Allotment advice needed!

[radleyk]

I have just rented a allotment plot, this is my first time having an allotment and to cut down on all the wok myself i have asked a friend to come in with me so we can share the load.
Ok so we have only had the plot a week tomorrow and she has had more time this week to spend there, in the space of less than a week she has planted all sorts. i'm doing my homework and wanting to dig the site but she is just planting with no digging( it has been rotavated but plot has not been used in 5 years) so now she has planted every veg family all mixed up and no plots really sorted out or planed, its just rush rush rush and getting everything in even thou i want to take my time and dig to at least a spades depth. so in the space of a week the whole plot is nearly sown. everybody around us in other plots is telling her to dig but she aint listening so now im thinking this is just a waste of time id be better off doing it alone and properly!
am i wrong ? or will everything grow amd what about crop rotation?
i dont know how we are gonna do that when all the veg familes are all dotted here there and everywhere
this is turning out to be stressful not enjoyable, please help..

[terrier]

Just bite the bullet this year Radleyk. When your partner gets over the adrenilin rush of the new lottie, make a plan of action for next year, look on this year as experimantation. Been there, done it last year. Much better this year. Just dont fret.

[snohare]

I know it's a lot easier to say than do, but I would say : relax ! Radleyk, things will grow ! After all, they do in the wild...on untended allotment plots, which cannot be any better than yours...compost heaps...all sorts of unexpected places. What will happen this year probably is that your yield is not so good with some things because the weeds nearby are competing, and you have not dug manure etc in before planting peas, potatoes etc. Well, you can spend your time weeding, and believe me, with some nice music (or Gardener's Question Time on a Sunday afternoon) to listen to, it can soon become a relaxing, restful, productive pastime. If you are used to a job where there are no visible benefits to working, then weeding is the instant gratification you are missing in life !
As regards crop rotation, well it's not vital this year. Next year, you can dig it all over and mix it all together, and as long as you feed the soil well (or not, depending on where you need to avoid manure) it will be pretty much the same as if you were starting from scratch, like this year.
Concnetrate on getting the compost heap going, weed and label well (maybe do a ground plan on squared paper to base future plans on), and pay lots of attention to how well the different varieties of plants do, and how yummy they are, and you will still have learned enough this year to feel like you know better what to do next year. And next year, you might want to split the plot into halves, as two of my neighbours have....
Personally, I am envious of you...my plot is hell to dig and I am getting nowhere fast with it, I only wish I had a gopher pal - or some topsoil for the raised beds I planned on ! So far, I have nothing but tatties in.

[radleyk]

thanks for all your replys, what i,m bothered about is if she cant be bothered to dig this year,( she is naturally imaptient and wants things done yesterday)why will she be bothered in ayears time. also i have talked to her and asked her to slow doen. do a bed a day but dig it well first but still she aint listened and gone and planted everything with no discussion. i dont see this changing next year :-(

[Pottypotter]

thanks for all your replys, what i,m bothered about is if she cant be bothered to dig this year,( she is naturally imaptient and wants things done yesterday)why will she be bothered in ayears time. also i have talked to her and asked her to slow doen. do a bed a day but dig it well first but still she aint listened and gone and planted everything with no discussion. i dont see this changing next year :-(

If she is so impatient maybe when the weeds are overtaking the veg she will see how much hardwork it is and loose interest and leave it to you.

[heebiejeebie]

Could you clear a bit to dig & replant "as a comparison" so she can see how proper ground preparation affects workload & yield?

(sharing a lottie too - need to be patient to stay friends and I'm sure my obsessiveness is as annoying to lottiemate as her lack of planning is to me!)

[TPeers]

How trying for you! Try to keep your temper - your friend thinks she is helping even if it doesn't look like it!

Since she has just gone ahead and done everything herself you have a couple of options, if there are any more plots available you could quietly go and get another - don't tell her at once, she will find out eventually but never mind. That would leave you all the work to do again, but at least it would be your way.

You can 'have it out' with her, which will probably put her nose out of joint and may wreak your friendship - a risky route.

You can put up with what has happened but try again to explain that you are not happy and ask to visually split the plot in two, your half/her half. You would then have control on your half and she can do as she likes.

I can't see any answer for the planting this year - buy her a book? One that goes heavily into plot rotation and the importance of ground preparation!

As said before, make the best of it, get a diary and note which crops grow well and which don't - the info will be invaluable in the future. Draw up a scale plan of your plot (A3 if you can) get three or four copies and laminate them, lable them year 1, year 2 etc... and use them to plan the future with - perhaps if she sees it on paper it will make more sense.

Good luck

Terry

[Snadger]

If you are sharing an allotment why not half it and say you plant your stuff in your half and I'll do my thing in this half?

[daisychook]

If you are sharing an allotment why not half it and say you plant your stuff in your half and I'll do my thing in this half?

Thats what I would do, explain you some specific things you want to plant or some other old excuse It sounds like a pun, but you need to set some groundrules and fast.

Do it now when its just starting - will be difficult to change the goalposts in a years time - then it will be seen as you 'being funny' or 'being off'

Be firm now, and reap the rewards later

Honest, it will be tough to do it now, but you will feel so much better.

[radleyk]

Great idea guys and i might do that for next year. cant do it this year because the whole plot has been planted in a week!
see what i mean about no preperation just rushing in!!!

[TPeers]

Tell her about the 'vine but NOT your name on it - just a thought......

[Peter]

legitimacy?

Strictly on our tenancy agreements it is between the tenant and the council. Sub-letting is not allowed.
So whose name is on the agreement, yours, hers or both?

If it is yours then you should hold the whip hand, just tell her it is your plot and she is your guest.

[radleyk]

it's my name on the tenancy, i asked her to go in with me to cut down on the ammount of work as i dont have alot of time... i didnt mean " do no work at all" i have since spoken to her about it and her idea is she will just hire a digger in winter and dig it all over then
jeez, and i wonder who she thinks will pay for this digger, i'd rather just do the hard work to start with :-(

[Peter]

Not called Margo is she?

She sounds very self assured, he says being slightly more tactful than he could be.

From the sound of things you are being walked on.

You need to point out its half and half. Also that if she carries on like this you'll be chucking it in and as it's your name on the tenancy she'll be auto-off.

[TPeers]

I'll repeat what I said before - see if another plot is free.

Tell her she has upset you to the point that you want out on the original plot, explain to the management what you are doing if you think it will help. Enlist the help of other friends to talk to her and make her see she is being very high handed.

Somewhere in that lot she might just get the message.