I've been offered an allotment!

[LottieMadness]

I put my name down on the list for an allotment a while ago, not thinking it would get anywhere near the top. But voila, my names at the top and I'm going to view it in the week.

Never had one before - just grown veggies on a very small scale in my garden.

But the timing is interesting - my DD and her friend need a volunteering activity for their DofE gold and are finding opportunities hard to find. So maybe this is the perfect opportunity for them both to get involved? I can sign off for her friend - I just need to find someone to sign off for my daughter. We shall see ....

I'm thinking the best way to keep their interest is to let them each have their own piece and for them to grow whatever veggies they like?

That will help me big time I think in managing the plot? And help them out also?

Of course, I've not seen the plot yet - it might be a complete overgrown mess beyond my abilities to tame into anything capable of starting a veggie plot. Can I grow flowers/I'm thinking planting a few tulips/daffs etc to cut down on some growing space- is this allowed?

I'm a complete newbie - any hints and tips would be appreciated.

I will come back to this thread later - I took an allotment on in September 21 and it has been amazing! Will give some tips from my experience when my in-laws have gone home 🙄

Would say go and see the plot first though - some are incredibly overgrown when they are given up

I’ll come back too - just placemarking as I have a family thing to go to today. I’m the secretary of a site - it’s hard work at times but it’s brilliant. How about challenging your daughter to make a meal and everything has to have been grown on the plot? We did that last year and ended up with an Indian vegan banquet :-)

Ooh, me too! Just viewed yesterday. Following to snaffle tips.

Hi, @LottieMadness I think the first thing you need to do is go and see the plot and also see what the soil quality is like. Is there a greenhouse on the plot? If there is a greenhouse you can start growing onions from seed this month and also start chitting potatoes - this basically means putting seed potatoes in an egg box to encourage them to grow an early shoot. Remember you don't have to work the whole plot this year, you can take time to clear it, if needed and just concentrate on growing a few things. If it is like our allotment you can grow flowers too ( in fact an awful lot of people do at ours). There may be a shed that they sell seeds etc from so ask other people there where they get theirs from. A local stable delivers large quantities of manure for very little money so do ask others where they get theirs from as I doubt they buy it in small bags from a garden centre. If you have any other questions ask and most of all enjoy your allotment.

Very jealous - how long was the wait in the end? I applied for one and didnt get an acknowledgement so not sure if it even went anywhere.

Tips from me now we're 4 years in:

• Don't plant anything at first - test your soil, see if there is clay, check if the ground drains well, and where the sun rises and sets.
• assess what you've got left from the previous tenant - shed, greenhouse, coldframe, paths, equipment etc and see what you're missing/want to invest in.
• Read up on the planting calendar - what needs to be done when. Then write a list of what you'd like to grow and eat!
• If it's a completely derelict plot, don't worry - you don't need to clear everything first. Draw a plan of what you'd like, and remember to include your plot rotation. Then clear the bit where you'd like to start first - e.g. you'll need to chit seed potatoes in Feb, so clear a bed by March. Cover everything else up with polythene (or if you're eco-friendly with flattened out brown cardboard).

Then just do it bit by bit. Don't let it overwhelm you - you aren't going to make miracles in the first year. Don't feel you are cheating if you use plug plants - we probably went 50:50 the first couple of years until we felt confident enough to grow from seed. We've had great success with peas and beans, but struggle with brassicas unless they are from plug plants. Accept gifts from other plot holders, and advice, although take that with a pinch of salt. Give spares of your plants to others too. Don't jump at joining the committee straight off - check the site politics first. I'm now on our committee but it's not for the faint-hearted - lots of arguments and disagreements to deal with. We're doing three evictions at the moment and have had to involve the council solicitor - it's not pleasant.

Have allotment kit. We have a lot of theft on our site (inner city) so we don't keep much there in the way of tools. I keep gardening clogs and tools in my boot most of the time, along with a flask of warm water to wash my hands, and a drink and something to eat. I go down for a "couple of hours" and spend all day there. It's really nice to sit on an upturned bucket or a bench and eat a sandwich and just look at what you've got.

Finally - read. I've got loads of allotment books, but my absolute favourite is Allotment Month By Month by Alan Buckingham. We literally use it as a To Do list - we just open the book at the relevant month and do what's in there. And enjoy it! I've never eaten so healthily!

Lucky you! I hope you have many years of enjoyment and fabulous fruit and veg.
We were on the allotment list in our village twenty years ago and probably still are, but they can't buy any land to provide them.
We ended up buying a bit of land and are just starting out building our raised beds and a fruit cage.
I will watch this thread with interest 🙂

That sounds like a good idea to me or ask if you can have a half plot - we sadly had to give up our allotment as a full size plot was just way too much for two people with full time jobs to manage.
Our council will cut down massively overgrown plots for you so worth asking if that is the case.
The flower thing might be specified in the contract eg 80% of the land to be used for food or something but everyone on our site had various flowers as they obviously attract lovely pollinators and other wildlife.

I would go see the plot we got one and are really struggling to get it under control. It was so overgrown when we got it. Once we get one section sorted the section we already sorted is over run with weeds. Hopefully we will have it sorted this year we put weed killer down in November but I've not been back since then has I had my baby and it too cold to be out long with him. My husband wants me to give the allotment up but I don't want too.

