Topic: Have I bitten off more than I can chew?

[Argiebargie]

Hello all, another newbie I'm afraid....... but you seem a friendly lot!

My girlfriend spotted some lotties over the road from us and jumped in straight away, getting us a large plot. Now, several months later, I am looking at the great crop of .... well, weeds and grasses ... that have accumulated since we have had NO time to do anything with it.  :-[

From what I've read on these forums so far, it seems like my best plan would be to cover half of it and save it till spring, and dig the other half over and start planting. At least that way, I won't feel like we're climbing a huge mountain!

Am I on the right track? What can we start planting in the next few weeks?
BTW, we bought a scythe/grass hook to clear the patch. am I going to regret not hiring a strimmer?  :(

[Svea]

you may become a master of the scythe - just be careful of your legs ;)

there are a couple of threads here talking about what you can sow/plant now for an autumn, winter and spring crop.

little and often is a good motto. a good plan to break the plot 'in two' and tackle some now and some later :)

have fun

[Nigella]

We had a new plot in April. It was covered in grass and weeds etc. We dug approx 1/3 and have had lettuce, potatoes, beans, peas, strawberries, swiss chard, 4 different types of courgette, 2 different types of squash and 2 different types of pumpkins.

Now that we have had some food from the plot it has spurred us on to dig the rest (which we are now doing).

Get digging and you can get some lettuce / chard growing - which you can eat fairly quickly.

Come September / October / November you can plant things like garlic, broad beans and onions.

I would recommend getting a 'grow your own' type veggie book - for info on what to grow when and check out the organic gardening catalogue website for seeds !

Have fun !!

[Nigella]

By the way - don't worry about the not having much time part.  ;)

We both have full time jobs in London with a 40 min commute there and back every day. We just manage to do little bits - even half an hour weeding makes a difference !!  ;D

Once you get going - its quite relaxing - and an escape from the TV - and a good excuse to be out in the summer evening sun (when we have it!!)  ;D

[Icyberjunkie]

A half hour? Really!   My half hours always turn into "Eeeek its dark!".    There is something sadly addictive about pulling out bindweed..........or addictively sad about allotmenteers  ;)

[redimp]

I find the same - when up at the lottie, the concept of time disappears - I think I have only been up there a couple of hours and it turns out to be four - the trouble is the amount of work I have done probably equates to the original couple of hours.

[westsussexlottie]

We both work, and only have time for a morning every weekend at the allotment so it gets weedy. We recently came back from holiday to find weeds above waist height and found ourselves straining to find the veg plants within....
but after a very hard 2 days over 2 weekends we have broken the back of our "neglect". Have now planted winter new potatoes and brassica plants so all is looking better. Don't give up - but you do have to assign time to it as much as a priority as outher household tasks!

[suzylou]

Welcome!

I'm another newbie, had my plot a week.  It's covered in 6" tall couch grass, but that is about all.

Last weekend I spent all day, and crippled myself for the rest of the week, digging a bed by hand.  I have now decided to follow the "no dig" approach and will be creating some beds tonight in time for my plug plants from Dobies to go in.

Yesterday, I mowed all the grass with a hired mower, and although I know that's not really "gardening" the whole plot suddenly seems more manageable.

Just do a little bit when you can.  It's surprising how much difference you can make in a day!

[loz]

Hi ArgieB

Whatever you do, enjoy it.  I must admit I have fallen behind with mine this year.  I will cover all of my beds with a layer of rotted manure in the Autumn and leave it till next year, when I can plant up squashes and salad leaves in the rotted top layer. 

I have also been known to use weed killer when provoked by couch and mares tail.

If you are able raised beds may be an option

Loz

[wardy]

Good advice about not doing too much digging or you'll end up killing yourself and getting fed up.  You don't need to do even half the plot - just do as much as you need to say get one crop in, eg one bed for onions (doesn't have to be too big) then keep the rest covered up.  You can then proceed one bed at at time if you want.  I think breaking it down into manageable chunks is sensible. 

Suzy Lou you'll be ok with no dig. I'm very pleased with what I've harvested so far and it's made me even keener not to get the spade out.  I think anything which grows above ground will be ok with no dig.  It's just roots which like loose soil.  I did grow lovely round carrots on a bed of cardboard, sods with some homemade compost, leafmould and grow bag compost on top.  I did get weeds through though as they were in the sods.  That beetroots and carrots, onions etc were lovely though but it was a pain to weed as my initial weeding was nil  :)

[spacehopper]

Hello, welcome to the world of allotmenteering.  :)
A new plot is daunting, no doubt about that. Ours was in a very bad state in May. We mostly work on it at weekends, as Baz works full time, and I work part time. Baz is down there now though, lighting a bonfire we build at the weekend. I don't tend to get down much during the working week as my son goes to bed at seven. Anyways, there's still a long way to go, but we feel that we have made good progress, and are pleased with the way its going. Steady away.

