own special loo (emptied on the compost heap and washed out with rain water!)

[TPeers]

My main thought is the compost bin! If it can't be on your plot you have to lug the weeds to a separate area - who gets the compost? You or the first person who cares to dig it?

The price is ok, the idea is sound - I'd want a lot more info about the possible water logging, building raised beds can get expensive.

Are you allowed to get a load of manure in and build unframed raised beds with 'batter' edges? that would give you a quick start and get round some of the cost issue.

You could - would have to - cut and dig more beds, and I would recomend considering 4' wide by 10' long small beds, as many as you can fit with 2' to 3' paths between. Yes those paths will have to be either membrane or more grass (which will need mowing - is there no communal mower?)

I can't get past this storage thing. No shed, ok, but don't they have some storage on site? My old allotment we had a storage shed with lockers which we could hire.

[TPeers]

Oh, sorry, should have said - Welcome to the vine!

[Snadger]

............................For the record, I disagree with Snadger about sheds etc being just a frill. Mine is my lovely peacefull haven when I can sort things and relax, shelter from the worst of the weather and get shade from the sun. It also enables me to harvest loads of water to irrigate the plot as a whole.

I have 3 sheds and 3 chicken coops and three greenhouses, but if I was told I had to get rid of the sheds, greenhouses and the chooks I'd still keep my allotments.

Allotments to me are mainly about my need to be at one with the land, grow fruit vegetables and flowers......end of story!