I've been to see it - here it is!

Nothing of interest to note on it - no shed etc.

No bramble which is good news!

It is directly next to a water source so no long trekking involved and I can drive my car right up to it to load/unload so that's really good.

Much work to do - the council will strim it as a welcome gift which is nice.

There is a small patch of rhubarb there already which they will leave and also a fruit tree which also will remain.

I'm just going to go for it .

I'll get it rotavated and membraned (I might outsource this heavy work ) and move my picnic bench up there and then just take it easy and do it bit by bit I think.

Sound like a plan?

I have no idea what I'm doing really.

Looks great - nice sunny plot which is important. Your plans sound fine - it's best to do it bit by bit, then you don't get overwhelmed. Plus if you do it bit by bit it's easier to move what you take off to the tip. And I don't think many plot holders actually know what they are doing when they start - learning is all part of the fun.

Congratulations! I've had an allotment 12 years it's mostly been great.

Be careful rotavating - you can end up distributing nasty perernnial weeds everywhere. I wouldn't personally. Also membrane doesn't really work unless you have very heavy duty stuff well weighed down - it just ends up getting windblown and tatty (voice of experience).

I'd put a few beds together and buy a heavy duty strimmer to keep the rest of the weeds down.

Raised beds and no dig gardening and lasagna planting all worked well for me. You just need lots of cardboard and manure for the lasagna planting.

Do it bit by bit. Get some potatoes in at Easter - they are brilliantly weed suppressing and are very satisfying to dig up! Perfect for lasagna planting too.

www.allotment-garden.org/allotment-information/allotments-some-tips-to-get-you-started/

Also the half hour allotment is a very good book.

Also agree with another poster - allotment month by month by Alan Buckingham is a great book and really helpful. Don't feel you have to rush to clear everything. Just clear a small area to start with and concentrate on that. It's meant to be enjoyable and probably wouldn't be if you tried to clear the whole plot rapidly!

Does anyone know, can you plant fruit trees on an allotment? I'd love to have a mini orchard. I suppose one issue would be you don't want to shade anyone else's plot...

@SilverGlassHare it'll depend on the rules of the site. We're under Manchester city council and our rule is "not to plant trees of any description without the previous written consent of the Council (except that this paragraph shall not prevent the Tenant from planting domestic fruit bushes or trees on dwarfing root stock).

We have them on ours - we inherited them. Our site is nearly 50 years old and I think the council originally planted a couple on each plot. The trick is to not plant too many and to keep them properly pruned. I think the odd small fruit tree would be fine, but you wouldn't get away with a plot solely for fruit trees.

Make sure that you are up to speed with the rules.
Can you plant trees
Can you have flowers? (There is usually a %)
Can you have a shed and/or greenhouse?

I live downhill from a sloping allotment site. The individual plots are massive.
One plot holder has a wood burner in his "shed" and virtually lives there (excellent for crime prevention from our perspective).
Many have raised beds and create better paths to divide their plots
One grows pumpkins for Halloween
Many have flower cutting beds.
There seem to be a few barbecues up there in lockdown.

If you are into cooking I'd create a well draining area to grow lots of herbs and chillis etc.

Our site rules specify where the shed is to be and that you can't plant trees.

The shed rule is abided by. Pretty much everyone has a tree. And one weird shaped plot has been turned into an orchard - on small rootstock.

There's also supposed to be 80% veg. A couple of plots are purely flowers and others are basically gardens, with ponds, fruit cages, picnic tables....

Thanks @JustJam4Tea and @WhatDidISayAlan.

I have this cosh idea of a shed with a wood burner, a couple of trees, maybe chickens… my great grandad had an allotment that was like that, gorgeous for kids to visit.

Cost not cosh

Cosy! Ffs autocorrect

I echo everything @WhatDidISayAlan says. We have had our allotment for 10 years. We started with a weed patch but now we have beds, polytunnel, greenhouse.

Having been allotment gardeners for a number of years one mistake we have seen a lot of new starters make is coming to the plot and spending a whole weekend trying to clear their new plot in one go. At the end they are exhausted and dont come back for a couple of weeks by which time the weeds have started to come back. They become disheartened and quickly give up.

So take it gently, dont try to do it all at once.

Different fields will have different rules. We are lucky that ours is an allotment and smallholding society so we are allowed to grow anything (except weeds and drugs according to the field steward). We are allowed to have flowers, fruit trees, even livestock (there is a pig farm on one of the society fields) and sell produce.

In all we now hold about a quarter of an acre on which we have around 70 fruit trees plus dozens of fruit bushes (blackcurrant, blackberry), strawberry beds, grape vines. We have beds which we use for growing vegetables and flowers for cutting.

Good luck and happy allotmenting. If you can last 3 years then you will have (possibly literally) have put down roots and will be there forever.

How exciting! I’d echo the Alan Buckingham book recommendations by others.

Something to think about is getting bare root fruit plants in the ground in the next couple of months such as currants, gooseberries, autumn fruiting raspberries (easier than summer fruiting and likely to fruit this year). They go in and then you can leave them to do their thing whilst you clear the rest of the ground.

Don’t be tempted by blueberries as they need ericaceous (acidic soil) so will need a separate raised bed or pot.

Your daughter and her friend could then donate some food they grow to a food bank or suchlike charity for their DoE.