Novice acquired allotment, advice needed.

[Greensmen]

Hi I have just joined this forum having just acquired an allotment after just 4 weeks wait (I waited 5 years and never got one where I used to live!) . I am a complete novice but I do have a burning desire to want to grow my own food and flowers, it s a full plot and part of it is covered in plastic sheeting, part of it is overgrown with blackberries, part of t is overgrown with weeds, the path on both sides is overgrown, the shed is knackered, the greenhouse has no glass andthe compost bins are falling apart, on the plus side there is some rhubarb, beet root and purple flowers, the location is great and although I don't have a lot of free time I do have lots of enthusiasm and initially some help to clear the site.

Any advice is welcomed, I would like to grow some things this year but I am not sure if it is to late?

Thanks

[veggiechicken]

Hello Greensmen and welcome to the Forum. Could you add your location to your profile as it helps us to understand your local conditions.
Some of the experienced allotment gardeners will be along soon but meanwhile, have a search around on the Forum and make yourself at home!

[donnakebab]

Check out the part that's under the plastic and see if it's worth sewing or planting straight into. It might only need a bit of a quick dig over and some nourishment. It's still early enough in the season to get some crops going.

You could cobble together some compost bins with falling down shed bits maybe.

As you clear a patch either cover it to stop weed regrowth or plant into it and mulch to keep weeds down and moisture in.

Just do it a bit at a time and always accept offers of help. You'll soon get there. Good luck!

[Vince G]

Hi Greensmen, welcome. Whereabouts are you located?

Me and Mrs Vince got our lottie early May last year so what we did was to clear and plant as we went. As soon as we had a clear patch we shoved something in. So if you were to adopt a similar tactic (maybe with the bit with the plastic sheeting on, as weeds shouldn't be too bad under there) you can still do things like french beans, spring onions, lettuces, radish and courgettes/squash. If you don't mind buying seedlings from the garden centre just for this year rather than raising from seed, you could also still get brassicas in, but you'd need to rig up some protection from pigeons/butterflies. Carrot flies will still be about for a while yet, so carrots would also need some protection, but are still a possibility.

Sounds like you've got a lot of stuff on your plot - we also found loads of stuff as we cleared, metal posts, netting, cloche hoops, chicken wire - all can be re-used somehow or other.

It took us 5 months in all to get our plot cleared and like you we only had limited time (usually one day at weekends and occasionally a bit of time in the evening midweek while there was enough light), but we're reaping the dividends this year. Our attitude was to get a few bits in last year, and aim for our first proper season the next year. So it's a question of just biting the bullet, realising you're not going to be self-sufficient just yet, get the plot cleared, get some muck in, and think about this time next year when you'll be tucking into melt-in-the-mouth new potatoes, fresh peas, broad beans, maybe a few early strawbs....mmmmm!

Good Luck and most of all enjoy it!

[Peas'n'Kews]

Welcome to the Vine, Greensman! I have no lottie experience, and so will add no comments!

[dominic10]

Welcome to the Vine and you will find it invaluable. We took on a 5 rod patch on 7/4 this year. One of the first things we did was to make a large composter from pallets as we had to dig out a lot of grass. I have seen someone on my site cover an inherited metal greenhouse with plastic and the safety aspects of this appeal to me. I was introduced to Freecycle via the Vine and now have paving slabs and material for raised beds for our new allotment. I often see greenhouse glass advertised in our area. It's a hard slog clearing an overgrown allotment but you have an area under plastic so can get planting. Think of what you would like to eat. We like perpetual spinach which is easy to grow and a cut and come again crop. In the autumn you could grow overwintering crops such as onion sets, garlic and broad beans but not sure where you live as this may have a bearing. We treated ourselves to some up to date books but still use a 30+ year old Hessayon book for planting distances and quick reference. Good luck!

[Two_Sheds]

Take up the plastic and move it to cover a weedy patch.

You should then have relatively clear ground under the plastic? Clean out the remaining weed roots and immediately plant the ground up: you're certainly not too late for the tender S.American crops eg. sweetcorn, beans and squashes & pumpkins

[Greensmen]

Thanks Veggie chicken, I have amended my profile.

[Tracebe]

welcome to the site greensmen .....

Ditto what twosheds said - just what I did last april.

Enjoy

[Greensmen]

Thank you all for your comments, my initial plan will be to strimmer everything back, re-build the compost heaps, burn the shed and blackberry bushes (this was recommended by the site manager), check under the plastic and weed throughly then hopefully plant something in about a week or so. That should be enough to be getting on with.

I have to say this forum is great and I think I will be on her quite a lot!, so apologies in advance if lots of post follow in the coming months! Can anyone recommend a decent beginners book?

[veggiechicken]

Have a look at this http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ted_64421.html
No worries about the questions - keep 'em coming!!

[Two_Sheds]

Can anyone recommend a decent beginners book?

There are too many.

Get thee to your local library and take out EVERYTHING (order online if you like, to collect). Then only buy the ones which really appeal to you

[Andromeda]

You can still start things like lettuce, radish, spring onions etc.

There's also plenty of time to start some cabbage for next spring, Durham Earlies are sown from July and harvested from ~ March, start them in modules/seed trays etc and it gives you some time to get sorted at the allotment.

[Kaiya]

Modules are a good idea for most things, especially if you are a bit overwhelmed on the plot. It means things are growing at home while you're tackling the ground on the plot, and then when you have clear ground you have something to put into it straight away.

Before you burn it, does the wood in the shed have any use as edging for beds or fencing etc? Or making into a compost heap?

I like this book - Keeping An Allotment: Amazon.co.uk: Kevin Forbes: Books - it's basically a manual with good standard info, nothing I've read it in seems to contradict what I've since learnt on this forum although of course there are things it doesn't cover. Plus it's dirt cheap!

[taff]

The Half Hour Allotment form the library, not for buying, if you haven't got much time it'll show/tell you how to use it wisely