To be intimidated by my new allotment?

[TheCrunchyside]

Put our name down for an allotment last November thinking we'd wait for years but one has come up.

It is big and a bit brambly and just rough grass. all around are plots of beauty inv,oving proper cultivation, carpentry and hours and hours of loving care.

No idea where to start wondering when I'll find time to surf on mumsnet fit it all in.

Would it be very bad form just to plant a few tulips/potatoes for a couple of years while the kiddies are so young?

Poor you - it's scary taking on an allotment when all those around you look perfect. And it's bloody hard keeping an allotment ticking over when you have LOs. We took on ours last year and it's bloody hard work. I get intimidated by all the beautiful ones close by, but then I remind myself that many of them are run by retired or older people without kids, who can spend all day down there if they want to. We're lucky if we get down to water it twice a week!

Take it slowly. Start by clearing all the brambles etc and digging it over. Read lots of allotment books to get ideas. Leave it be for a while if you can't face it once you've cleared it, plan what you'll plant in the autumn. You'll probably find that it'll start to take you over - they have a tendency to do that!

Get to know your neighbours and ask them for some tips and nose around the site - I love nothing more than walking round our site getting ideas from other plots. You'll be amazed at how good it can look in quite a short space of time, with only a few short hours work. I'm constantly amazed at how much we've achieved when the longest we've ever managed round there was two hours (with lots and lots of snacks to keep the kids occupied!)

This time next year I guarantee your plot will look incredible. Take photos now and remind yourself! Lots and lots of good luck and I hope you come to love it as much as we love ours.

I know how you feel, my DH & I got one last year and now he's buggered off working away so I'm dealing with it on my own.

Potatoes are good for improving the soil, the main trick I've found is to do a bit, and make sure you keep on top of the weeds, then slowly expand on that each time.

Saying that I do enjoy being down there and it gives space for DD to run around and tell without annoying anyone.

Whoops - yell not tell

I had visions of kids runing free and me glowing with womanly pride at my courgette's. Reality is i spent most of the visit herding kids away from tramplingon/pulling at other people's produce. DH is sensing that this is just another fine mess i've got him into.

MissM - were you an experience gardener beforehand?

Cats - i'm rehearsing the line about potatoes being good for improving the soil so i can use it for the next couple of years.

Are allotment people judgy about rubbish plots?

agree also, loads of snacks for kids!

20 months and four but no sign of either of them being easier

Flame me if you will - but I think you should hand it on to someone who is ready for it. If it's a mess you have to clear it and that is hard boring work. Just planting a few potatoes isn't that easy.

Allotments are hard work; doing it from the basis of no knowledge with toddlers to 'help' will be very very difficult indeed.

At least offer to share halves with whoever is next on the list.

Yes, it's bloody hard work particularly in the spring and the summer though there's not too much to do when the weather gets bad luckily (try persuading three young DCs to go down there when it's raining...). And our allotment society will send written warnings if your patch gets too weedy etc. Dh and I are always moaning about how much work it is but we live in London and have a tiny garden so really appreciate the space it provides. And it is a lovely place to hang out at the weekends.

I would recommend researching which are the easy things to grow - there's nothing wrong with sticking to potatoes/raspberries etc but clearing the patch will still be hard work (read up about covering it with plastic to kill the weeds/using a green mulch etc).

Oh, and everybody with an allotment always thinks that everybody else's allotment is much neater/more productive/better planned than your own so don't worry about that.

lol @ Dh sensing that this is just another fine mess I've got him into... Dh has been to our allotment once, and said it would be easier to just buy the stuff

I got an allotment in May of this year, and also have two small children (a 4 y o & 2.5 y o) The only way to really get anything done I found is to go down to the allotment in the evenings when the dc are in bed. Even if you just spend an hour a few times a week it soon starts to look better. Then when the serious work is done you can take the DC with you just to potter round and water the plants etc. And pick strawberries and stuff, that usually goes down well!

Have noticed that 95% of the other allotment people are women, the blokes don't seem that interested. They sometimes get forced to carry water around to water the plants though. Everyone is quite nice, since going to the allotments I've started properly talking to people I only used to say hi to before. Ok so convo is mostly about greenfly etc. but tis a start!

Ask one of your fellow allotment growers if they have a rotovator that you can borrow-otherwise it will take you weeks of digging to get your plot cleared.

You can also hire them.

Don't worry about filling up your plot,your first year will be hit and miss.I'd get a section cleared,rotovated and get to your local garden centre and get some pumpkin & courgette plants-they will grow rapidly and give good ground cover.

get yourself this book to get clued up

ooh thanks for suggestions - is there an allotment section on mumsnet or is it all under 'gardening' (already feeling sniffy about those part timers who "just" have gardens/window boxes .

oetwp- i wont flame you for your suggestion- you are probably right but the ever optimist in me doesn't want to give up the goodlife dream just yet.

will definitely look at book and plastic covering. Scouser - maybe this is an excuse to get out of putting whiny kids to bed. Will get a shed and then I can go off to read novels do gardening stuff in there.

I am in a similar boat to you. We got our patch about 6 weeks ago & have 2 kids (4 yrs & 16 months). Dp was v enthusiastic for a couple of wks but has been busy at work so this has wained somewhat.

I too am feeling a bit intimidated especially as the chairman of the site was openly rather dismissive of people with young kids managing their plots!

So I have tried to get up there as much as I can but it is definitely hard to get much done with the kids in tow with constant snack/wee/booby/whinge interruptions!

My tips are take the kids loads of food bits with you, fill a trig with water & let them muck about with it, take up a tent or something for shade (or to make a camp). Mine have also enjoyed painting bits of old wood with poster paints. Generally they get utterly filthy but as long as they are kept busy I can dig.

Someone advised me to clear small patches (beds) & ignore what is behind you. This really helps it feel a bit less daunting.

I do get plot envy when I look at others plots but also it makes me feel excited that we might have that one day
!

Lots of people also advised me to make a small area a sand pit for the kids which seems like a good idea.

We plan to put in quite a bit of fruit bushes as I think they are a bit less needy than some crops (& take up lots of the space).

I mean a trug of water of course!

Crunchy we're not experienced gardeners at all. We've just read books, looked at seed packets, asked people and made a lot of mistakes (like putting seeds in way too early and losing everything to the frost). Our kids are now 2.5 and 4 and at the beginning it was almost impossible to do anything. We took them as often as possible for tiny amounts of time (once it was literally ten minutes) so they got used to it. Loads of snacks help, plus we got a slide from freecycle and a swing, and someone gave us a table so they can do colouring. Now they're really happy to go down there (although they still moan!) I suppose I'm lucky in that DH is really into it so I don't have to go it alone (on the other hand, if your DH thinks it's a waste of time perhaps he can look after the kids while you go down there for a few hours?)

Our site is quite strict about cultivating 70% of your plot, which I found really stressful at first, but as long as you show you're making an effort (i.e. not leaving it covered in weeds) they're very supportive and understanding. I find it the most therapeutic thing I've ever experienced, but it is bloody hard work and quite demoralising at times, especially at the beginning. But it is so worth it - all those perfect sites were like yours once!

Scouser - interesting what you say about women being the main workers. On our site there are loads of lovely old retired men who make a fuss of the kids.