What shall I plant in my allotment???!!!

[TheTigerThatCameToTea]

i have a lovely derelict allotment that will need something planting in it!

ideas please!

What do you like to eat veg wise and what time have you available to spend tending the allotment?

Mmmm carrots and onions are relatively easy to grow, spuds are always good, personally I'd like to try butternut squash, but have no clue how these grow?? they always taste lovely, so if I were you I'd try these and they last for ages too Toms are easy for later in the year, peas too.

new potatoes, rhubarb, sweetcorn, peas?

i love all veg and have some time, not a huge amount but some, time to sort it out. needs a good dig over as spent autumn hauling out all weeds n grass n stuff...

are onions easy? what stuff grows well together? have quite a lot of space and some ancient fruit bushes too...so exciting!

I'm so jealous! Been on the waiting list for an allotment for ages..

I can recommend a book called "Using the Plot" which is one man's tale of setting up his allotment and deciding what to grow.

If it was me, I'd grow lots of fruit as well as veg - raspberries, blueberries, that kind of thing.

If you want onions, they will take about 3/4 months to grow, leeks about the same time.

Caterpillars wreck broccoli, pumpkins take 5 months

This info is from my DS2 (9) who has been involved with the school veg patch!

5 months?!! tried pumpkins in a pot, they were very small and then disappeared

what doesn't need too much of an eye keeping on it? spinach from what i remember grows like the clappers

If you do pumpkins they need straw underneath them or regular turning or they rot. Onions are easy, just plant and they grow (or have for me so far) same for spring onions and carrots. I only play with a small patch of soil in my garden mind so its not quite a veg plot! I do toms in grow bags and spuds in bins sometimes. Last year onions, plus springs and carrots were my main crop, carrots like soil without stones though, they'll grow for miles if nothing changes their course of growth! My mum does quite well with runner beans too come to think of it. I've also produced good lettuce under fleece cloth (wilkos stock it) that helped with my spring onions last year too) If you have a glass house, I hear courgettes are easy?
If doing cabbage etc get beer traps down for slugs (half a squeeze (gawd I sound old, washing up liquid bottle) with beer in it)

Oh you lucky thing, I have had 2 and really miss it.

Potatoes for sure. I always made sure I had a good quarter of my patch planted with potatoes. They don't take up too much time unlike a lot of other vegetables which may need constant weeding, protecting and feeding.

Courgettes are really easy as long as you water them regularly and lay something between them and teh soil but you need a lot of room for them and for pumpkins.

I always liked doing peas and my last allotment came with a flourishing strawberry patch.

You could start things like asparagus and rhubarb off now ready to eat in 18 months and fairly easy to look after.

I really enjoyed leeks too.

Having an allotment is great.

I found this book really useful

and also loved this for those who dream of self-sufficiency

I took on an allotment in october. So far I've planted:

fruit: 2 apple trees; 4 gooseberry bushes; 4 blueberry bushes; 2 redcurrants; 2 blackcurrants; 2 rasberries; ~12 strawberries; 4 rhubarb crowns.

veg: 4 rows peas; 2.5 rows broad beans; 3 rows onions; 2 rows garlic.

I'm planning to grow carrots, parsnips, beetroot, leeks, more onions, potatoes, runner beans, french beans, sweetcorn, squashes, courgettes, lettuce, tomatoes, brocolli, cabbage, kale, cauli & asparagus.

A whole allotment is huge, so I'm basically going to try some of everything & see what works best, but the book I was given for xmas (the half hour allotment) recommends growing things that either save lots of money or taste much better than shop bought or both. On those grounds it doesn't recommend onions or potatoes (except new potatoes) but fruit is good.

I've grown butternut squash, they're quite easy, but a bit marginal in UK climate (need the whole of a fairly warm summer to do well) so don't always get very big (mine have been mostly large avocado sized!). Other types of squash & courgettes tend to do better.

if you have a cloche then peppers/toms do well.

