A place for newbies to introduce themselves.

[kennie_gajos]

Um, hi.

I'm Gina/Kennie and we got our allotment the Saturday of the August Bank Holiday weekend.  It's a 5 rod plot in Exeter and it's a fair drive away from home but had a much shorter waiting list than the ones closer to us (10 years is a ridiculous wait!).  I've been growing for a while now but we have a tiny, mostly concrete, garden which we can't do much about because we rent so most stuff has been in pots.

Good points about the allotment are (in no particular order) lots of raspberries, pond, very friendly neighbours who are even lending us tools so we don't have to schlep ours across town until we can afford/build a shed, a peach tree that apparently fruited very well this year, gooseberries, currant bushes, west facing, next door to the bee hives.

Problems with the allotment are (again, in no particular order) that according to our neighbours it hasn't been worked in at least two years, lots of bindweed, grass has grown into the pond, back quarter is taken over entirely by nettles, brambles and even more bindweed, a willow tree that we've been informed we must (somehow) take down, black and red ants nests, and the peach wasn't staked when it was put in and has been pulled over by bindweed.

We've started clearing it in preparation for next year's growing season although I'd like to try to get some onions in next month.  As we're both full-time workers and money's tight, we're likely to be weekend allotmenteers operating on a shoestring budget.  There's a place near me that's giving away free pallets so any ideas (other than the compost bin we're already constructing) for things we can build from them would be gratefully received.

[kennie_gajos]

[Jayb]

Hello and Welcome to A4A 

congrats on your new plot, what a lovely lot of positives you have. And a good time of year to be able to get the plot in shape. I'm looking forward to hearing more of your progress and plans, photos are great too if you get the chance.

[sparrow]

Hiya,
Love the sound of the allotment. Nettles are at least great for compost and feeding your plants, and the ants will move on. There are loads of things you can build from pallets, but depending on how they are treated they might not last forever. http://www.1001pallets.com/ If you can get some old windows from a local glazing company you could have a shed/greenhouse/coldframe up for very little outlay.

Are there any seed swaps in your area? That might help keep the seed costs down. There's a 50p sale on at the moment at the wyevale garden centres too.

Don't envy you taking out a willow tree. You might be better off drilling holes into the stump when you've taken off the top and filling them with herbicide rather than digging the whole thing out. (if that sort of thing is allowed/in your gardening ethos)

[Taterhead]

Hi Everyone,

I've been lurking a little while and the forum seems a great place for tips and advice as well as a good community spirit so I decided to join.
I don't have an allotment yet, but I am on two waiting lists, one of which I am number 5 so hopefully it shall be sooner rather than later!

I've not grown much before, apart from some carrots and potatoes in my parents garden when I was a nipper, so I'm a relative total newbie.
I can wield a spade and fork fairly well without causing too much damage, and have built ponds, laid driveways and put up sheds in the past.

I've started saving pallets at work and may have managed to locate a shed on freecycle, so I'm slowly gathering useful stuff.

One question I do have, that I can't see an answer for on the A4A wiki is, can I use ash from our open fire on the plot? The ash would be a mix of wood and coal.

[caroline7758]

Hi Taterhead, and welcome to the forum. Good luck with getting a plot. If you put "ash" into the Serch, it brings up a few answers to your question, such as this one:

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,73525.msg751854.html#msg751854

[Jayb]

Hi Taterhead, Welcome to the forum 
Glad you've joined, lots of helpful and friendly people on A4A.
Good luck getting to the top of the list and hope you get a new allotment very soon. Do you have an idea how quickly the list will go down?

I'd use wood ash on the garden as I think it feeds back a little of what it has taken, but I don't use coal ash, a bit worried it has toxins in it.

[Taterhead]

Thanks for the info on the ash Caroline, should have thought to use the search function! I've had a good read and it would seem coal ash isn't the best thing.
I'll only use the wood ash.

Hi Jayb, I've been told the one that we're fifth on the list for should hopefully have a plot free in the next few months, the plot size is 70sqm. The other one we are on the waiting list for is a well established site and apparently plots are about as rare as hens teeth, but the plots are apparently bigger.