[wardy]

It'll still be there tomorrow - it's not as if it's going anywhere so little and often.  More relaxing that way doncha think?  :)

[Ed^Chigliak]

Concentrate on a much smaller area and you will be successful. It's quite common to bite off more than you can chew so the whole plot is done rather badly. In time you will want the extra space.

If it's a big plot concentrate on a quarter productive. You can grow a suprising amount of produce in a small space. With the 2nd quarter start to dig it over a bit at a time and introduce quick growing green manure crops like Phacelia. Always remember that your priority is to be successful in the 1st quarter so if you're short of time the 2nd quarter can wait. Make successional sowings of green manure crops in the 2nd quarter and then when you need/want more productive space you have a relatively weed free quarter you can move into.

Roll back the plastic on the 3rd quarter (half the plot covered is a good idea) and repeat the process starting with the green manures. As you expand your productive area you will find you need more time to maintain what you have and for propogation so it becomes increasingly difficult to find time to break new ground.  If you max out time wise before you have a fully productive plot then keep a quarter of your plot as green manures as permenant feature which you can harvest and compost or use as a mulch. Also it's an area you can move into in case of disease.

[Mothy]

Welcome Argiebargie,

As another Newbie, I can confirm that a neglected plot is a mountain to climb. But any mountain is easily overcome providing you don't try to reach the top on the 1st day!!

After a day strimming and pulling brambles out to feed a huge bonfire, my bit looked like a different place.

Digging then started, but only a couple of hours at a time from Xmas to May. I planted garlic/shallots/broad beans initially just so that I could see something growing to motivate me.

Now I'm taking crops out and have dug bits over to put autumn crops in and the difference is amazing, lovely fine soil compared to the couch infested stuff I dug early in the year.

Take your time, enjoy and whatever you don't do this year, do next!!

As regards scythe/strimmer, I bought a 2nd hand petrol one out of the local paper for £60...it seemed better than hiring one! Never used a scythe, so not sure.

I've just put in some cabbage for spring greens, late new potatoes, Winter onions to go in soon, leeks where new spuds were, sowed some more late carrots etc!!

Good luck

[wardy]

My plot is still largely mowed weeds but it looks very nice and gives us somewhere to sit and socialise.  I have only done a few beds so far but had loads of food - I got 60 onions from one bed 4 foot x 12 with Little Gem lettuce grown in between as a catch crop, 3 spud no-dig beds, containers, boxes for mixed lettuces, growbag with pak choi in it, a tiny bed which had peas and broad beans in it.  I'm growing stuff at smaller spacings as I;ve not prepared much space.  It does make weeding a bit more fiddly though  :)  I have loads of the plot under plastic with squashes, pumpkins and courgettes all over the top of it so it does minimise the stark appearance of all that plastic  :)

[katynewbie]

Little and often...absolutely!! :D :D
I find that time is a very elastic concept as far as the lottie is concerned. Have decided that I can hoover/clean/decorate/have a social life when its raining....meantime I am at the plot while the weather is good!! :)

[wardy]

Good for you  ;D     We're having a barbecue on the plot this weekend - me and my OH and our lotty mates.  Got a gazebo and everything.  Will be mostly eating courgettes  ;D

[Mothy]

LOL Wardy  ;D ;D

Enjoy your courgette kebabs!!

Sadly mine haven't produced many....yet!

[dirtyfingernails]

hello all - yet another newbie, what a great site, a new world!

We got our plot in June (me and my partner although he's been conspicous by his absence!) and have about a quarter going - had our first harvest today of courgettes (well marrows actually as we've been away!) - the soil is clay so it's been a nightmare to dig - I've roped in my mum and sister so the 3 of us are sharing the plot and go up together with a picnic which is lovely, looks like there'll be more than enough veggies to go round.

the plot is quite flat but has loads of dandelions and bindweed, although most of it is covered. We're planning to spend a couple of weekends in late sept/early oct clearing all the weeds and rotivating it and then laying out the beds for next year - do you think we're being too ambitious? and any ideas for what we can plant over winter?

ps - any recommendations on the optimum shed size and site?

[supersprout]

If you haven't already, try a "search" on this website under 'shed*'. There's heaps of advice on prices, sources, self build, legal stuff and delivery ... good luck and good digging! :D