First allotment-what do you wish you'd known?

[Myusernameismud]

Just that really. We've been on the waiting list for a while and got the call today, I was so excited. I've been following a few allotment insta accounts, but they're all well established and I'm after real newbie advice.

What do you wish you'd known before you started out?

I only work 3 days a week, so plenty of spare time. I'll only grow things we eat, I've got a bit of a list already. It's only a half plot, because I know a full plot is a lot more work. Any other wise tips?

how to prune ! I still guess at it really but we struggle on and stuff grows. Also effective weed control that doesnt involve huge amounts of chemicals. Whats a useful 'weed' and what isn't. Some 'weeds' have beautiful bee/butterfly attracting flowers. I plant a whole bed of wildflowers now - it looks amazing and I get loads of bees and butterflies. Similarly what's a pest and what eats the pests !

Now I'm a bit more established I want to look more at saving my own seed and preserving excess crops.

Keep a proper record of what you plant and where - helps with crop rotation.

You really need to see what state your plot is. Mine was completely overgrown and it took me nearly two years to get it under control. Get to know your soil. Mine is a very heavy clay - no way I could dig it over so I went for raised beds.
There is usually someone on every site who has been there for decades - they are great people to get to know to get advice from.

Have fun - you are starting at a good time of the year,

Thanks Ted
We've got half of a plot that belonged to somebody else who has maintained it up until now, but doesn't have the time for a full plot anymore so I'm optimistic it'll be in a good state to start with. We're going to look at it tomorrow.

I've had mine about 16 months (it's about a half, a touch over) and it was very overgrown and full of bindweed and couch grass. I was wildly over-optimistic and planted way too much (especially considering I work FT and have 2 under-5s- I manage 1 proper session a week and some evening watering in the summer).

So - think about what you eat- I planted loads of beans and they did ok, but unless you can immediately harvest and cook them you might as well not bother (and I couldn't always in the week and the kids hate them...) I'm gradually putting lots more soft fruit in as it's a) expensive and b) we eat a lot of it and c) it's low maintain. Likewise I am putting in a cutting bed of perennials and wildflowers this year as I love flowers and they will be reasonably low maintainance.

The advice I have got from a few old-timers is give it at least 3 years to get it under control and productive. They are also very nice about the younger allotment contingent not having as much time!

I wish I had just covered the lot in cardboard instead of digging and pulling (we got it in October so I should have done that over the winter).

Not to bother with potatoes. Don't plant too many courgettes and squash- you only need a couple of plants unless there's a horde of you.

Next year I won't bother with over-wintered greens- I don't get down there much in winter and the slugs had a field day.

I need to learn better slug control this year!

Have fun- I don't get as much time as I would like (I am also not very green-fingered at all) but it has been fun trying to learn a new skill.

you only need one or two courgette plants otherwise you'll spend most of the summer trying to foist courgettes and marrows onto everyone you know (and possibly people you've only just met who express even the slightest bit of interest ).

Don't put potatoes in the ground; every one you miss will throw up a new plant next year. Tiresome.
Put carrots in pots/chimneys too.

Talk to the old codgers on the allotment. They are the font of all knowledge.

Grow what you forget to buy/run out of/resent paying for.
I grow a LOT of shallots. You're on a winner with the soft fruit. Remember blueberries need erricatious (sp?) soil.
Bagged salad is an annoying expense but it takes forever to wash properly. I grow but don't feel too guilty buying any more.

Grow pumpkins with the DC.

Asparagus takes ages but worth it. Kinda.

Reserve some space for flowers. My sweet peas make me happier than spinach does.

Oh, and kids want instant gratification. If you grow peas they'll never reach the table but the DC will love snacking on them while you weed. Plant them just for that reason.

If you have children, you have to have a sunflower growing competition.

I always freeze a big box of raspberries so we can make smoothies for breakfast on Christmas and news years day.

This is just what I was after, thank you!

We eat a lot of soft fruit, and I buy bags of frozen fruit for smoothies as well so I'm keen to grow some. Am I right in thinking it's better to pay out for a well established blueberry/raspberry plant than dick about and wait years for it to establish properly?

I've got dahlias, zinnia, cornflower and sweet pea on my cut flower list. And sunflowers. I've also got a few packets of wildflower seeds.

DH has already researched how to grow the 'massiveist' pumpkin, at the request of DS.

Yes to the peas, I was given a bag of peas from a neighbour once and about 5 peas made it into the Shepherds pie, the rest were scoffed while shelling!

We were thinking we'd grow potatoes in the garden, for convenience. We've got enough room on the patio for a few potato bags and I'll be cycling up the allotment when I go, so not sure how well I'll fit a load of tatties in my little basket with other bits as well.

