New Allotment Tenant!

[Bigmallly]

Helcome to the Jungle VM (I like that word as well, cheers Lisa). Great time to get a plot. Get the pen & paper out, firstly write down what tools you want for Christmad then next plan how you would like the plot to look. Also a great time to browse through seed catalogues. Most importantly though, don't overdo it, little & often is the best way to go...........Good Luck.

[Tripmeup]

Welcome from me too, exciting times ahead...
Good plan to do it in small chunks and start by getting an achievement of planting garlic, onions and maybe broad beans..

[VegMan82]

Thanks for all the messages and tips, it's very much appreciated!!

I do have a few questions if anyone can help?

1 - what do you suggest covering the plot with to kill off / weaken the weeds? I was considering cardboard. my thinking being it's cheap (free) and am I right in thinking it would rot into the soil?

2 - any suggestions on bed sizes? I was considering breaking down wooden pallets and using them slats to make the bed frames. however the length of a pallet slat is 1m, is this too small (narrow) for a width of a bed as I want to be growing courgettes / squashes etc as well as the smaller veg.

3 - how many beds do you think would be good?

Still having trouble uploading photos!! Sorry.

Thanks

[Bigmallly]

Hi VegMan:
1. Yes, yes & yes.....................
2. It depends on how long your arms are, if like me they are 6ft long then you can have wide beds but normally the optimum width is around 4 foot as you need to be able to reach the middle without stepping on the bed. The length of the bed is up to you. If you do small beds, you could always lend one to a bit of Square Foot Gardening.
3. The more the merrier.

[Ryleh]

Personally I'd suggest thinking about a crop rotation and build a number of beds to make that work.

For example a 3 year rotation might look something like:
Bed 1: potatoes followed by Legumes, onions and roots followed by Brassicas
Bed 2: Legumes, onions and roots followed by Brassicas, followed by Potatoes
Bed 3: brassicas followed by potatoes followed by Legumes, onions and roots

That way you know you need beds in a multiple of 3 in order to keep your rotation efficient. Then add beds for anything else that doesn't fall into one of the above categories such as Perennials

[Bigmallly]

I use the lazy mans' crop rotation system................Don't grow the same veg in the same bed in succesive years.

[VegMan82]

Hi VegMan:
1. Yes, yes & yes.....................
2. It depends on how long your arms are, if like me they are 6ft long then you can have wide beds but normally the optimum width is around 4 foot as you need to be able to reach the middle without stepping on the bed. The length of the bed is up to you. If you do small beds, you could always lend one to a bit of Square Foot Gardening.
3. The more the merrier.

thanks for the reply Mally,
I guess it's good to know that I'm not asking stupid questions!!

[VegMan82]

I was thinking something like this (not sure of the best order though):-
1 - Legumes
2 - Brassicas
3 - Potatoes
4 - Squash
5 - Roots
6 - Onions

Then with a permanent bed for fruit & herbs.

Any thoughts?

[Mr Gardener]

I'm looking at putting in 6' x 4' beds - a more than manageable size. 6' is also a standard size for many other things such as decking and generic planks of wood. You can also get camping ground sheets in 6' x 4' for covering them over when not in use.

[sparrow100]

Thanks for all the messages and tips, it's very much appreciated!!

I do have a few questions if anyone can help?

1 - what do you suggest covering the plot with to kill off / weaken the weeds? I was considering cardboard. my thinking being it's cheap (free) and am I right in thinking it would rot into the soil?

2 - any suggestions on bed sizes? I was considering breaking down wooden pallets and using them slats to make the bed frames. however the length of a pallet slat is 1m, is this too small (narrow) for a width of a bed as I want to be growing courgettes / squashes etc as well as the smaller veg.

3 - how many beds do you think would be good?

Still having trouble uploading photos!! Sorry.

Thanks

1. Yep - make friends with your local bike shop. Bikes are delivered in huge cardboard boxes and they'll likely let you have them free.
2. What others have said - on one plot I don't have defined beds, on the other I have ten 4.8m x 1.2m (16ft x 4ft for those born pre-1971 ) beds plus a long thin one at the bottom. I did think about shorter ones but the (wasted) space on paths would then be much greater. I can still jump over a 1.2m bed, though the landing might not be graceful. It helps to think about how wide you want your paths. Mine are 45cm between beds and 80cm on the main path down the middle, which suits me fine - I generally weed standing up not kneeling down. Courgettes and squash are adventurers and I find they are keen to sprawl everywhere - path/bed it's all the same to them.
3. As many as you can comfortably fit in the space - you'll run out of growing space quicker than you think.

I have a 5 year crop rotation, but then I have other groups of stuff to add in which take up lots of space - oca, melons & squashes for example, and I figure more time between growing a particular crop can't hurt.

[Bigmallly]

One lickle piece of advice I would like to offer is try and make all your beds the same size so that you can move you home made net cages from bed to bed with the knowledge they will fit perfectly..............That's my tip for the day........

[VegMan82]

Thanks for the advice guys,

I did indeed pop down to Halfords yesterday and they let me take whatever boxes I could fit in my car (unfortunately not as many as I'd have liked) but they also let me take any pallets that I could fit too so I think I have found my wood supply for the bed frames!

the plan at the moment for the front half of the plot is to make 5 no. 1.2m x 4.5m beds and then another 2 no. 1.2m x 3.6m beds behind them. that takes me to the middle which needs a lot more work clearing as there are some unknown fruit bushes scattered amongst the mass of couchgrass & nettles!

I've so far managed to clear a good part of the front third of the plot, and have concentrated on getting one section ready to plant in.

I'm really not sure why I cant post pictures, any ideas? I keep getting a red ! as I try.

thanks

[lottie dolly]

Welcome to the vine VM,much as others have said,but to add,you can make a net walk in tunnel spanning 2 beds,by using blue or yellow pipping,or whatever you can scrounge to make hoops,or knock a wood frame up,think green house shape,then cover with debri netting good for brassicas,and the same using plastic for a quick cheap green house,polly,i shall be looking into this for myself for next year,any netting can be removed and used on another 2 beds another year,just leave the frames in place,

[vixylix]

Welcome vegman - I think tackling it into the condition you want it to be in will be half the fun (although maybe not feel like it at the time!!). I'm very jealous - my garden is far too small

[VegMan82]

Thanks for all the tips!!

I love the sound of the walk in tunnel - one rather silly question though - how would I get in?

I am having a lot of fun tackling it, even if it is hard work. Though I'm only in my early 30's so it's a nice workout!