Allotment: Woo Hoooo!!! :) :) :)

[jennyjj01]

So who is REALLY growing food? Or rearing it?

I'm made up.
Santa just sent me an email.....
..... We've been invited to take on an allotment. No mention of it being a sub-plot, so it could be HUGE!

This will be a life changing event and it scares the bejasus out of me!

We're going to be assigned the responsibility for something living, breathing and growing. A major commitment!
No more piddling buckets of dirt. This is going to be industrial strength.

Rather a pity that It'll be a couple of months paying rent before first sowing. But I guess it's going to need fixing up. HOOOO. I do hope there's a shed or greenhouse!!! This is NOT to become a money pit!

Bring on your hints and tips guys and gals. How can we make it give max return on investment. What am I taking on???
What caveats need we watch out for? I'm thinking, what if there's bad stuff in the soil or what if we need to actually buy a load of compost or stuff?

Excited!
A bit scared!

[GeeGee]

Oooo congrats the waiting lists can be awful ..but you have one! Keep us informed with pics and updates ..brill news for you!

[steptoe]

Wow jen so happy for you when we got our first allotment we had many sleepless nights planning .
When you go there if it is a really bad mess don't worry just chat to people on site i am sure others will help you or recommend people to help you , our first one was terrible brambles you name it we spooke to a spanish gent who became a great friend and we chatted to his wife and they had a new baby anyway we went back at thw weekend he had rotovated the whole plot .

I will say go slow ok , work out where stuff is to go ie if your allowed a shed work out where to put it also same with the compost heap , work out if you are going to put fruit in ie raspberries and such but go slow , look for the plant website sales you can grab some bargains .

Big hugs from us and you enjoy it and have lots of funny wiht it

Oh btw if you get the chance of a mantis tiller cheap grab it ours was a life saver and once you have the land dug over using the tiller to dig omg it is a real god send

[jennyjj01]

Big hugs from us and you enjoy it and have lots of funny wiht it

Oh btw if you get the chance of a mantis tiller cheap grab it ours was a life saver and once you have the land dug over using the tiller to dig omg it is a real god send

This is life changing for us.
Being tight as a ducks, this is not going to be allowed to be a money pit. Tools, sheds, everything will be done on the frugal side.

I'm going to be obliged to show progress with clearing and cultivation. Which might be tricky over winter. I want to keep it as no dig as possible. Apparently, there are some allotmenters [allotees?] that whinge about such modern methods as no-dig.

A MASSIVE problem is my own human nature. Is this to be a fad? Do I have the commitment?
Watch this space!

Seriously inviting ideas for hitting the ground running.

[steptoe]

Well if you can get any dpm damp proof membrane the black is the best just cover the area with that or as much as you can it kills everything except bindweed , and then you pull it off in spring most is deep or gone , you will need to dig it to start , but try and find a good supply of manure ask others up there they will know who drops to there , get a load in and then spread that the worms will work it in for you to .

I do have some allotment dvd's if you want a set sent

it was the 14 part ch4 tv show you can't get the dvd for love nor money now lol

[Yorkshire Andy]

If it's big buy a rotorvator your back will thank me

[Ara]

When I had an allotment some years and several house moves ago, my neighbour said he'd taken one on in October. He persuaded the council that he didn't have to pay rent until January because there was no way he was going to get a crop off it that year.
If you have access to cardboard, put 2 layers over the plot to suppress the weeds and then you can cut a cross through it to put your plants in and it saves a lot of digging. It also degrades and becomes part of the soil. Remember to take any tape off it first as it is not "easy to remove once the cardboard has rotted". I really shoudn't believe everything I read, I was finding bits of tape forever. You will be ahead of the game next year when, as the news told us today, there are going to be fewer vegetables around due to lack of pickers/Brexit/weather. (Delete whatever does not apply.)
Get a compost heap as that helps dispose of all the weeds and helps produce beautiful loamy soil.
Before you plan your sowing, ask the other allotmenteers what does and doesn't grow there. Outdoor tomatoes were a no-no on my allotment site due to blight but some people still tried to grow them.
Most of all, enjoy it.

[jennyjj01]

Well if you can get any dpm damp proof membrane the black is the best just cover the area with that or as much as you can it kills everything except bindweed , and then you pull it off in spring most is deep or gone , you will need to dig it to start , but try and find a good supply of manure ask others up there they will know who drops to there , get a load in and then spread that the worms will work it in for you to .

I do have some allotment dvd's if you want a set sent

it was the 14 part ch4 tv show you can't get the dvd for love nor money now lol

Thanks. That's very kind of you.
Hold them a while, till I get the measure of the task and I'll get back to you.

I expect that for the first month, I'll do something like that, either peg down a tarpaulin or something.

In other news: I just blagged at least four pallets ( or as I call them raised bed kits ) from a local building site ! More to follow, with a bit of luck.

How many pallets to build a shed )

Oh I do hope I can do justice to this project without breaking the bank. Off to harvest some more compost material from around the estate.

[steptoe]

Pallets are great but remember to crecote them as it is now called it will last years then , also try and blag some old slabs they are great for paths or the shed base , the dvd's are here if you do what them no worries happy to pass them on to someone that can use the info .

But yes just cover everything not in use because it kills weeds and also helps warm the soil , just enjoy it you will have times when you say this is to much but go home have a cuppa and then re-think , it is fun i promise you that .

[Arzosah]

Congratulations! This is brilliant

I was going to suggest cardboard, that's been done, and checking out what grows well, finding manure, all of that - asking allotmenteers on the site whether there's any problems on your particular patch that they know of? And checking out where the sun traverses.