Our Allotment - Guidance Sought Please

[Farmer_Gyles]

I think we have resigned ourselves to not getting much from the allotment this year, although maybe some winter salads or veg might be possible later on, and are keeping in mind that this is a long-term thing for us. However will the allotment association soon get annoyed with us that we aren’t actually growing anything yet? We have good plans in mind and are committed to it but its just taking longer than we thought.

you're very lucky to have a plot, especially as many people are on waiting lists for many years now ....
the allotment association might be very disappointed if you're not using the plot when other people are desperate to get one .... i got a plot a few years ago then was crippled with arthritis, so i know what it's like ....

it's not too late to sow things or plant them .... get stuff sown at home when you can .... then get to the plot, dig a bit, cover it with cardboard and plant through .... keep doing it a bit at a time .... it'll work ....

[Helgalush]

Thank you Two Sheds, Kaiya and Farmer Gyles.

I think both me and my husband are feeling a lot more confident about a plan of attack now, and feeling quite positive and excited again. Its easy to feel overwhelmed and a bit panicky at first I guess.

Just one other thought, would using any green manures like Phacelia or Hungarian Grazing Rye be good to use on some parts of the plot?

[binley100]

Yup go for it cos whilst thats growing it helps to feed the soil and stop the weeds. Must admit the phacelia is easier to cut down and dig in than the grazing rye ........

[Helgalush]

Yup go for it cos whilst thats growing it helps to feed the soil and stop the weeds. Must admit the phacelia is easier to cut down and dig in than the grazing rye ........

That's handy cos that's the one I've got seeds for!

[redser]

Your situation sounds similar to mine to here's my story for what it's worth. I was offered my plot last June. The allotments were only 2 years old and my plot had never been cultivated and was a wilderness of weeds, grass and large bumps and hollows. I sat looking at it for a couple of weeks, sketching ideas for the layout. In the end I decided to write-off 2011 (I'd missed spring sowing anyway) and spend the rest of the year getting everything in shape for Spring 2012. Sitting here a year later with a productive plot and a polytunnel full of toms and peppers etc. I think I made the right decision. I'm seeing lots of people who got new plots earlier this year and they are struggling terribly to get their plots in shape and also get things growing. Some have just given up which is sad because the interest was obviously there. I know for a fact that anyone who gets a plot will have had to wait up to 5 years for one.
For what it's worth, my advise would be to get the number of a local farmer who delivers manure, and gets 'lots' in to improve your soil over the winter. Once I had the rough layout of my plot I got 5 tons and dug it in/mulched over the growing areas. The soil was great for planting in come the spring.
Of course it all depends on how much time you have and how many people can help you out. I was short on both fronts so doing it this way (chipping away an hour here and there when I could over a few months) worked for me.

[Helgalush]

Your situation sounds similar to mine to here's my story for what it's worth. I was offered my plot last June. The allotments were only 2 years old and my plot had never been cultivated and was a wilderness of weeds, grass and large bumps and hollows. I sat looking at it for a couple of weeks, sketching ideas for the layout. In the end I decided to write-off 2011 (I'd missed spring sowing anyway) and spend the rest of the year getting everything in shape for Spring 2012. Sitting here a year later with a productive plot and a polytunnel full of toms and peppers etc. I think I made the right decision. I'm seeing lots of people who got new plots earlier this year and they are struggling terribly to get their plots in shape and also get things growing. Some have just given up which is sad because the interest was obviously there. I know for a fact that anyone who gets a plot will have had to wait up to 5 years for one.
For what it's worth, my advise would be to get the number of a local farmer who delivers manure, and gets 'lots' in to improve your soil over the winter. Once I had the rough layout of my plot I got 5 tons and dug it in/mulched over the growing areas. The soil was great for planting in come the spring.
Of course it all depends on how much time you have and how many people can help you out. I was short on both fronts so doing it this way (chipping away an hour here and there when I could over a few months) worked for me.

Thanks Redser, again another encouraging post, shows that with patience and chipping away at it how much can be achieved in the space of a year, thanks for that. I am glad all your hard work paid off and you are now reaping the rewards.

Between me and my husband I feel confident we can get it off the ground now, just like you say in short bursts. Our time and my energy and strength is limited, but we are not going to let that put us off anything, its just something that has to be factored in. I find gardening therapeutic and gives me such a boost, so hopefully soon enough we will be getting there with it.

