2026 Allotmenteers - have we lost the plot?!

[Seaitoverthere]

A thread for those of us with new allotments to discuss progress and swap ideas. All welcome , established plot holders and wannabe plot holders too!

@blackheartsgirl
@hockityponktas

How is everyone preserving stuff
I have
pickled the beetroot, or blanched and frozen it
jammed raspberries, strawberries, redcurrants, blackberries (jelly)
pickled cucumber
roasted and jarred tomatoes in olive oil
dried beans
made piccalilli from cauliflower beans and courgette
bottled gooseberries, rhubarb and apples
chutney apples and green tomatoes
Frozen some fruit
We do not have masses of freezer space
How else can we keep tomatoes, beetroot, cavallo nero, pattipan

@Breadcat24 Gosh! You’ve been busy! Well done on your harvest, your plot must be quite large! I am very new to this so if i have enough beans for one portion then im quite happy!
I bought a mini greenhouse last week… and i installed it today… not sure about it… i did not realise that the rain wont be coming though so it means i will have to go and water the plot more often now!
i have planted 6 rows of onions (2 white, 2 yellows and 2 reds) under the greenhouse and the same on a bed that doesnt have a greenhouse… let’s see which onenwill be more successful!!
does anyone know if slugs might eat young onions shoots? Do i need the blue pellets or will they leave it alone? Thanks
picture of my greenhouse! (Any tips welcome)

Well done getting that cover on. If you haven’t done already, check if it has ventilation flaps for airflow to reduce condensation.

Slug pellets are banned on our allotment for environmental reasons and natural control methods encouraged instead.

@tostaky Well done on your tunnel and planting!
You must have thought I was mad saying you could put tools or change in it
We have the ones like in the picture below that you walk in!
We have a big allotment that was taken on by a friend who asked us to share because it was wild and he could not keep on top of it and had not grown veg before.
To answer your question about slugs- no so far they have not eaten onion or garlic sprouts (but first time I put them in friend's wife went and chopped all the green sprouts off to use in a salad- very annoying as there was a pot of chives next to them!). What I do find is squirrels will dig up onion sets and garlic but they are usually safe after they sprout. I use these net tunnels which are also good for keeping pigeons off lettuce and greens in the spring.
We use used coffee grounds to deter slugs, it is not a perfect solution but does help.
If you do not have them at home some people I know bring them home from work and some get them from a local cafe.
Watering- I appreciate that I seem to be telling you to buy stuff all the time but we have water butts (some old wheelie bins) and these solar timed irrigation systems. Seriously saved our sanity this summer with the weather.
They are about £26 - maybe a Christmas present?

Also you can sow broad beans now for an early crop next year.
And runner beans being vertical you get a lot of crop from a small space.

Beetroot can be made into chutney, I have also seen recipes for beetroot jam.

I also make chutney out of courgettes and I guess you could use pattipan instead.

I believe you can dry tomates in the air fryer (if you have one) although I haven't tried it.

Cavolo Nero, could you blanch it and freeze it?

We made ketchup this year- we'll eat it and it's got so expensive! It's lovely.

I made mangelwurzel cheese and chilli muffins yesterday. They were Ok but folks seriously do not grow these unless you have a donkey