New Allotment Holder, Rotherham

[chriswalker83]

We have just acquired our first allotment

It was a bit of a mess on day one







A bit of a daunting task but

[Jay-ell]

Hallo Chris and welcome. There's tons of advice on here so make yourself a cupper sit back and have a good rummage about.

It can be daunting at first but the main thing is don't stress yourself and enjoy the process. Ask away and remember to post photos (as we are a nosey bunch here and love having a snoop on others allotments )

Did you try and post a photo?

[chriswalker83]

Lets try them pics again

[chriswalker83]

Day 2

A fellow plot holder came by with a strimmer and strimmed the top growth off the weeds to about 3 quarters down the plot

[chriswalker83]

Bigger pics

[veggiechicken]

Hi Chris and welcome
We see all sorts of overgrown plots on here - and yours isn't the worst!! You'll soon turn that around.
Keep posting photos of your progress please.

EDIT, Its a miracle! While I was writing this, you cleared the plot Looks ready to go now!

[Jay-ell]

Is all that overgrown wilderness yours - looks a decent size

Have a good poke about before you hack it all down - you might find stuff like fruit bushes, rhubarb or other perennials.

Get loads of cardboard as it can help you when it comes to suppress weeds.

There's lots of different styles of allotments - big beds, raised beds, edged beds, dig, no dig, etc so have a read about and see what you think may suit you. You don't need to rush into a style that's going to mean outlay until you're sure it's for you (not everyone likes raised edged beds).

You may want to check to see if your council does free/cheap soil improver - you can strim the weeds, cover them in cardboard then cover that with the compost and plant into that - thats the no dig method and can save some back breaking digging.

What stuff do you want to grow? Possibly the worst question as the first answer is often "Everything"

ps ignore the bit I wrote about strimming - I hadn't seen day 2 when I started writing

[Cadalot]

Hi Chris welcome to the vine and it sounds like you have good neighbours that will assist and give guidance. Keep the photos coming we like to see progress.

[Mr Bones]

Hi Chris and welcome to the Vine. Congratulations on getting your lotty, enjoy it and look forward to all that proper tasting grub.

[chriswalker83]

I am not sure what to grow just yet, a bit of everything maybe, lol

I am a keen gardener and love to be outside, but today its raining and its my day off, so may not get anything done today

We have a smallish "Carrot Bed" 3ft x 3ft, which we have planted Carrot, Radish, Basil, Rocket & Salad Lettuce

Going to look for a greenhouse soon, as will be needing one and possibly going to get a fruit cage too

Whilst the strimming was being done we found some Raspberry bushes in the weeds, so we have kept them and there is a cooking apple tree too

On the size front, we measured it and it is about 87ft long and 20ft wide

We are lucky to have inherited a shed, compost bin & water butt with the plot, and we do have some good neighbours, the guy on the left of us lent me a wheel barrow the other day and another plot holder a few plots down came down with his strimmer and the old boy across from us can and started a fire to get rid of the nettles and other weeds we chopped down too, he also help us dig up some of the bigger weeds which was nice of him

I will keep you updated on our progress as we go, I got sunburn the other day so I am in a bit of pain at the moment but that's not going to stop me, lol

[Baldy]

Welcome along...

[Mr Bones]

One quick fix to get ahead Chris is buy a pack of supermarket cut and come again salad, separate it out and plant it.

[Bren In Pots]

Hello and welcome to the vine Chris looks like you've got the makings of a good plot there with a shed as a bonus.

[chriswalker83]

Still not managed to get back on the plot yet due to rain and other commitments, but determined to get on it tomorrow and get some digging done, so I will hopefully have some update pics for you tomorrow evening

[chriswalker83]

I got hold of 2 pallets today for free, from the allotment site, so now I have the beginnings of a fence on the front of the plot