I've been offered an allotment!

[Minamoo]

I got a call a few days ago telling me that I had been allocated an allotment if I wanted it! I am currently in Malta but get back on Wednesday morning ( ) and am uber excited. I know I totally didn't sound like it on the phone though. Stunned is more like it as I was totally not expecting one so soon. It feels like only yesterday that I sent off the form! Although I suspect it has been at least 6 months. I'm living in a time warp atm.

So now the planning/confusion begins. This next year is going to be bonkers as I am submitting my PhD thesis in August come hell or high water. And hubby's job is getting more stressful by the minute. But....I figure if I can get through this next year I should be fine after that. Being realistic, I think I will be able to go to the lottie for a couple of days every other week or at most once a week. It's not ideal, but it can't really be helped given my crazy workload. The allotment is 15-20 minutes away by car.

So...any ideas on what I could plant that will give me good crops but don't need as much looking after? Tomatoes, peas, cucurbits, calabrese, psb, kale and chard will be planted at home in my veg beds as it's stuff that I decide to cook at the spur of the moment or needs harvesting virtually every day. I was thinking that if I planted things like potatoes, onions, garlic, leeks, carrots and cabbages that need more space but don't mind not being watered loads after they're established, that would be the way forward. My chickens adore brassicas as well so it would be lovely to grow some stuff for them too. They actually jump up to try and snatch it out of my hand when they see me carrying kale!

I also want to put in some fruit bushes. Well...quite a few fruit bushes if I'm honest. I have a blackcurrant bush in a pot that is crying out to be put in the ground and I would absolutely love to be able to grow more berries. They are so expensive but I love them soooo much! I was going to put a raspberry bed in at home (I have space for another 4 raised beds) but maybe I could plant them at the lottie? I'm kind of wishing I had started the rows of raised beds further back from the house now. If I had done so I would have more space for pretty things near the house as the productive bit of the garden would be 9 feet further back. Ah well... I have 7 raised beds built and dug over at home at the moment. I want to put strawbs, raspberries, and asparagus in 3 of the remaining beds at home which will leave one to join the other 6 beds as general veg beds. (one has rhubarb in). Who knows! We might even be almost self sufficient in veg some day!

I realise I am now rambling...but I am so excited! I have loads of scaffold boards left over from doing my beds at home that I've been saving for building beds at my dream lottie as well as loads of anti-bird netting for a fruit cage and anti butterfly netting for my brassicas... Squee!

[Two_Sheds]

Well done, but gosh you'll be struggling to get or keep on top of it if you only go once a week. It's a tough one, let me think on it

[Minamoo]

Well done, but gosh you'll be struggling to get or keep on top of it if you only go once a week. It's a tough one, let me think on it

I know. But it's either find a way to make it work or turn down the offer. Which I really don't want to have to do! Any advice would be hugely appreciated!

[WendyC]

Sounds like your on the right idea as regard planting. Can I suggest if you don't plant it all then cover it. At least you won't have a jungle to fight when you have got time and won't be annoying you neighbours with your weed seeds blowing over their plots. You sometimes don't need to spend long on your plot but regular work there is definitely the way to go. Do you know anyone else who is waiting for a plot? They might be glad to get a bit of hands-on while waiting. Good luck and enjoy.

[SarrissUK]

Congrats on the allotment Minamoo! I was overjoyed myself when I got mine back in March this year

I work full time, single mum with quite an active social life, so there's not a huge amount of time in my schedule either, and I reckon I've only gone up to the allotment once a week about half the time since March. The stuff that's been the most successful for me has been cabbage, courgettes (or marrows half the time), chard, beetroot, carrots and beans, omg the beans!

I have to admit, the areas that haven't got beds are growing wild with weeds, but my allotment area is only half used so no one is complaining at the moment, other than me. I think you can do it, and to be honest you are more realistic than I was at the start. Now the lottie has just taken over my life, so to hell with my schedule. I'm even turning down nights out so I can be up at the lottie early on a Sunday! LOL

Good luck with it

[StephenH]

Congrats! Me too, a week or so ago, as I said on another thread. Ain't it great?

[Snadger]

Congratulations. If you only live 20 mins away its surprising what you can get done if you just visit only half an hour a couple of times a week as well as a half day on weekend,say?
If you can only devote a single day per week.this will rule out any greenhouse growing as watering is needed frequently
The little and often scenario will also keep the allotment committee off your back and allow you to 'bond' with your neighbours.
So in essence, I would recommend doing the same hours as you originally intended ie 8 hrs per week, or even less, but split them up a bit.