Hubby did onions and carrots this yr and works away in the week so they only got tended at weekends and were great.

Top 10 easy to grow veg

Infact I am now inspired to apply for another

Go and get seed potatoes soon - they'll be in places like B&Q then you can start chitting them to plant in March or April. They are one of the earliest crops you can get in.

If you need to cover the plot to keep up with the terms of your plot agreement then spuds are a must. Yes, they dont work out any cheaper but they taste miles better and you can grow the ones that are expensive salad types. They also cover the plot, break up the soil and make it look like you have done a lot of work when the 'lottment committee come and do a rece. French beans are better than runners as runner go stringy if you cant get to water them, you can sucessional sow frenchies. Beetroot is fab, carrots can get carrot fly and go maggoty so grow them in a raised bed (an old bath works well) as the flies can only fly 9'' high or something like that. My real advice would be to try things you like to eat and are expensive to buy. You can try the unusual versions that are not readily avialable in the shops - purple cauli and the like. If you can't get to water every day in the summer you are best to grow the salad stuff at home. Also that way you have dinner in your garden, just outside the back door.

I always liked Lettuce and salad but agree, it's a pain if you're a long way from the patch.
Also agree with French beans over runners.

Never had much success with carrots, but I love them.

I will grow:

spinach
lettuce
tomatoes
celery
peppers
peas
beets

and I would like to try
spuds
cauli/ broccoli

I can't plant anything until April so I am getting a bit ahead of myself. We have a really short growing season.

The planning is the best bit, though.

i think you should plant silver bells and cockle shells

sorry

i am tired

I know! I get all excited. Then feel a bit miffed when everyone in England is planting and my plot is still under snow. But time to order seed catalogs, I think. Hooray!

I grow the things we eat most
Carrots, peas, spinach, tomatoes and broccoli.
I also want to grow the most expensive things we eat
Strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.

Herbs are easy to grow. I have had success with rosemary, chives, parsley, sage, thyme and oregano. They are quite expensive too so a good money saving crop. Mint is easy but it is very invasive so best grown in a pot.

My MIL gave me a tip not to grow tomatoes and potatoes close together. I think they have similar pests and can infect each other.

If you can get a source of manure, now might be a good time to dig it in so it has time to rot before you plant seeds.

MadameDeath, how long does it take blueberries to fruit? If I got a bush this year, would it gives us any?

I think they produce fruit in the third year SuperBunny. I have ordered two for our garden and they are two years old. The nursery recommends picking the fruit off the first year to encourage growth. I am not sure what that picking off means so will have to check with them on that - maybe the berries have to be picked off before they are ripe.

I haven't grown them before so they are new to me too. I am getting the raspberries new this year too. Strawberries in strawberry pots worked OK last year but now we have a bigger garden so I can expand into beds. I am trying an elderberry as well for the birds to eat and am getting a mulberry tree for my birthday.

Hmm, sounds like blueberries are not for us then. Not yet, anyway. I have a plot in a communal garden where we have grapes, rhubarb and raspberries, so we'll have to make do with those.

I got strawberries last year and had 4 fruit on them so hopefully they will be more productive this year. I only have a little plot which limits how much we can grow.

Good luck with all your berries. A Mulberry tree will be wonderful.

How did the rhubarb do? I would like to grow that too.

I have small raised beds and had great success with dwarf peas. I dug the soil with compost and composted manure ($1.48 a bag) from Lowes and Miracle Grow. I planted the pea seeds very close together in a single row and they produced well before the frost got them.

The mulberry would be nice, but I know the birds will eat the fruit and stain everything purple for 30 feet around. At least it will be supporting the local wildlife.

I grew rhubarb in England too and it is easy once it is established but I think it takes a couple of years before it starts producing much. We got tons from it this year but it is enormous so you need plenty of space.

My peas didn't come to much this year but I don't know what we did wrong. Perhaps I should try your technique.

Oh, I will grow leeks again because they are so easy and tasted amazing.