A place for newbies to introduce themselves.

[Bigpikle]

Hi everyone - just registered as yesterday we finally got our first plot after a couple of years of talking and waiting!

I've long wanted to grow fruit and veg but my wife has become a very accomplished ornamental gardener and our entire gardens at home are devoted only to that. Now we have a small plot on a superb local allotment we can finally get stuck into growing stuff to eat.

The plot is covered in surface weeds but looks like it was fairly well maintained until perhaps 6 months ago or so, so its time to put some work in. I'm a total novice with fruit and veg so I've no doubt its going to be a huge learning curve but I have a very experienced friend with a plot near our ours and the site looks busy and friendly. Hopefully we'll end up with something edible this year at least!

Looking forward to picking up as much knowledge from everyone here as I can and particularly how to do it all as cheaply as possible.

[Bigpikle]

[Jayb]

Hello and Welcome to A4A  Congratulations on your new plot, good to hear it has not been left for too long before becoming yours  I'm sure you will be surprised with how much you will achieve this first season. Lots of friendly helpful people here so jump straight in 

[lifesahaze]

Hello, I'm new to the site as I've had my lotty for just over a month now.  Our site is a new one, and had been ploughed by the farmer before being handed over to the allotment committee, so have had a blank canvas to work with!  I've been massively excited, and not been discouraged (yet) by the bindweed.... although I still wish it was nutritious and tasty. 

The fruit, tatties and onions are in, and a few other bits n bobs like courgettes, peas/beans and some of the brassicas. And still have lots of space to work on! 

I'm looking forward to spending my rainy hours on here, and sunny hours on the plot!   

[Jayb]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new allotment 
Great you had your plot in time for the summer season, sounds like you have been busy busy, well done you 
What part of the country is your site?

[lifesahaze]

Thanks for the welcome 

I'm really pleased to have taken on the plot in time - and have been trying to make the most of it!  We're in Devon, so have been enjoying the warmth and sunshine for a while    I've been planting things out from the greenhouse for weeks now, which is fab; just have to make sure we keep watering...

[juju]

hi everybody!!!! I am a newbe just looking for the thread to introduce myself but couldn't find one. Ah never mind I am here now.I have an allotment for the past 8 years and now a plot steward over 95 plots. We have a good working relationship with all the plot holders and a real community spirit among us. Don't know about you guys we try and help the new members to get started.  and if they fall on the way side we want to know why. Sometimes they need a little nudge to get moving again, specially when it rains and too many weeds start to come up. Am I rabbiting on too much? looking forward to posting on this site.

[Silverleaf]

Hi there new people! Nice to see you, I'm pretty new myself and I've found this forum to be really friendly and helpful. think you'll like it here!

[Jayb]

Hello, welcome to A4A Juju 

[juju]

Thank you all will try and do my best to post.

[LmAc]

Hello, I'm a total Newbie who has just been allocated my first 65m/sq allotment.

I have boundless enthusiasm but zero experience beyond a few potted flowers and chilli plants on our flat's tiny balcony so really excited to start to work on our own outdoor space.

[Jayb]

Hi LmAc, welcome to A4A   
You've come to the right place, there are lots of  helpful and knowledgeable gardeners on the forum 
Congratulations on your first allotment  What part of the country is your plot?

[caroline7758]

Welcome- ask away!

[galina]

Welcome- ask away!

Yes, please do ask!  Remember there is never a stupid question -  you either know or you don't.  Sometimes you might want to ask just to make sure you have got it right.  And that's fine too.  Actually, every question asked on the board is a question that several people want the answers to.  If you do ask, you are doing several people a favour!   

Welcome to our new members!  Looking forward to hearing about your progress and reading your posts.   

[moandcc]

hi all, just joined a few minutes ago. I am mo from Harwich in Essex and just taken over a  7 rod allotment and its a mess. grass, mares tail and nettles all over the place. BUT there is a huge bonus. I have mature trees. a bramley apple, plum, cox's  apple and a conference pear tree all loaded with fruit although the outgoing plot holder will take some of them. also I have red and blackcurrant bushes, gooseberry, raspberry and cultivated blackberry.but all scattered everywhere so I intend to build a large cage and move them all into it to make life easier, apart from the mature trees of course but they border the edge of the site so np. is there anyone else in my area if so get in touch I may hold a weed party lol and I mean mares tail. I intend to strimmer it first and then spray with roundup and pray. mo

[Jayb]

Hello and Welcome to A4A 
Congratulations on your new allotment, the weeds sound a bit daunting but what a bonus with all that fruit 
Good luck and look forward to hearing your progress 

[JustUncle]

Hello all, I have just joined this site because basically I need help with my garden.
I haven't got an allotment though & don't intend to get one, my small patch is quite enough.
Is it ok for me to ask questions or do I have to have an allotment?

[Jayb]

Hi, Welcome to A4A

Jump right on in and ask away JustUncle, everyone is welcome at A4A. I don't have an allotment either, just enjoy veggie growing 

[Silverleaf]

Welcome from me too - I don't have an allotment either and basically grow veggies in two raised beds and some big pots, and have an orchard with fruit trees and some raspberries.

[noemeportugal]

This is all new to me so please be patient as I go along
My husband & I live in Northern Portugal just a few miles from the Spanish border.
We have lived here for ten years with up to very recently not much success with growing our own vegetables with the aim of being organic and eventually self sufficient. Over the last Christmas/New Year period we decided to take a hard at what we have being doing in the past 9 years and plan for big changes in 2014

Ours is a very interesting story which can be best illustrated by looking at these two links

http://www.vegblogs.co.uk/noemeportugal/2014/08/09/great-to-be-back-after-three-weeks-break/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jK5z4SRUXE

I am looking forward to participating actively in this forum as we are constantly looking to find ways to improve our vegetable growing skills

[Jayb]

Hello Noemeportugal, welcome to A4A  I hope you find your way around the forum very quickly. We have several members from around Europe, it is great reading about the differences and what does well and where. I have to say I'm rather envious of the Mediterranean climate. You have a beautiful garden, it all looks very productive, thank you for sharing. I see you have a lovely dog