Nobody has mentioned comfrey yet, do you all grow it?

yes I have comfrey. It has beautiful flowers and attracts hundreds of bees. But it can be triffid like. I inherited two enormous clumps, neither in a great place so I dug one up to move it - so now I thought. Now I have three enormous clumps, only one of which is where I want it.

As much as I love it, I probably wouldn't plant it, unless I really really, really wanted it. And be careful where you plant it.

that 2 courgette plants are enough.
that cats and foxes dig up everything.

Ahhh I've been to see it today! It's perfect. Been covered all winter so not a weed in sight. The previous owner erected a little fruit cage at the bottom and there's a few soft fruit plants down there already. I'm absolutely stoked. Just made a little shopping list which DH has raised his eyebrows at! He asked if we really need to grow dahlias
We're only allowed one row of flowers for cutting, so that limits me, although we can have a patch of wildflowers to encourage bees etc. Reckon I could get away with saying sunflowers aren't for cutting?

My sunflowers get to at least 8 ft high, not much use for cutting!

No allotment is complete without sunflowers

Really want to grow soft fruit now! How fabulous - good luck OP

We supplied our neighbours with strawberries, raspberries and gooseberries last year; it was a very good year for soft fruit. Enjoy!

I am in a fairly similar position - we got ours last August but the difference being that ours is a bomb site! It’s a huge plot (320sqm) on a small collection of plots hidden away and well protected. However before the big fences went up the site was used for fly tipping - I’ve probably cleared about 7 wickes builders sacks of glass - unreal.
It hadnt been touched in months and there were 6ft high nettles and docks all over it. We’ve probably only cleared about a third now.

Our site is so huge I am going for it with the flowers - there is no way we could use all the food produce that our site could potentially produce. I’m also very worried about planting root veg where the glass has been piled up over the years - it is everywhere. So that’s my excuse on inspection day.

Just got a second hand greenhouse from Facebook - collecting it this weekend I am so so excited! We’ve got a shed base finished and we’re waiting to find one on sale/second hand. We’re having our fence replaced at home so we’re going to build a fruit cage with the wooden posts (still in good nick!)

I think the thing I wish someone had told me is how long everything takes. You easily lose an entire weekend there before you know it! But we love that. We’ve saved so much money by just spending our weekends there and eating a packed lunch!

Don’t put anything decent on your allotment. If you put up a metal framed greenhouse or cold frame a scrap man will steal it. If you don’t lock your tools away someone will take them. Even pots aren’t safe unless they’re too heavy to move. If it’s open plan don’t be surprised if some of your produce is stolen too. Sad but true.

dont plant raspberries next to asparagus....it will try and escape and you will always be trying to stop it. buying small raspberry plants is fine, they grow like triffids on our plot.

Tesco have raspberry, blueberry, blackberry and gooseberry plants for £2 each atm!

Talk to your plot neighbours as they will know the soil better than anybody

do not try to sow too much at once

only grow what you actually eat.

greenlephant - i'm going to be slightly contentious here if you dont mind - and i've seen that advice a lot - but i'd try planting some things you dont normally eat. They turn out much nicer when you grow them yourself. we eat a much broader range of things now - chard, broad beans, dried beans, beetroot, gooseberries, different sorts of cabbages, kale, rhubarb - didnt normally eat before. I enjoy experimenting with different things its hard to get in the shops

Something like a pumpkin or a squash is great for ground cover of a new plot. Garlic and onions keep well, and would be good to plant.

I gave up my plot when I had my first child, still miss it. Good luck and enjoy!

That the no-dig method is fantastic for getting rid of weeds and maintaining/ increasing nutrients. First year of allotment, I spent weeks digging over and making it all neat for planting. I was too knackered and running out of time to do the last third so I covered with well rotted manure, cardboard and straw and planted through it. The crops in this section were amazing compared to the rest.
After harvesting, the soil underneath was weed free and so rich. I decided to use it on the whole plot and the second season was even better. Also, having a shed made a massive difference. Bought an old one on ebay, dismantled it and put it up on my plot. Was so nice to sit in with a brew, looking out at all our efforts. Loved those days!

Someone at our site grew cornflowers and got a ticking off as they can spread so much.

I didn't think that about raspberries and asparagus! Bugger!

I have to say ours is a bit of a disaster...but probably because we have taken on too much,had expectations that didn't meet the time we could actually put in,and grew stuff just because we could...which then got wasted,rather than growing a small selection of what we would eat.

My only advice is to start in small patches,with produce you will want to eat, even if you grow wild flowers in the rest so it looks nice,it's not such a great mission then!