Finally got an allotment...but scared

[Spillit]

I’ve been in the waiting list for 5 years and got a call last week to say there’s finally one available.
Was really excited but now feel daunted and would appreciate some encouragement / reassurance / reality check.
Sod’s law it’s come at a busy time
In my life (workwise) but I think it would be manageable as I work 4 days per week and kids are more
manageable age (7 and up).
I would like some idea of how much time is necessary- hours per week . The plot is 125sq meteres. DH can help with the initial planting but it will be me maintaining.
Any advice really welcome x

Don’t be scared, it’s a wonderful opportunity, welcome to the club and well done on securing a plot!
I got mine 7 years ago. Time on the allotment flies by and it really does not feel like that long ago. When I got it it was well covered in brambles and couch grass. I was v busy at the time with 4 days a week job, a 9 year old and a six year old and caring responsibilities for my dad. So I only cleared 1/3 in the first year, and planted potatoes.
Obviously it’s the wrong time of year to be planting pots or to be planting most seedlings now. I’d advise clearing what you canthen you could maybe 1) go online at Delfland Organics and see what plantlets are available in July and August and buy whatever you fancy 2) summer is a good time to plant Hungarian rye or other green manures. Idea is they will enrich the soil by fixing nitrogen, they keep weeds at bay and you dig them in in February/ March to improve soil fertility and structure. Then put potatoes in next spring, as they are a great colonising crop which will prevent weeds for the next few months. Do some more weed removal over the winter/ lay down tarpaulin to weaken weeds.
Decide exactly what you want to put in next spring. You might also want to consider bigger purchases such as raspberry/ currant bushes, which can go in anytime bewteeen autumn and early March. Have fun!

Concentrate on getting the soil in good condition ready to produce food for next year. Don’t be afraid to ask the advice of anyone working on their allotment; they are usually a very friendly bunch and happy to help. You can decide what you want to grow - the basics or something else. We’ve gone for soft fruit as it is more expensive to buy than spuds and onions (although we grow them too.) We’ve kept the whole road in strawberries for 3 weeks and have just picked 30kgs of gooseberries off 4 bushes; they’ve been astonishing this year! The neighbours are starting to hide!
Enjoy your allotment - and don’t be scared!

Thank you both - you are inspiring me!! I’m in a similar position in terms of life duties as you whatabout and hoping that the allotment will give me a bit of head space too.
Good suggestions - so get it cleared first and get the soil to its best.
I’m excited at the possibility of fresh organic fruit and veg - just don’t want to waste the opportunity.
Are there any good resources to get me started (websites, books, threads) that you know of?

Congrats. I would recommend allotments month by month as a book. As a newbie (and even after 4 years) I love it as it tells you what you should be doing each month.

I agree with those that said not to try and do it all this year. Just clear a small patch. I would add that any parts you won't be clearing use

Old carpet (without plastic backing to let rain and air through) to start killing weeds. We asked on freecycle and got loads.

Sorry for splitting the post

Congratulations! Agree not to put yourself under pressure this year and take it slowly. Someone said to me ta the people who just have a few big sessions that tend to vanish. You need to master the art of wafting. This is doing a bit then sitting with a flask of tea on a camping chair and observing. Then you get up and waft around a bit more and repeat the cycle.

If DH available and willing I might be tempted to enlist his help and see if you can clear a little bit to make a couple of no dig beds on the go. Lob some cardboard down, top with well rotted manure and compost and chuck in a couple of courgette plants that hopefully still around in shops. In another I’d sow some lettuce, spring onions, Florence fennel and beetroot. That way you should hopefully get some things this year. I’m doing a no dig bed for my squash and was able to get free manure and topsoil from local freeads type thing.

Covering bits good idea if you are allowed to, we aren’t at our site, if you are allowed a shed, plan a space for it for the future if not possible for now, they can be picked up for free if you keep your eyes open Also allocate a space for compost heaps, old pallets cable tied together will do the job.

I got my plot in March after a break of a few years (caring duties got in the way previously ,I was on the elderly parents thread with Bob .Mine is around 100 square metres and I’m doing a couple of visits a week. Setting it up with a sort of path and raised bed system has helped (just heaped the soil up, no sides) as has not having much grass left on the paths as don’t need to worry about cutting it.

Here's my squash bed from a couple of weeks ago with some and a pumpkin plant. Everything is much bigger now. We can't put cardboard down so I just flipped the turf and put it green side down then piled the stuff on top and planted.

congratulations ! Im in year 3 of my allotment and only really getting into ' full production'

Its a bit late to plant most things now for summer eating though it could be worth chucking in some peas and beans and see what happens.

I'd focus now on getting the plot cleared, if its overgrown, and finding out whats already on there. We inherited a lot of raspberry canes and redcurrent and blackcurrent bushes.

