Another allotment newbie...

[MissC]

Hi all! I’m Jess, I live in South Essex and I’ve just ‘moved in’ to my very own half-plot. I’ve been so lucky in inheriting this one, the previous owner has taken really good care of it and I couldn’t have wished for a better spot. I’m a complete novice when it comes to growing in the ground, all my efforts have been container based for the past few years so I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in.

This forum is amazing and has helped me out lots over the past few years, I thought I’d better get over the shyness and finally say hello. Any tips on where to start are very, very gratefully received. I’m thinking my first job should be to give it a good tidy, get rid of rubbish etc. then to decide where I want to put my beds (I’m hoping to go no dig from the off as there doesn’t seem to be much of a weed issue) also, if anyone has any tips on levelling the ground as it’s quite uneven at the moment, that would be very helpful indeed.

Thanks in advance for all the wise words

[Bren In Pots]

Hello MissC and welcome to the vine
The first post is always the hardest to do but now you've got that over with you can enjoy it here.

[Bigmallly]

Hello MissC & welcome to the Jungle, I reckon a good rake over should remove most of that top growth & level it off at the same time. Get some string & mark of a square metre at a time so it doesn't become to daunting..............soon be planting time.............
I forgot to mention, put your pic in our Calendar, you will be surprised how much you will achieve:
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...dar_87848.html

[jackarmy]

Yep welcome to the vine,no need to be shy , a little tune for you to enjoy

[Guest]

Hi and welcome to the vine

Grats on your plot.

[jonny the plant pot]

Hello and welcome hope you have fun and enjoy your plot it looks lovely.

[Martin H]

Hi MissC and welcome from another Essex allotmenteer!

Your ground doesn't look too bumpy, I expect you'll find it will more or less smooth itself out once you've got the rubbish and weeds out and marked out the beds.

[Scarlet]

Hello and welcome Miss C

[bearded bloke]

Hello & Welcome

[cariann88]

Hello and welcome

[GardenGayle]

Welcome to the Grapevine,

If your making new raised beds a good piece of advice I was given was to make them for your arm reach.

The guy 2 allotments up from me has massive beds but hes really tall (at least 6'6) I could never reach to the middle of his beds as I'm only 5'1 mine are much smaller so I can reach everything from one side or the other. Might sound daft but if you measure one outstretched arm it will give you a rough idea of sizing.

[Muddy_Boots]

Welcome to the vine, looks like a nice plot which just needs a tidy up of the rubbish first. Might be an idea to dig it for the first year just to give you an idea whats in the ground already, you never know what you might find.

When I got my allotment 2 years ago I dug it all over a month and found a massive Rhubarb crown which I transplanted next to where I'd relocated the compost bin. Last year I had the happiest Rhubarb plant in all the allotments judging by what I got from it.

It will also let you find out and destroy any nasties lurking within the soil, I had an easy plot but for about 20ft which hadn't been dug for years and was rock hard solid with twitch grass in it, digging was the only way to get all the roots out.

Hope to see further pics of your progress, Friday looks a good day for getting started on it.

[Nicos]

Hi there...and welcome to the Vine from me too!

[MissC]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

What a gorgeous day! I've been merrily digging away (well, more turning the soil over really) and have cleared two beds. I also got the keys to my shed and its packed with boards to make raised beds seriously happy about that as I'd almost spent a small fortune on kits yesterday. Oh, and I seem to have made a new friend.

[muddled]

Hello MissC (and Robin), welcome both of you to the vine!

Thats a lovely plot you have there, looks pretty much ready to go.

My advice would be not to get too strung out on bed making straight away.
After a season on there you'll have an idea of where you like to sit, the best spot for your compost bin, what corner you tend to cut when walking to the water tap....so consider making all the hard and fast decisions over winter.
Concentrate for now on getting something (anything) growing in that lovely looking soil!

(and feeding your little friend)