[Two_Sheds]

the areas that haven't got beds are growing wild with weeds, but ...no one is complaining at the moment

To your face maybe
It is hard work, but do try to get on top of those weeds, literally: cover them with cardboard or something, or at least dead head them with shears when they're flowering. It's not fair on your neighbours otherwise, as your weeds send their little seeds onto their plots.
Once that happens it's a losing battle for everyone, the whole site descends into neglect, plots become disused, and the council sells the land for housing

That might be a bit dramatic and I'm not blaming you personally for the demise of allotments all over the UK

[Kaiya]

I'm in the same position - we have an allotment but I work away during the week and I'm the only one with much knowledge about what's a plant and what's a weed. So it's weekends only for us. This year we lost the fight with the weeds on half the plot, although since 80% of the weeds were marigolds and the rest were poppies and the hairy purple flowered plant I've been told is also a companion, it's only the occasional ragwort that's a real issue.

Apart from the weeds, courgettes did very well (albeit often approaching 1kg in weight), potatoes did ok, dwarf beans did well. Mangetout grew fine and we ate a lot but we lost some that over-matured. Tomatoes failed over the whole allotment site this year (maybe blight? very dry if so). My cabbages and brussels are huge and managing on their own. The weird weather this year meant we watered in April but not since. Although I've always grown veg in pots this was our first year of proper veg growing and we're pretty happy, and know better now what to do next year to prevent the weeds winning so early on. Structured and obvious beds being the first thing hehe - anything growing outside the beds is a weed - first stage of weed identification for my even-more-novice-than-me assistants

Are dwarf fruit trees an option? They take up a fair bit of space but relatively non-intensive. We've also considered sharing the plot to reduce the workload but for now we're going for better organisation and mulching strategies.

[Minamoo]

I've got 3 or 4 rolls of weed suppressant fabric that was left behind by the previous house owners so I shall pop lots of newspaper followed by that down on any bits I'm not planting to kill the weeds. I'm not in any huge rush to get it all planted up as I don't want to end up overwhelmed. Worst case scenario is that I rush into it, turn it all over, weeds arrive, I get too tired with constant weeding of an empty plot and give up. If I start with a bed or two or three and cover up the rest of the plot, it will not annoy my neighbours, should keep me on the right side of the allotment committee and allow me to take it ne step at a time. I know DH will be too busy with work/house to help out and I don't want MIL breathing down my neck. She already thinks that getting an allotment is a bad idea! lol! Obviously all these plans do depend on what the plot is like when I go and have a look at it. Fingers crossed it won't be a bramble jungle! lol!

[SarrissUK]

Two Sheds, I know exactly what you're saying, and trust me, about half the time I spend up there is spent weeding and clearing. The scenario at our allotment is though, that only half the plots are in use. In fact the neighbouring plots to mine are more than waist height in weeds, so most of the other plot holders are cheering me on with clearing mine. In fact, when I first started in March, they weren't sure whether I was brave or plain stupid to take that plot on
It's weird, because there are so many people on here are struggling to get hold of plots, where as in my area, there are very few allotments that have no vacancies, and most allotments are at most half used. There are at least five new people at our allotments since I started though, so there's a good increase. Hopefully we'll have the weeds under control shortly I know mine should be completely dug over and in full use by Christmas (or covered up to manage their growth). I heard last time that someone's taken over the two plots next to mine, so hopefully my hard work won't be un-done by a hostile neighbouring plot of weeds lol

[SarrissUK]

My point is, there is a way to take on a disaster plot and turn it around in a year, even with just visiting twice a week

[Hans Mum]

Obviously all these plans do depend on what the plot is like when I go and have a look at it. Fingers crossed it won't be a bramble jungle! lol!

its not...

[Minamoo]

its not...

Woohoo! Happy dance! I can't wait for Saturday. The wild food walk is fully booked so we may end up finishing slightly later. But I'll try and shoo people off by 2:30. Surely 1.5 hours is enough time to eat? Now I just need to figure out what to cook for them... ALLOTMENT! WHEEE!!!!

[Gro-Bag]

Congratulations!! I'm in my first year with a (small) allotment and I thought I'd have loads of time after being made redundant but in fact had v. little as I've been getting my own business going and working silly hours. What helped me was to factor in an 'allotment holiday' or two in the early days - ie if you are taking a break, don't go away - go all out at the lottie, (family permitting), enjoy the fresh air and exercise, lots of picnics, get friends around to help, and break the back of it - especially in the Spring when there's suddenly loads to do. But once things are growing away there's fewer urgent tasks, although you might find it helps you to refresh the grey matter with a spot of weeding and watering a few times a week. Worked for me to have an hour or two every few days over summer, - helped clear the head as well as the weeds. It never feels like enough, but the allotment is transformed, although the garden patch did get a bit neglected, and the housework - well let's not go there! There are definitely not enough hours in the day, but enjoy your plot!!