Hello, I'm new, and have never grown a thing...

[OberonK]

Hi everyone,

I'm a newbie here, took on half an allotment at my local site in Grimsby. I've never really grown anything, apart from some pots of herbs, but I wanted something to do with my children (2 and 5) and to show them where food comes from. Obviously being able to grow stuff that costs a fortune in the shops is a bonus!

So I shall be going tomorrow to mark out some beds - luckily my half plot is very well maintained compared to some I've seen - basically just covered in short, fairly weed free grass. Then I'm drawing up a list of what we want to grow, looking at easy to grow varieties and planning a crop rotation scheme. Then I might get around to putting stuff in the ground! Looking at a raised bed scheme to make it easier for the kids not to stamp all over everything in their enthusiasm

You guys can expect a lot of possiby dumb questions. I apologise in advance lol

[Bigmallly]

Welcome to the vine OberonK. It sounds as though you already have a rough idea of what you want to do so good luck & have great fun growing.

[RedThorn]

Hi and welcome to the madhouse

Pop your location in your profile, others better and more experienced give advice based on your location

Ask away as there's loads of friendly helpful people here. Try using the search function as, if you are unsure, you can almost bet there's others thinking the same.

Good luck with the new lottie.

[ladylottie]

Hi and welcome to the vine! Congrats on getting your brand new half plot lottie - bet you're well excited I was when I got mine.

Sounds as if you're going about it in the right way - getting an idea of what you want to grow (and like - you'd be surprised at how many people grow stuff they don't like eating) and planning. You'll find that plans will change as you go along and get more experienced. I think it's great that you're going to get the kids involved as well.

Everyone here is very friendly and helpful - so ask any questions you like and there's bound to be someone on here who'll come up with the answer. No one will think a question is dumb, everyone started off the same as you are now. I'm still learning myself, but am having great fun growing veg.

Enjoy it

[OberonK]

Cheers for the friendly welcome - it's all a bit daunting! Boyfriend's a garden designer but I've told him to keep off my soil! There shall be no designer shenanigans on my bit of mud.

The kids are looking forward to it, so I'm planning on finding a few 'superfast' bits and bobs - you know what kids are like for 'when will it grow Mummy?'

[RedThorn]

My 5 year old loves eating peas from the pod and digging up tatties... like buried treasure and digging in the soil together, pure heaven for her

[Jeanied]

Welcome to the vine OberonK - you won't find a friendlier bunch than here on the vine - full of advice (sometimes conflicting advice, mind!)
One tip - take a camera - as soon as you start, post your pics - if you hit a problem, post your pics. There are some real experts here!

[binley100]

Hi welcome to the vine. Lots of good advice and support on here and not just on growing Stuff. Oh and lots of laughs as well.

[ginger ninger]

Hellooo Oberonk and welcome to the vine, sound like your going to have lots of fun with your new Lotty, as Jeanie said take your camera with you, you'll be able to keep a good record of what you've done that way....plus were really noisy and like to see photos as well.

[Two_Sheds]

The kids are looking forward to it

in my experience, children love peas out of the pod, small sweet carrots, strawbs and sweetcorn. and spuds of course, mashed with cheese

Def. not radish or cabbage, though my eldest niece loves lettuce

[Bigmallly]

The kids are looking forward to it, so I'm planning on finding a few 'superfast' bits and bobs - you know what kids are like for 'when will it grow Mummy?'

Have a look through the threads OberonK. You will see some on growing early Onions, Chillis & Toms. Get the kids started with some inside. (Carefull with the Chillis..............)

[Nicos]

Hi there- and welcome to the Vine!

..so you're off to the plot today??...must be your fault it's raining!!!

Sounds like you've got some good ideas- it'll be interesting to see how it develops!...piccies please???....we're a nosy bunch! ( well not me - I'm just asking on behalf of the nosy lot)

[jaykay]

Hi,

As your children are quite young, why not do what I did when I first got my plot? I made a raised bed 1.8m x 0.9m (using 3 gravel boards) lined it with heavy duty black plastic with drainage holes in the bottom and filled it with play sand. The sandpit kept my son and daughter entertained on the plot while I got on with the gardening. Now they're older I've converted it into a veg bed.

Best wishes to you with your new plot.

[geoff]

Wellcome! Growing basic things like spuds & onions is not that difficult, and I'm sure your fellow plotholders will help you, as well as the people on this forum

Buy a copy of The Vegetable Expert by Hessayon. It describes how to grow just about all the common vegetables in simple terms, with illustrations, and also problems like diseases. It's fairly cheap; I think the current edition is The Vegetable and Herb Expert

It's not so good on basic gardening techniques though, so get a few gardening books from your library. Look for titles specifically about vegetables or allotments as most general gardening books tend to concentrate on flowers

Carry on getting GYO; and send for a few seed catalogues. These will show you what's available, and you can compare prices. Some catalogues include tips, sowing & planting calendars, that sort of thing

Best Wishes Geoff

[nerdgas]

A book I would recommend, being a newbie to all this myself, is Allotment - Month by Month.

It starts off with the basic stuff like rotation groups and planning the allotment and then moves into a month by month guide of the things you should be thinking about doing on your plot. Also has guides on building raised beds, composts, recommended tools, etc, etc.

At the back is a crop planner which has the veg grouped in their families and gives you guidance on sowing, planting out and harvesting for each type of veg/fruit. Also tells you what pests and diseases you can expect to hit your crop.

Then at the back is a more detailed section on the pests and diseases that can strike and gives advice on how to deal with them.

The layout is really clear and is full of very good photos to give you a better idea of the subject under discussion.

Just my opinion but I do think it's a excellent book for the beginner.

Allotment Month by Month: Amazon.co.uk: Alan Buckingham: Books