Where to start

porterd695b35GfbTT

Hi everyone I am fairly new to the allotment life and am just getting started. My allotment has been covered with weed control for most of last year and is a complete blank canvas, I also have an empty green house and that's it so far. where do I go from here? I am at a complete loss for a direction

steephill

You have what many would call a dream start. Grow what you like - no point growing stuff you won't use unless you get into giant veg for competition. I enjoy an early crop of strawberries from my cold greenhouse, that is an easy win. Early salad crops from the greenhouse will also help keep morale up while you wait for crops from the ground.

Dovefromabove

@porterd695b35GfbTT  hello and welcome to the forum 😊 
My first step in planning your allotment would be to make a list of the fruit and veg you and yours like to eat. No point in struggling to grow parsnips if no one likes them 😊 

Busy-Lizzie

I would divide it into 4 for crop rotation. I used cheap, treated, wooden slatted pavers to walk on and mark it out.
No. 1: plant legumes ie. peas, beans
No. 2: roots - carrots, onions, beetroot, radishes etc
No. 3: green and leafy - cabbages, lettuces, spinach etc.
No. 4: cucumbers, tomatoes, courgettes.

Of course, sow or plant what you like to eat, some veg take up more room than others. I love sweetcorn and planted it wherever there was the biggest gap.

Each year you move the planting clockwise to the next section.

You can add manure to everything except the carrot section where you just add fertiliser. I haven't included potatoes as I stopped growing them, they took up a lot of room and we don't eat masses, but it is nice to have some new potatoes. If you eat a lot then add a 5th bed or swap them for something above.

I would grow some tomatoes in the GH and more tender plants like peppers and aubergines, but they do need quite a bit of watering. I used the green house for starting plants off in, like runner beans, courgettes.

You could dig or rotovate it all or goo for the no dig method, but you need a lot of compost for that.

You may find this useful https://charlesdowding.co.uk/start-here/

Good luck, it's fun!

porterd695b35GfbTT

Thank you for all the replies. I was only planning on growing the fruit and veg that my brood eats 

Dovefromabove

porterd695b35GfbTT said:

Thank you for all the replies. I was only planning on growing the fruit and veg that my brood eats 

😊 you’d be surprised how easy it is to get carried away and start growing stuff because it’s what other allotmenteers are growing 😉 

So what are the main things you’ll be growing?

debs64

I now stick to mostly fruit on my allotment and I also grow flowers, a whole bed of sweet peas and planning a cutting bed too this year. I have a little water feature and bee friendly area in the sunniest part. We have hives on the allotment so that is well used. 

porterd695b35GfbTT

Dovefromabove said:

porterd695b35GfbTT said:

Thank you for all the replies. I was only planning on growing the fruit and veg that my brood eats 

😊 you’d be surprised how easy it is to get carried away and start growing stuff because it’s what other allotmenteers are growing 😉 

So what are the main things you’ll be growing?

we would be growing peas carrots swede parsnips strawberries some salad and things like that. I wont be growing potatoes at the moment as we have no water on the site and and it all has to be collected and i have not got anything set up for that yet

porterd695b35GfbTT

debs64 said:

I now stick to mostly fruit on my allotment and I also grow flowers, a whole bed of sweet peas and planning a cutting bed too this year. I have a little water feature and bee friendly area in the sunniest part. We have hives on the allotment so that is well used. 

I will grow some strawberries on the allotment I have an apple and pear tree at home. I would love to have bees but that can wait until further down the line i think.

NewBoy2

I agree with Busy-Lizzie 

https://charlesdowding.co.uk/start-here/

I spent the first 7 years of my allotment digging and digging until I followed No Dig.

I placed well rotted manure over all 8 of my 4 x 13 foot beds in October 2020  and now watch everyone else digging and digging.

Come March I will just start sowing and add more manure in October again..