Allotment offer! Wwyd?

[Wonderfulcheapfalafel]

Very excited to have got an allotment offer this week. Just have to decide whether to take the larger, more over grown and lots of rubbish to remove plot, but which already has a shed, or the smaller, already cleared plot which is a blank canvas but no shed or anything else to work with(would even need a fence putting up) . What would more experienced allotmenteers advise?

I think the main factors are available time, proximity to your house (so you can work on it regularly), and whether you have help/transport to clear it. At this time of year if you can get it rubbish cleared and sheets of plastic or large sheets of cardboard down ASAP, it could be a pretty blank canvas come spring!

On the other hand, if you haven't had an allotment or veg garden before and have limited time, go for the smaller one... Having it 'get away from you' because you don't have time to keep on top of it can be demotivating.

Get the bigger one. You have time to properly clear it over winter and get the soil ready and gorgeous with some moo poo and compost to grow whatever gorgeousness you plant in the spring.

Definitely the smaller one - so you will more quickly have the joy of growing things, rather than having to spend loads of time clearing and preparing the other one before you can even get started.

Having taken over an overgrown plot I'd take the blank slate
It tool several years to clear mine properly and there was very little worth saving in terms of plants and bushes.
It was a couple of years before I grew very much at all. With a cleared plot you can be growing next year
You can get some reasonably cheap sheds or storage boxes which double up as seats
Have fun !

Have a think too about where the sun goes, how much sun the plots get and when.
Important especially at this time of year when lacking leaves make you forget trees will cast more shade. OK maybe that was me!

Proximity to gate / water?

I’d take the large plot with shed and do what my mate did last year.
He took it on in December and used the winter to clear it and plan, and then marked out smaller beds for things to go in later in the year and put bark chippings down over the rest. He covered the marked out beds with cardboard to suppress weeds. At any point the existing beds can be made bigger if he wants this year. It was very successful without being onerous.

The clear one. And get it mulched with something to stop the weeds growing ASAP.

I'd take the smaller one. Unless you have lots of time and energy.

Wow thank you for all the very quick replies although I still dont know what to do!!!

The cleared one is slightly closer to the gate I'll be using, so overall I'm meaning towards that... I just don't want to run out of space and wish I'd gone bigger!

I took one over in October 2023, it was overgrown, hadn't been touched for two years, but had a shed and a great view. Spent every weekend in November digging and clearing, and was ready for spring and had a great first year this year!
If you think you can spend the time on it this year, go for the bigger one, 100%! I was also offered a smaller, clearer one with no shed, but glad I went for the 'hard' one, as I'd have regretted having less space.

I'd say the deciding factors should probably be how much time have you realistically got and what do you want to grow?
Maybe draw out a plan on paper - if the smaller one doesn't fit your plan then go for the larger one

You haven't said what time you have to dedicate to it- are you retired and plan on getting there most days?
Realistically people who get overwhelmed with maintaining an allotment and drop it FAR outnumber those who grow their whole space densely and wish they had more. You can grow a huge amount intensively in a smaller space especially if you get some arches and grow vertically. There are loads of resources on small space growing.

Time is much more salient than space here :)

Whichever you go for: congratulations on your plot!

Depends if you're planning to plant any fruit trees or canes and will appreciate the extra space. Winter is the time to get those in, so I'd be going for the bigger plot and clearing just enough for those bits at this early stage.

Is there water, if so which is closest?

Thanks all, I've gone with the smaller plot as it's closer to gate and has a water point more conveniently located. Looking at the an of the allotments, there's actually very little difference in size I think it was an optical illusion, the empty space seeming smaller somehow! It's 125m2 so pretty substantial anyway compared to my little veg patch I currently have in the garden.

Also, I do need to be realistic, it's very close to home, but I do work full time, so even with best will in the world, my time there will be limited so probably best not to bite off more than I can chew. I'm so very excited to get going!
Thanks for the advice everyone

Congratulations! Mine is small and I'm quite happy with that, I don't get up there much in winter because it's dark after work and seems to rain a lot at weekends, whereas in summer I can be up there for hours in the evenings when the sun isn't so hot. So I appreciate fairly low maintenance.

Sounds fantastic- enjoy!