Best First Crops

[AllieB]

I have recently taken on an allotment and was wondering what crops whould be ideal to plant in my first year, especially since I have never grown veggies before.
The plot is very overgrown at the moment but I am slowly working on that. However while working through the weeds and preparing the plot I would like to start planning what to grow and how to lay out my plot. Any / all advice would be gratefully recieved.

[zazen999]

Hi
What do you like eating most??? vege-wise. Perhaps start there?

[Two_Sheds]

Hi and welcome. I am breaking in a new lottie too. Its neck high in nettles and bramble at mo. This should help:
How to design an allotment or vegetable garden
I will probably just plant up with spuds this year, to help clear the ground and keep it covered against weeds.

[AllieB]

I think half my problem with deciding what to grow is that, with the exception of sweetcorn and big sprouts (I like small ones and sprout tops), there are no veggies that I do not like eating.

Thanks for the link gardenplot.

[Birdie Wife]

I would definitely go for potatoes, also onions from sets are easy and things like peas, runner beans and courgettes grow fast and are productive.

[moggssue]

Hi AlliB - in my first year last year (at home, before I got my lottie) I grew courgettes, beans and potatoes since these are fairly easy and give a good crop, which then gives you the incentive to know you can grow things and to go further and try more difficult things. Also, potatoes are apparently good for clearing the ground so are good to have on a new veg plot.

Good luck!!

[Seahorse]

As well as the stuff above, have a go at some things that are hard to find/expensive in the shops. Squashes, artichokes, that kind of thing.

You could also get in some small fruit bushes (lots of shops have them for between £1 - £5) then they should fruit next year.

[veg4681]

I'd recommend runner beans for a newcomer because it's almost fail proof and pretty prolific cropping. Also lettuce and tomatoes for salad in summer but the latter requiring a bit of attention and experience.

[Hans Mum]

as veg says runners and try peas they are just fab eaten from the pod, strawberries cause they tast like nothing you can buy in the shops, raddishes cause i love em and again they taste fab, squashes are easyish to grow and beetroot and as well as fruit bushes if youre allowed put some a cherry tree in the dwarf variety then in a couple of years you'll be cropping trouble is not a lot of my stuff every gets home
oh & welcome to the vine

[AllieB]

Thanks for all the great advice. I think I have decided to go with runner beans, potatoes, courgettes, squash, onions and peas. Of course I may well change my mind. I think I may well consider planting some fruit trees as well but will leave that for when I have got a little clearing done on the plot.

Thanks for the link Twosheds I have bookmarked the site as it will definately need to be refered to often.

[smallblueplanet]

Ah I think you should grow french beans instead of runners, then if they get too big you can eat the beans too!

[nick the grief]

I have recently taken on an allotment and was wondering what crops whould be ideal to plant in my first year, especially since I have never grown veggies before.
The plot is very overgrown at the moment but I am slowly working on that. However while working through the weeds and preparing the plot I would like to start planning what to grow and how to lay out my plot. Any / all advice would be gratefully recieved.

Cannabis - at todays street price you'll be able to buy a rotavator in no time

Most folks start with tatties as you have to turn the plot over to get them out but Brassica's are good as well especilally if you can plant through a membrane to keep weeds down.

What ever you decide on don't do too much in one go or you'll kill yourself and get disillusioned I spek from bitter experience

[Winged one]

I'd echo all the recommendations for potatoes. If you don't want too many, you could use a part that is not so well dug and cleared for some earlies, and then put some other veg in that part later (leeks were recommended recently, but I put carrots, late sown spring onions and lettuces where I pulled the spuds in early summer last year) - rather than tying up the space for the wole season with maincrops.

definitely onions (from sets) and garlic, if you like them.

Peas and french beans are quite easy, and mange tout are the same as peas only crop longer as long as you keep harvesting when the pods are small.

Don't go too mad on courgettes - one or 2 plants will keep you in courgettes for a long time.

Do you have a greenhouse/plastic tunnel? Or just bare earth (mainly as tomatoes can do ok outside, but peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes are more commonly indoor crops).

Don't go mad buying tonnes of seed in your first year. Consider buying a few plants from the seed companies/garden centres (things like brassicas, french beans, tomatoes, courgettes etc) - there will be less choice and a little more expensive but it is a lot easier in year 1. And don't try to grow too much of any 1 thing this year until you decide what you really like from your own plot and want to concentrate on - especially if you like all sorts.

Set aside a small area for some culinary herbs (many have good flowers too to attract pollinating bees etc - very useful). Maybe a rosemary bush, some parsley, thyme, sage - I tend to keep the hardier ones on the plot and only grow more tender ones like basil at home.

Also, consider having a few non-edible flowers there too for pollinators and also enjoyment. A few sunflowers could be useful supports for things like peas/beans and feed the birds at the end of the season. Marigolds may help carrots avoid carrot root fly (a real pest!! in my case) and there are others useful as comoanion plants. Nasturtiums can actually be eaten - leaves and flowers - in salads.

And sow as you clear. Don't leave freshly cleared areas for too long without something growing or covered with a mulch/layer of plastic, or the weeds will take hold again. Which is soul destroying - better to clear a smaller patch and sow it, then work on another section.

Lastly, I don't know if your plot is already laid out in any way, but I would certainly put aside a section for composting (either by getting a dalek or making a bin with wooden pallets, or even just a heap in a corner), some water butts if you aren't very close to a tap and also a path down the middle (or 2 if it is very wide). Don't have the beds too wide - you should be able to reach into the middle from each side - but it's up to you to decide on whether you want long beds running the length of the plot or short beds running from the sides into the path in the middle. But do leave enough room on any little paths for proper kneeling/reaching etc, and the main path should be wide enough for a barrow to go along it. (And if you are allowed to have buildings but don't yet, consider where a shed, greenhouse and also some fruit trees etc may go in the future so that you don't put more permenant plants there - like if you wanted to plan an asparagus, strawberry, raspberry or bean bed for example).


.And finally, finally, try to get some info from the longer established plot holders on your site to know what type of soil there is, what grows well/badly, are there diseases that strike a lot there, and do they know anything about your plot and it's previous growing history in particular.

Hope that helps. I am starting year 2 on my plot, and plan on digging the back half of it in coming weeks, and clearing a lot of that with 1st early spuds, as last year I concentrated on getting whatever crops I could from the space I had time to clear rather than clearing the whole thing (and I was surprisingly productive that way, although I did buy in a lot of plants rather than seed).

[AllieB]

Thanks for all the great advice. I think I am planning on planting three rows (at the moment I have 20 seed potatoes) of potatoes, a couple of courgette plants and a few beans this year. That is if I get anywhere is the war I am currently figthing with the weeds and their huge roots. I will let you know how I get on.

[Seahorse]

Allie - will send a few seeds for the things you mention above