Feeling lost - what to do next?

[FlowerpotGirl]

Hi all, in the excitement of getting a 10 pole allotment and finally clearing half of it by hand I suddenly realise I have no idea what to do next. I have cut in a herb patch and a little wildlife pond and realise I'm in danger of creating another garden.

Is there much that it isn't too late in the season to do? My newbie excitement hasn't gone, I've just realised that its a long term project and I seem to repeat endlessly 'Rome wasn't built in a day'.

I've ordered some Green manure plant seeds to sow in rows to enrich the soil but I feel I'm playing at this and really don't have a clue what I'm doing. I have a few books which are helping. But I'm confused that root veg don't like manure? and like poor soil? How do you manage to rotate that if you are manuring other areas? Surely it will all end up with nice soil?

The plot already had Potatoes, Raspberries, Strawberries, Gooseberries, Blackcurrant, Rhubarb, Artichokes and Brambles which I'm leaving in places for the berries.

I've planted out three pathetic Dwarf beans, a cucumber, a pepper, some Atlas carrots, some parsnips. I also have, but haven't yet planted, a white Pumpkin, Brussels Sprouts, a golden Raspberry and some Purple Sprouting Broccoli already in pots.

Its all little bitty bits. Is this normal? Am I doing ok? I have no idea. Sorry to moan

[SarrissUK]

I can assure you it's all perfectly normal Create your beds, whether raised or not is down to personal preference, and put in what you have. Look up how to space them as you go along.

It'll take you a while to figure out how much you need of everything. First year of my allotment I had far too many courgette plants for example and was drowning in the darn things lol

Succession sowing is great for most things, so the fact that you have a few plants each of many things is a good thing. Things like brussels and purple sprouting take a long time though, so sow a little more than you need at the start of the year. Firm them in well. One plant of purple sprouting serves me and my daughter more than enough.

You're not moaning, it sounds like you're doing alright to me!

[Nicos]

You are doing really well!


Do you have a compost heap???...we have a triple one made from old pallets- 3 across the back and 4 sideways on creating bays.
Very easy to turn the heap by chucking the heap into the next bay.
A single one would be fine too- depends on how much you compost stuff from home.

Do you have raised beds or marked off areas?

You'll need more than 3 dwarf beans! Plenty of time to direct sow more now.
And more raspberries! ( some summer fruiting and some autumn fruiting to extend the cropping time.
Also maybe a couple of golden ones ?
How about making 2 or 3 wigwams to grow some climbing beans up?

Lettuce and radish perhaps?

oh ...and Rotation is usually following a 3 or 4 year cycle... so you don't manure all of the beds every year

[FlowerpotGirl]

Thank you I'm planting straight into the ground as I've been told dry beds in our area dry out really quickly (the guy who told me that has the nicest allotment I've ever seen). The soil is a weird sandy mix that clumps together but falls apart in the sun. Not sure it has all that much organic matter in there, hence thinking green manure would be good.

I've brought a plastic 4 shelved greenhouse for the patio at home so I can put the seeds in there and keep an eye on them before transporting to the plot. That seemed a reasonable thing to do.

Its only me and my partner at home so I'm trying not to plant zillions of one thing. He has told me he wants a field of potatoes though haha.

Thanks for the reassurance. I'm a keen gardener but this is a whole new thing

[Penellype]

Don't worry - its quite overwhelming being suddenly presented with a large area of bare soil to fill, as I remember well from when I took over my friend's vegetable plot when she was injured. That is only 3m x 4m so I expect yours is a good deal bigger. What I did was divide it into manageable sections and clear them one at a time, always going back to the ones I had done and keeping them clear before moving on to the next one. If it is very overgrown it might help to cover the bits that you are going to tackle last with black plastic to kill off most of the weeds.

There is still plenty of time to plant many brassicas - cabbages, kohlrabi, turnips, mizuna and other oriental greens like pak choi are fine to sow now - just remember to protect them with netting so that caterpillars and pigeons don't shred them.

"Early" peas can be sown now and should give a crop in September. The early varieties mature faster than the maincrop ones.

Plenty of time for salad greens and radishes. Mooli (long white radish) will stand over winter. Florence fennel can be sown now, as can beetroot.

Some garden centres may still have a few tomato plants and courgettes left.

If you like the taste of celery, chinese celery can be sown now and will last through the winter - you can eat the leaves. Its much easier to grow than conventional celery. Other winter crops that can be planted later are spring cabbage, winter spinach and corn salad.