Then decide what you want to grow. It sounds daft to say it but grow what you want to eat. We like soft fruit so have a huge strawberry bed and added more raspberries. We put in a dwarf apple tree which will give us the first fruit this year. We also eat lots of peas so grow petis pois and mange tout. I have invested in a polytunnel for salad crops.

We are very excited this year as we found a grapevine in a very sorry state in the weeds. With a bit of TLC it produced one small bunch of grapes last year, this year looks more promising.

You might want to think about a wild flower area to attract bees and butterflies. We are setting up a habitat this year for frogs and newts.

Most allotment sites have one or two old geezers who practically live there and are happy to dispense wisdom and are worth getting to know.
We have very poor soil and as I havent got the time or patience to dig in mountains of horse poo to improve the quality so I've gone for raised beds. We have someone on site who knocks up raised beds out of pallets for £20

Think about it as a long term project. I have a book called the Half -Hour Allotment by Lia Leendertz which I've found helpful.

As far as time goes, I probably spend a couple of weekends at the beginning and end of each season to get things set up, plant seeds and cleared away, and then probably 1 to 2 hours a couple of times a week.

I'd like to spend more time, grow more stuff and learn how to bottle and preserve, but thats for the future.

Have fun!

Thank you for all your replies. I feel
quite excited!
I plan to do some weeding this weekend - dh was going to spray (is that a huge no no??), or we could try the carpet method.
I’m a total newbie to gardening - a city dweller all my life - this is an amazing opportunity and I really want it to become just part of my life. The thought of home grown veg is heaven to me (I’ve reached that age you see). I can’t wait . I may see if there is anything I can plant now.

spraying , depends how bad it is. Mine was so overgrown it needed industrial eqiupment or a good spray to even stand a chance ! Some of the overgrowth was taller than my son who was ten when we got it. We found two raised beds which were completly hidden. So yes I sprayed the first year to get on top of it.

Ive gone over to mostly raised beds, lined with weed suppresent. In between my paths are lined with weed suppressent and covered with wood chipping. It keeps it down to a managable level for hand weeding.

depends what you are dealing with though. I now have weeds which I can manage with landscaping rolls with a layer of woodchip.
When I got my allotment it was literally 30ft x 80ft of 3 to 4ft high of overgrowth - horsetail, couch grass, brambles, goodness knows what else, try covering and flattening that with a layer of newspaper or carpet

Just coming back to say the allotment was a lifeline, my father had Alzheimer’s and I was responsible for managing everything. At some points it was the only place I got some respite.
Also, I have never used herbicides, it’s quite doable. I do however do stretching exercises back at home after any hardcore digging session, otherwise I really feel it the next day!
All the best, I’m sure you’ll be brilliant at it.

Definitely have a look at no dig beds. I got a very overgrown allotment last year and spent ages digging and pulling- it was thick with bindweed and couch grass and thistle.

As an afterthought I did a quick no dig bed for corguettes and it's a revelation- no weeding at all! Once everything is out in the autumn the whole thing is going no dig. I have a FT job and 2 under 5s so time there is precious and would rather waft than weed. Charles Dowding has a good blog.

Comparison is the theif of joy with allotments- I get bad plot envy but they invariably belong to a retiree who's there for hours a day. I just keep mine scruffily ticking over.

*thief.

Join us on the allotment thread! Loads of tips and helpful advice.

Definitely cover areas to slow down the weeds. I took mine on about 4 years ago at this time of year. There wasn't much point in trying to plant anything - it was way too overgrown for that. We got some tarpaulins and covered it up and then gradually dug it over during the autumn/winter. We had to dig - the soil underneath was full of rubble on part of it. We aimed to get half of it ready for the next spring but actually managed to get most of it dug over. But it is worth splitting it up into sections and planning to tackle one part at a time.

Keep where you've dug/cleared covered. I think a lot people who take on allotments become quickly discouraged when they clear somewhere, turn their backs for a couple of weeks and then find weeds everywhere again.

This time of year we are over there quite a bit - watering particularly at the moment. And harvesting takes time as well. We've probably spent about 7 hours there in the last week between us (DH and I) and we didn't do that much last weekend because of the heat.

If someone can briefly explain how you subdue weeds using the no dig method that would be great. I’m a bit of a slave to my spade.

Bob I’m new to no dig but my squash bed above was a grassy area in March. Cut squares of turf with spade and put grass side down. Ideally would have done a cardboard layer at that point. Then piled a load of horse muck on, followed by compost I had in compost bin. Didn’t really have enough compost and the manure was a bit fresh really but it’s been good. A little weed from the compost so the odd tomato plants pop up occasionally but a few swipes of push pull hoe and sorted. I’ll put a couple more layers on in the Autumn and just keep the cycle going as it’s worked really well.

Just been down and my pumpkin has grown visibly since Wednesday in that bed, was a bit surprised.

That’s a fine looking pumpkin post! Thanks for the explanation too gardengeek. It sounds a little like the lasagne technique for making compost: layering greens and browns. I might try the no dig on a patch and see how it goes

MJmu