Starting an allotment plot

[tryhard]

I've just acquired one & have no idea what to do with it, I do not garden at all. But I eat lunch to of salad veg & want to grow my own. I also want to get my DC inolved (they are 5 & 2). I'm faced with a bare patch of soil - what do I do with it? And are there flowers I can plant to help the veg & fruit along?

hello! how big is your plot, and is it on an established allotment site?
if you want help, we have an allotment thread, if you want to pop in and ask :)
link here
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/gardening/2582241-Allotment-Veg-Patch-Thread-5-The-Diggers-Rest?msgid=60659331

www.allotment-garden.org/allotment-growing.php

Is a really good site. Don't try and do too much at once, get some radishes and lettuce in. They grow quickly so you see a result. Grow what you like to eat...

If you've cleared a big and aren't going to plant, cover up with cardboard or old compost bags si the weeds font grow.

Put aside a pile of DC clothes purely for allotmenting. Mine are older but still mix mud and get utterly filthy. Dark jeans, fleeces and second hand t-shirts are the way forward. When mine are whiny I take a pack lunch for them and make the most of a 30 min lull while they eat.

If you're lucky the allotment veterans will give you advice and surplus seedlings. I'm going into my third summer and have sussed out a few things but am more confident even when I'm being a bit slap dash about it.

It's a wonderful learning curve and you don't have to do it perfectly to get a nice little harvest.

I still get immensely muddy and I'm 60! :)
and yes to all the help from around. Its one of the joys, being able to swap produce/seeds/advice

That's a brilliant tip re the clothes, thank you. I want my DC to get stuck in & muddy so that's a great idea. I'm a bit daunted by it cos I'm not a gardener at all so I have no clue what I'm doing but we get through a lot of veg as a family & I'm also thinking it would be a lovely thing to do with DC after school & at weekends. It's just a half plot so not massive.