New allotment! Ideas/advice needed!

[dogschewbones]

We've finally got an allotment, and I'm both overjoyed and overwhelmed! We're in London, so it's not big - probably about 1/4 of a standard sized plot, but that's still more than I've ever had to cultivate before.

It's not in bad order - I think it was probably fine for much of last year - so we don't have a huge clearance job to do: just lots of grass in wrong places, creeping buttercup, and some weird piles of earth to deal w.

My ambition is to make it into a place where I really want to spend time, not a millstone. So I'm not going to work myself to the bone on in.

1. What are the basic tools you think I definitely need to get this week-ish? Fork, trowel, secateurs, kneeler, some more gloves - what else?
2. What are you all planting now?

This is going to be where I run away from the world...

A stainless steel fork and spade would be my first purchase; there are cheaper versions but the earth falls off stainless steel more easily so making digging less difficult. Talk to other plot holders - most will share their experiences of the particular conditions of your plots willingly. Have somewhere to sit to survey your realm while drinking a lovely cup of tea - and enjoy!

Sort water out. Check where the tap is and what access you are allowed (e.g. hose).

Get a big ole waterbutt on your plot and a hose long enough to top it up when needed. If you have/re putting up a small shed to keep tools, then get some guttering to feed into the butt.

If you are anything like me, you start off thinking you won't mind carting watering cans back and forth but it really does mean you often skip watering when it's needed.

Didymus - such a good point re watering. There is water not far from our plot (April to Oct-ish - none over winter at all), and we are allowed hoses. Do you think we need a butt as well? I hadn't thought about the problem/likelihood that everyone will want to water at once... We won't have a shed, so it'd just be mains fed.

A bench is right at the tip top of my list of must haves! Plan to take our garden one up there this weekend.

Oh, I need this sort of gentle planning so much at the moment. The world feels bleak, and the London sky is a sinister orange...

Are you going to leave tools up there? If so, where will you leave them? I'm no dig and don't have/want a shed, so my set up is quite minimal! My main things are a trowel and handwork, and oddly a table fork and steak knife. Plus dibber, canes, string, pen knife and secateurs (latter 2 in bag). The table fork is great for twanging out small weeds with rosettes, ie creeping buttercup. Steak knife for neatening up edges and digging up small dandelions. My tools live in an ikea plastic waterproof box.

So you have a bench - where will you shelter if it rains? I just hunker under the trees for a shower and go home in a storm, but I also don't sit out up there. Will you want the loo, or to make tea? Some people have rigs in their sheds -whereas I... have to go home.

Oh, and I thave a cheap spade that lives on my compost heap and take fork, loppers up when I want to do that sort of work, but I use my trowel 90% of the time. But i did need a good spade a lot at first, but I keep that at home.

Compost bin? Pallets to make compost enclosure? If so, maybe cable ties to hold it together.
Jow will you carry things backwards and forwards? Maybe you need a trug ?

So we have a funny little plot, at the edge of the site, and it has a sort of fixed garden cupboard just alongside it (a long row of brick shed/cupboard things). So we have somewhere to put tools/things that need to stay dry. One person could just about sit inside, but it'd be fairly unpleasant!

I think a trug sounds a good idea, as I know that otherwise I will just scatter things - am not a neat freak...
And fork plus steak knife - genius. I can already see how good both would be in dealing w little deep rooted weeds.

I don't want to be taking tools too and fro much, as it's an uphill schlep on my bike to get there...
No dig: tell me more! Literally none at all ever?

Second the steak knife. And I thought I was the only one...

no dig is the way to go. There's lots of advice on the internet on it. You need a fair amount of manure/cardboard to make it work.

Set up your own compost bin too. You can make one easily out of pallets.

I put a bench on mine and fastened it to a sleeper with a huge chain to discourage anyone nicking it. It's nice to have somewhere to sit.

Start small and cover up any bits you aren't using with a layer of manure and thick coverage of cardboard laid down with bricks.

Have a pond if you can. And leave a tiny bit of nettles or sow some wild flowers in a patch.

I've had my allotment quite a few years. It's not the tidiest plot in the world but it produces some pretty good fruit and veg.

The tools I generally use all the time are:

• a trowel
• secateurs
• a foam kneeling pad thing.
• a metal watering can
• a plastic container that I chuck all the weeds into before tipping them onto my compost heap.
• a hoe

I've never had the strength for digging so kneel down and use my trowel when I need to do weeding.

The things I like to grow are:

• tomatoes
• potatoes
• sweetcorn
• asparagus (takes a few years to get going but is well worth it)
• cucumbers
• spinach (so easy to grow well)
• onions
• strawberries
• blueberries
• gooseberries
• blackcurrants
• pumpkins for Halloween

This year I'm also growing french beans and watermelons.

