New PLot Advice please

[jackyspratty]

Hello all, wondering if you can give me some tips? We have 2 quarter plots at seperate lottys.
Plot 1 is further away, and as I dont drive difficult to get to in the between school runs. My lotty partner can only get there weekends. So this year we are attempting to grow less fidly stuff there.such as spuds squashes root veg etc This has an established bed sytem and we are gonna raise soe of the beds.

Plot 2 is new. Currently being cleared of couch grass, well it will be when it unfreezes! We were gonna do a similar bed system, but my lotty buddy thinks its easier this year if we just grow in a traditional lines to start with.
We are wanting to grow the following
Sweetcorn + popping corn
Squashes for seed saving circle 1
Peas
Climbing french beans for seed saving circle
Red cabbage
Spinach
chard
Beetroot
Purle sprouting broccoli
Collard vates
Maybe 5 star perennial broc/ or all yaer round cauliflowers
Possibly sorcify and scorzonera but they may go to lotty1?

Can you give me any advice as to what should go next to what. Have done a search but ended up more confused, especially since we want to introduce a bed system next year once we have tried the plot out and hopefully sorted the soil.

Yours in anticipation, thankyou

[zazen999]

If you are going to do a traditional system, that's alot of digging if you are going to revert to beds next year! I certainly wouldn't call it easier!

I'd mark out the paths and just dig enough beds this year for what you want to grow, as you want to grow it. The french beans can go in the low maintenance plot as all you are going to do is to plant them and leave them until they are dry. The brassicas can go in later anyway, quite a few of them will go in after the summer crops are out anyway.

Salsify and scorz....in the low maintenance lottie, definitely!

[jackyspratty]

Thanks andrea! Maybe will do beds then! Either way we need t clear tha soil of couch root. The bit i did in October has remained pretty free from new shoots but thatsabout one fifth of theplot. Theres an awful lot of glass shards in the earth too, think maybe once upon a time there was a greenhouse there. I know there is now a metal communal store, as all the sheds etc got burnt down about 3 years ago

Plan for Lotty 1 ...Bed 1Aut/spring - onions garlic Already in
Followed by Squash

Bed 2Broad beans
Potatoes

Bed 3Roots - parsnips, salsify, scorzona, celeriac

Bed 4Jerusale artichokes
Globe artichokes

Bed 5Red cabbage
kale
Comfrey

Bed 6rhubarb, chives, asapragus
Asparagus planted but we think its disappeared!
We have a tumbler compo bin here which is moving so maybe a row or two of beans here?


Lotty 2, previously planned beds![/U] (before traditional idea!)

Bed 1Red cabbage, sprouting broccoli, collard Vates

Bed 2
Beetroot (was going to be salsify too but not sure now!)

Bed 3Spinach chard peas

Bed 4Corn, maybe a low growing crop too?

Bed5Squash seed collection bed

Bed 6
Comfrey
Maybe more squash (I love them). MOre peas?




Not sure now, need to talk to my lotty buddy. Oh dear the more I put pen to paper the more Im jiggling around and the more confused Im getting! Think it will be a case of sow it and see!
Some beds look jamm packed in lotty 1, whereas lotty 2 looks a bit bare in places! I know.... Slow and calm down! I will try, honest I think my tendancy is to try and stuff as much in as I can, not always a good idea!

Thanks again

[Two_Sheds]

Why are you putting comfrey in your beds? It's permanent, so you can't move it again.

It also likes slight shade, definitely don't put it in hot sun. It might be better in a shady spot on the edges of your plot?

[jackyspratty]

We wouldnt be able to put it at the side in Lotty 1, very strict rules and they throw you off at the drop of a hat! A few people there seem to have comfrey in their beds, but I have never been able to spak to them about it as they are not thee when I go. Lotty 2 is much more relaxed, horizontal really, only rule is no pesticides, large fruit trees, so I'll see if I can chat to someone there about it.
I think because we had seen it at lotty 1 in beds and knew we wanted it to make a tonic fromwe just assumed we would put it in a bed. Am gonna try to put some at the back of the garden on a bank (shady except late afternoon) maybe we should just leave it there and make the brew at home to take to the lotty to feed plants?

Thanks for the pointers everyone, its invaluable, getting a bit tangled up with it all here!

[zazen999]

I have my comfrey in front of my compost pile, which is where we chuck the stuff that will take an age to break down and where we chuck the bin bags of leaves for mould. Then I'm not wasting a bed.

[jackyspratty]

I have my comfrey in front of my compost pile, which is where we chuck the stuff that will take an age to break down and where we chuck the bin bags of leaves for mould. Then I'm not wasting a bed.

Thats a good idea Andrea. We manged to sort of build a double compost bin yesterday, but the whole plot needs a fair bit of work. Most is now covered in matting/cardboard at the moment. Slowly but surely making progress. Just get muddled in my head when I think of varieties etc.

Not sure we will have enough room at lotty 1 for all the bean varieties that hazel atthe hill sent me? I hope there are enough seeds for saving and eating!
Thankyou again

[Pies]

you could put some squash under your sweetcorn and beans

[jackyspratty]

you could put some squash under your sweetcorn and beans

Ah yes pies, thats a good idea. We grew squash last year and sort or lost the beginnings of them, making them hard to water in hot weather.I remember that I've read somewhere about using corn as a marker to indicate the root of the plant! I know theres the three sisters thing too, but have read that tats only if you want to dry the sweet corn.

Thanks again peeps. That sweetcorn idea was in the depths of my mind, just needed probing out from you guys!

[Pies]

Place a upside down 2l pop bottle by the squash when you plant the squash,this will mark the centre and help with watering

[jackyspratty]

Thankyou pies, thats a really good idea

[oliveoyl]

I've been toying with the idea of getting a second half plot. If I do, I'll be putting permanent stuff and slow growers on one, and everthing else on the other to save going back and forth all the time.

[jackyspratty]

Thats exactly our plan too. The more self sufficient stuff in plot 1 as we cant get up there on a daily basis, more weekly. Plot 2 is for the more fiddly stuff, that requires netting, fiddling with etc, or more attention. There will be probably be a bit of both really on lotty 2. Means tha Im the one responsible for that one as I can walk there after dropping the kids off at school. Worried if it all goes wrong its dow to me