[redser]

Good for you! And don't forget about fruit. November would be a great time to put bare root stuff in the ground. And far enough away from 'now' not to feel pressured about it But you could dig over the area (perimeters?) in September and have it nice and ready just to drop your plants in before the worst of the weather starts.

[Two_Sheds]

The other day I said to my neighbour "I feel like giving up this year" because the weather has been truly terrible, I've lost loads of plants/seeds to the cold & wet, the slugs are eating everything else, the weeds are growing & seeding like mad, and to top it all the high winds have taken the felt off my shed roof and flattened my broadies, cornflowers and poppies.

Day after day of cold wet windy weather is soul-destroying. I can't garden in this weather, I just get too cold and my back hurts too much.

I kept in mind the mantra "just do a little bit every day to get to where you want to be" ~ which means continuing to harden off, to plant, to tend, and to tackle the weeds as and when I can. I've been going up for only half an hour some days, and felt like I was getting nowhere. I hated it, hated gardening, hated everything.

It only took one day of sunshine to get back on top. I hadn't intended to, but I spent 5 hrs up the plot, tackling the most-pressing jobs first:

- get stuff planted
- pull up the seeding weeds
- then tackle the other weeds

I came home feeling like I'd finally got on top of it. Just as well, because the forecast is for another wet, cold windy week, so I'll have to do it all again next weekend.


Keep at it, even if it's only ten mins a day.

[Farmer_Gyles]

The other day I said to my neighbour "I feel like giving up this year"

you'll never give up ....

[Feral007]

I think the thing is to make it seem do-able. So by covering some of the plot with cardboard, some with green manure, and then working on a small piece for this season you can get something going, something that is getting ready for next season, and something to work on later - that is not going to seed over everyone else's plots.
I don't know lottie laws but I do know here that if you have a plan that can work, and can show that you are working to that plan (health and weather permitting) then the 'powers that be' will be happy. They are just worried that a messy plot will get worse with someone who gives up trying but doesn't give up the plot.

Edited to add: look at some comfrey and maybe some lucerne trees - we are going to invest in some lucerne trees as we need more compost and mulch and these will help provide it. They also pull up the nitrogen from deep - but it's going back into the soil so it's great.

[Two_Sheds]

maybe some lucerne trees - we are going to invest in some lucerne trees

Wassat then?

I know lucerne, but lucerne tree? (Google says no)


Ah, dig a little deeper TS ...

Tagasaste, (Chamaecytisus palmensis) or Tree Lucerne, indigenous to the dry volcanic slopes of the Canary Islands[2], but it is now grown in Australia, New Zealand and many other parts of the world as fodder crop

[Helgalush]

Thanks everyone. Sorry about your broad beans, cornflowers and poppies Two Sheds, but I am glad that the sunny spell at the weekend helped you to catch up with things a bit.

I don't know about everywhere else but although its overcast here at the moment, the BBC weather website is saying 3 dry days in a row! So fingers crossed that's the case.

[Kaiya]

I think both me and my husband are feeling a lot more confident about a plan of attack now, and feeling quite positive and excited again. Its easy to feel overwhelmed and a bit panicky at first I guess.

I felt totally overwhelmed in my first year - was in tears at one point. It's only me (was supposed to be other members of the family as well but our days off don't match and I'm the only one who can tell the difference between a weed and a veg plant!), and I only have a few hours once a week, and at the time I was mid-sciatica attack. Best thing I did was learn about no-dig and cover the whole plot in weed suppressing membrane in September. I meant that when I came to it this spring I wasn't playing catch up with the weeds, and now they are showing themselves I'm managing to keep up.

Like TS, last weekend I had a blitz in the sunshine and am now a content bunny. No longer am I a purveyor of rampant weeds! Instead I am a purveyor of companion plants that are supposed to be there...

[Helgalush]

Thanks Kaiya, its great encouragement to hear that you were in a similar spot in your first year but that you made a success of it with covering the plot and working little by little. I have been skimming through my Winter Vegetables book the last couple of days and it suggests that there are still quite a few good things that I can get in yet.

Maybe my biggest challenge is dragging Mr H away from watching Euro 2012 of an evening to come and help me!

[mrswadders]

Maybe my biggest challenge is dragging Mr H away from watching Euro 2012 of an evening to come and help me! [/QUOTE]

now that could be a hard job!!!!!

as everyone else has said - little and often and don't try and set yourself to much to do each time you go. I tend to have an idea in my head what i want to get done(within the time i've got) and stick to it, ok my plot isn't show quality but at least i'm growing something!