I think 70sqm should be enough to start with if we get that one and if we get really stuck for space we can always put our name down for a second plot on that site.

Thanks for the welcome

[pumkinlover]

Welcome Taterhead. Hope that you get your allotment soon 

[Beelucky2]

H1 Everyone , New to the site, I have had my allotment for about 2 weeks now...fairly overgrown, but have been fortunate to have existing fruit trees and raspberries (think they are Autumn fruiting but not 100% sure !!!)....I'm also blessed with a huge amount of Jerusalem Artichokes. Plan to get most of the digging completed by the onset of the reply bad weather!!...but the rain has put the brakes on that. Looking forward to chatting to you all and benefiting from your experiences. Best wishes. Paul

[Jayb]

Hi Beelucky, Welcome to A4A 
Congratulations with your new lottie 
Taking over a plot that is fairly overgrown sounds to be about the norm, good luck with your digging and weeding. Fruit trees and farti artichokes, great to have something to crop overwinter and sounds like some lovely fruit to look forward to, what a bonus! Have you any idea what types they are?

[French-Dream]

Welcome Beelucky2,  the thing with taking on an overgrown plot at this time of the year is the weeds are slow to come back. As you clear a patch if possible cover with black polly. Then you get off to a better start next year, you could bang in a few garlic, onions that will over winter, but watch them smegging Artichokes, when we took on our plot back in 2012 there was a patch of them, we're still trying to get shot of them.

[Beelucky2]

Thanks for the warm welcome Guys.....Good idea to cover the freshly dug ground, it'll save some work in the new year and warm up the ground quicker. As regards to the Artichokes, I haven't a clue what type they are........just that are a lot of them!!!!
Best wishes and good digging
Paul

[Flint_sifter]

Hi,  we've had a couple of allotments over the past ten years or so and still consider ourselves beginners.  Our current plot is up on the South downs and I seem to be constantly removing flints from it!  My wife is the real gardener, I mostly dig where she points but I'm learning.  Plenty of potatoes (I'm good at growing them!), Jerusalem artichokes, lots of onions and shallots (I'm good at pickling as well) and most other veg.

Simon.

[caroline7758]

Welcome to the forum, Simon!

[BarriedaleNick]

Love the username Simon - welcome to the site.  It is a bit quiet in here at the mo but it livens up as we start getting our seeds sown..

[Jubillee]

Hi, I'm New to the site and came across it whilst looking for information on how to make soil more fertile.  I have a half plot on allotments in Farnborough in Hampshire, on a small site of of 40 plus plots.  We are on a windy hill at the back of the Abbey but has only been allotments for the past two seasons.

One member recently had the soil tested and it showed to be quite acidic and not very fertile which surprised us as the field was lying fallow for years previously.  I have been trying to think of ways to improve the yield of crops which was quite poor last year with lots of weeds and pests to struggle with.

We are a mixed bunch of plot holders in every way, young and old with very different backgrounds and most of us have very little experience although there are some amazingly good plots.  I think you website is excellent, we are trying to get members to use our website more.

Best Wishes

[galina]

Welcome Jubillee and other new members.  We are looking forward to reading about your progress and getting to know you.   

Sorry your ph wasn't all that you hoped.  This site has some information:
http://soil.hostweb.org.uk/

The tab on the left hand side labelled 'ph and acidity'  brings up a lot of information, including at the bottom another clickable 'plant preference list' which brings up fruit, veg, greenhouse etc.  You could concentrate on growing veg that will thrive in your ph. 

A good mix with compost will also improve ph.  However, there is never enough of that and to buy it in is expensive.  However (this is John Yeoman's method), you can make large planting holes and use your good compost only around the plants that you transplant.  You will improve the whole soil over time, but in the meantime the plants will grow in the good stuff, or at least have a start in the good stuff.

[Jubillee]

Sounds good, Galina, many thanks

[Jayb]

Hi and Welcome to A4A Jubillee, glad you found the site 

Thanks too for the link Galina, lots of interesting information.

[Digeroo]

Hi Jubilee welcome to A4A.  Is there any more information, not very fertile is a bit vague.  I suggest feeding.  I use a lot of blood fish and bone.  Plant seem to like it.  Acid soil, think of all those lovely raspberries!