[Nicos]

Do you have a freezer?

You can freeze produce to use in the winter...make them into veggie casseroles or crumbles- I always grin to myself when tucking into a meal I've mostly grown when it's snowy outside!!

[Jay-ell]

Hi FPG.

Sounds like a good start - doing a little at a time is easier and more sustainable than thinking about doing it all.

Roots will fork and twist if they have too much nitrogen such as composted manure. Grow spuds, pumpkins or brassicas in the newly manured bed then, next year when you grow your roots, the nitrogen would have been used up and the organic matter left from the manure should make the soil a better texture for the roots to grow straight down.

Have a look at square foot gardening which is all about growing in little bits - you don't have to plant a full bed of cabbage or a whole row of carrots.

You can still sow dwarf beans now as well as other stuff (still figuring out the planting times myself) such as spinach, kale, chard or you could get a tub of leek seedlings and plant them out now.

This is an exciting time for you - you only get to harvest your first ever ........ Once and, no matter how small the crop it'sa great feeling to pick something new that you've grown yourself.

You're free from bad habits and able to make a complete set of bad habits from scratch

[FlowerpotGirl]

You are doing really well!


Do you have a compost heap???...we have a triple one made from old pallets- 3 across the back and 4 sideways on creating bays.
Very easy to turn the heap by chucking the heap into the next bay.
A single one would be fine too- depends on how much you compost stuff from home.

Do you have raised beds or marked off areas?

You'll need more than 3 dwarf beans! Plenty of time to direct sow more now.
And more raspberries! ( some summer fruiting and some autumn fruiting to extend the cropping time.
Also maybe a couple of golden ones ?
How about making 2 or 3 wigwams to grow some climbing beans up?

Lettuce and radish perhaps?

oh ...and Rotation is usually following a 3 or 4 year cycle... so you don't manure all of the beds every year

Yeap I've taken on two previously separate half plots and made one full sized one so I have pallet compost heaps at both ends haha. The front plot has square wooden frames but no raised soil so it looks like the squares are a bit of wind protection and to make things look neat. Each plot seems to have a character of its own. The front is fruit and artichokes in previously neat wooden frames and a 1m3 water tank!! And the back is mainly potatoes and endless weeds with the odd fruit bush

I forgot I have planted lettuce too. I would put in more beans but I'm not sure if we like them enough to eat loads. Is it too late for peas?

Thanks for the manure advice....see I didn't know that. I thought every year it got splatted with manure

[FlowerpotGirl]

Thank you everyone. Its really reassuring to hear all your advice. I apparently have 250m2 to play with now. Its fun discovering what is there already and honouring it being there (no rotavator for me).

We don't have a freezer (I know!) its an under-counter fridge with a mini freezer box. We live in a Pixie house so there isn't room. I want to try and step sow things so they are ready at different times and we are able to eat them slowly rather than a mass glut The Raspberries that are there already have been made into Jam so that's something.

Thank you all for the kind support and advice. Much appreciated.

[Jay-ell]

I'm starting to like green beans but as I like chilli con carnival, rice and peas, stews, etc I'm growing most of mine for drying.

Still able to get a freezer full of greenbeans as well as jars of dried beans.

Remember that "cultivation" isn't just about growing but also about getting the plot ready to grow. If you don't think that you can get it all planted this year then green manure will be great for conditioning the soil. You can use over things as green manure as well - sow a section with peas and you get nitrogen fixed into their roots, carbon to dig in at the end of the season in the leaves and stems plus all the peas to eat. They can even be allowed to spawl rather than supported although this makes it harder to find the pods.

[FlowerpotGirl]

Chilli con carnival! What a brilliant idea. I guess everything goes into that

I'll give the peas a go too Thank you

[FlowerpotGirl]

Confession time - When I got the first half of the plot I flung all the snails I could find on the clearly abandoned front half of the plot. Now I have the front plot too! That will serve me right!

[Jay-ell]

Don't worry - snails have a homing instinct. They'd have all returned to your first plot and you probably spent your time throwing away the same snails.

[Nicos]

Don't forget flowers too!...you need to remove the pollinators onto your plot...not next door'sI always sprinkle English marigold and dwarf nasturtiums from which you collect seed for next year!

[Ryez]

The exciting part is drawing the beds on a paper and writing all the separation needed between plants, doing the maths! I love it! It also keeps everything organized in your head and in the plot.