Just got first allotment - baby due in June! Advice needed please!

[8rubberduckies]

Hi all, first time I've posted in the gardening section, and I'm a complete gardening novice, so please bear with me!

Me and my partner have just found out we have got an allotment at last! Its fantastic - needs some work doing to it, which my partner is going to tackle with some help from friends, but part of it is pretty much ready to go as it has been dug and has been under plastic sheeting all winter.

I have one major problem, I am pregnant with dc2 and have a pelvic / back problem which means I have to take things pretty easy until after the baby is due in June. I was wondering if anyone had any tips for some pretty low maintenance stuff I can plant seeds for over the next couple of months or buy as small plants, which are easy to grow and look after, and which will harvest later in the summer, once I have had the baby and got over that hectic first month or so?

TIA

Right....

If there isn't anything in the allotment then get some weedkiller and get rid of all weeds before planting (if allowed at your allotment).

In the meantime, chit some potatoes (duke of york are good). save your egg boxes and then DH can plant in April.

If DH and mates can make a few raised beds for you then this could help lack of bending.

Make sure there is a little section for DC1 so that they have a bit to play in / plant things/ generally make a mess.

Autumn raspberries come later and don't need any netting.

Once you are ready, after DC born then do some carrots and lettuce/spinach. You get lovely packets of seeds that are like a mixed bag of lettuce, they take about 3 weeks to grow before you can eat and are super easy.

Also, how about planting some bulbs in March (I have some freesias and Iris) that will come up June - September and will be beautiful for cut flowers. It will cheer you up no end to have them in your house (whilst everything else will need a good clean).

good luck

Wow quick response! Some good ideas there SenoritaViva, thanks for those. There is nothing planted in the allotment already, but there are some frames for raised beds. Will get going on the potatoes.

Really do the weed killer too as it will reduce (but sadly not eliminate) the weeds so less weeding later.

Hope others reply, would like some advice myself!

Oh yes, other bit of advice is only grow things this year that make a real wow difference (e.g. onions generally taste like onions but peas from the garden are unreal and friends/family etc. will comment.)

I'm going for low maintenance this year on my current half plot as getting another half plot and need the first to be easy.

We have raspberries, Gooseberries, rhubarb, blackcurrants and strawberries already there. Am planting up a herb patch, rosemary, thyme, chives, oregano etc. Then there will be a tuber section with Jersusalem artichokes, Yacon and Oca.

Will be doing Borlotti beans to pick at end of season, a pumpkin patch and butternut squash so just harvest them in the Autumn. Did Rainbow chard last year which was dead easy so will do them again and will try Kale. Might do some potatoes and parsnips.

Thanks Wynken - are borlotti beans easy to grow?

Our weedkiller of choice is glyphosate (main constituent of round-up) or available unbranded in places like Wilkinsons. Apply, leave for a couple of weeks then DH can dig the dead weeds in.

I dont think that borlotti beans are difficult to grow. Right now I have broad beans starting in my greenhouse for planting when the weather picks up and my allotment is less of a quagmire.

Other things you can plant & leave:

• garlic (spring planting varieties)
• onion sets

Actually, given your condition you should take on a directorial role. Get your DH to measure the plot then you can plan it out on graph paper. Then arrange your DH to provide you with a comfy chair and a megaphone so that you can bark orders!

A man on the plot close to mine regularly brings his young son to the plot. The baby has grown into a toddler happily playing with plant pots & the soil.

Congratulations all round!

I wonder where I can get a megaphone, do like that idea !!!

Not grown Borlotti before but my plot neighbour did and it looked pretty easy and another lady on allotment said they are no bother. If you decide to do pumpkins, put a cane in to mark where the roots are, makes watering easier. Wilkinsons are cheap for bamboo canes.

I am a natural-born director .

We took ds aged 2.5 down there on Saturday and he got stuck in and covered in mud from head to foot within 5 minutes! I'm looking forward to him getting an education in muddiness at long last, as he's a city-boy.

I grew borlotti beans last year for the first time and worked really well. Get a hoe to weed around them - the long handle is quite easy to use without bending too. Dried a huge jarful for using over the winter months too - yummy!

While I was pregnant last year I covered over all unused areas with old carpet and black plastic sheeting.

Beats me why anyone willingly puts weedkiller on areas where they are going to grow food to eat. And then digs the stuff back into the ground to make sure you really can't avoid the residue

Each to their own.

In your situation with an inexperienced labourer, I would use what you have. Move the plastic off the dug section and kill the next lot of weeds over a few weeks. Dig and move the plastic, little & often so he doesn't break his back. THe weeds will go back to the soil.

THen plant as suggested.

I would avoid carpet as a covering check this out for why. People have moved on from that for some time now.

No reason why you can't poke around and do sometyhing like a square metre of weeding every day when you are pregnant, wouldn't kill you and is a nice bit of exercise. Surprising how much you get done by doing a small but daily.

Don't forget somewhere to put your weeds/bits & pieces to compost down.

Catinthehat2 - there is a lot of discussion about the use of glyphosate. In some countries it is still accepted for organic standards.

I wouldnt use glyphosate every year but to clear ground of perennial weeds which are well established then I would be happy to use it. As you say each to their own.

I have had great success clearing what my brother described as the national dandelion collection in a few weeks by a combination of weedkilling, re-covering then digging in. The weedkiller kills the weeds and the extra heat from covering speeds up the rotting process.

Once the plot is going then a compost heap is essential. The bigger, the better. Allowing vegetation to rot over a long period is the best approach.

OP has said that she is suffering pelvic and back problems so more creative solutions are the order of the day.

No weedkillers allowed on my allotment, which has meant a lot of digging...
Gentle weeding and directing of your unpaid labour seems to be the order of the day.
I'm having a go at coriander and rocket from seed, but am a novice myself, we got an allotment last year but it was in such a terrible state it's taken a few months to get to grips with it.
My daughter is 4 and enjoys coming with us, but not for too long!

Hi all, thanks for all of your tips! We have made a decision not to use weedkiller, and are going to have an allotment party this Saturday to get as much cleared as possible! We have bribed 7 friends with the promise of beer and some food afterwards, so are pretty sure we can get the lot cleared and then covered. Thanks for the tip about carpet Catinthehat.

I have SPD, or Pelvic Girdle Pain, and have been expressly ordered by my physio and chiropractor not to do any work on the allotment, so I have been put in charge of propogating seeds at home, then they will be planted in and tended by my friend and my partner, and I will start helping out after baby is out!!

We are going for later crop potatoes, onions, a chamomile / clover lawn over a small section for the children to play on, borlotti beans, jerusalem artichokes, courgettes, carrots and late rasperries. Later in the summer / early autumn we are going to try some garlic, rocket, more spuds, and other stuff which will survive the winter.

8rubberduckies sounds great, I hope you have good weather for your party.

Kale might be a good idea - needs minimal work and gives you something to eat when there's not much else int he winter. And sprouting brocolli would be great too for the same reasons. Build yourself a nice big compost heap. And enjoy the rest of your pregnancy!

JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING if you are still ther 8rubberduckies.

KIcking myself.

Ideal time to get leeks going for next year - and will fit in with the baby & your SPD.

If you get a pack of seed now, just fill a trough (like this) with potting compost, and sprinkle seed on the top.

Ignore it outside till midsummer, and you will have lots of little grassy seedlings - some people thin them, but I plant them as they are, makes no difference.

THen pick winter 2011/12 when there is nothing much else growing

Leeks in cheese sauce... yum yum yum.... thanks for the tip

phew!