Look at Wilkos, Lidl and Aldi for cheap fruit bushes and seeds.

Have fun!

oh this all is super helpful, thank you so much.

I think this year will be a bit of an odd one for us, as we're slightly holding out for a 'better' plot (this is a half plot - all that's available at the moment, and we should be able trade it in for a whole one the next time one comes available). So although asparagus is definitely part of the bigger plan, I don't think it's going to happen here/now. The plots has a gooseberry bush and lots of raspberries already.

I love the idea of a wildflower bed! I have some really nice wildflower seed, but it hadn't occurred to me to plant it there. Brilliant idea, thank you.

No dig: tell me more! Literally none at all ever? Like anything, there are degrees of adherence. I dug my plot over first, as it was covered in couch and bindweed. And I didn't have loads of materials to cover it with, and I wanted quick results. Others are more 'devout' and don't dig at all but use card to deny the weeds light, and pile compost onto that to grow into. The card rots down, the weeds die off. The idea is to disturb the soil as little as possible as digging a) disrupts the delicate balance of all the micro organisms and b) brings loads more weed seeds to the light where they germinate. And c) is hard work and bad for your back.

But loads of people still do the traditional digging every year. I'm a lazy greenie however!

Oh I forgot sunflowers! I have a row of sunflowers every year. They look fabulous.

I pick some for cases at home but leave lots in place for the bees. They love them. Then the birds can eat the seeds.

*vases not cases.

The allotment beds would benefit from some compost, manure.
Definitely wild flowers, sunflowers, nice there are some fruit bushes.
Potatoes easy to grow, also try French beans, courgettes, butternut squash usually successful!

Potatoes definitely, especially since you've got a whole new plot which will seem daunting at first. They'll break up the ground and not many weeds can grow beneath them. Squashes will also cover a large area quickly once they get going. That'll leave you time to concentrate on other beds. Don't be tempted to make the whole plot perfect in one go. My advice is to get some things in and growing as soon as you can. The plot will evolve over time.

Sunflowers are a must as are sweet peas. Dahlias are good for lots of colour later in the year.

Be careful with tomatoes. You can't beat homegrown tomatoes but check with other plot holders whether the site is subject to blight.

We had a lot of old garden tools so have them at our plot but mainly use: Large fork, decent trowel, hand fork, hoe and decent secateurs. A kneeling pad and somewhere to sit are essential. We have a tiny shed just for tools and leave the big tools and just take the smaller decent ones to and fro as we don't lock the shed.

You'll need some netting for some crops to stop birds/mice/butterflies.

Cardboard is great for covering the ground when cleared do weeds don't grow.

We collect weeds into old compost bags as we have alot of perennial weeds we then take off site to the tip.

A big tub of chicken manure pellets and compost from the bin is all we ever fertilise with.

Brilliant. Lots of potatoes then, and squash. And a knife and fork. I am going to go back again toMorrow.

This is going to be where I run away from the world...

I've just took on a very overgrown allotment. So far I've spent a couple of days battling brambles and I've been the happiest I've been in a long time! I just felt like I could forget everything else and breathe. Good luck @dogschewbones with yours!

Oh I would love an allotment so I am going to live vicariously through you. 😊😊

I think you should get a teeny tiny shed (more of a cupboard, really 😁) and have a chair inside it so you can shelter if it rains. Bring a book and a flask as a matter of course every time you visit and you’ll be all set whatever the weather!

17 years waiting! Now to enjoy it.

If you have a sheltered corner and can manage one, a sheewee or similar.

Ha! That’s an idea. No, our plot is right by the entrance so no privacy! There are public loos no more than 5 mins walk away tho, so that shd make whole day trips possible if we want them.

We took on our plot last summer and it was completely overgrown with dreadful uneven ground once we'd hacked back.

We're now at the stage of having put in 6 large beds and a small shed. It's big enough to sit 2 in if it starts raining!

We are planning some veg and fruit this year and lots of flowers. No idea how we'll get on but it's all a learning curve! There are some beautiful plots near us to admire and some that resemble a tip (although we've been told these plots owners are on warnings to get them sorted or they'll be removed from them). We have a lovely stream near enough for the kids to go and pond dip / paddle so we are looking forward to spending afternoons there cultivating and chilling. We have a box of things we take and bring home such as tea making / stove / mugs etc and a porta potty but the kids just go in the woods if desperate!
I can't wait to see it mature over the years and it's definitely already a place to unwind from busy home life and all things tech!