Topic: Any tips on starting up a new plot?

[Pigface51]

 ::)
Hello. I have a just got onto my first plot, well, half-plot.

It has been untouched since at least July last year, and has about a foot of thick grass in big clumps interspersed with other weird weedy things.  It also has three apple trees around (but within) the boundries.

So far, after the delight of getting access, I have trimmed the trees due to the shooters, and 'acquired' some lengths of wood to mark out my various beds.  I am hoping to grow mainly onion, carrot, potato, celery, sweetcorn & kale in this first year. I have some seed potatoes that my Dad gave me, and I have some celery seedlings coming on in the lean-to at home.

I have dug a little to check the soil (good & loamy, neutral pH). bUt don't know if I can get all the beds dug in time for planting everything this year.

Is it better to try and dig all the beds, or dig some and get seed-pots in and celery, then another and put carrots & kale in or what?

It has been suggested to me that I should spray "Roundup" on the area and then wait a week before digging it over - is this advisable?

[SMP1704]

Hi Pigface - welcome from another newbie

I've had my plot since January and have been on a diggin' weedin' plantin' cycle since.

Your approach will be influenced by how much time you have and how strong your back is!

You say you are going for beds - same as me.  I have gone down the wood edged beds, but there are lots of folks here who make beds simply by mounding up soil, so that slugs and other beasties don't have any place to hide.  Time will tell whether I keep my wooden edges.

With my beds, I marked out the area with string and then just dug out that area, pulling out the weed roots as I went.  Then I planted according to weather conditions.  I now have 14 8x4 beds most planted and others waiting.

That has left me with half the plot awaiting cultivation.  Last night that was given the Roundup treatment, which I will leave for a couple of weeks and then get the OH to rotavate - there are several of us who are going to chip with a weekend hire of the machine.

I didn't want to go the rotavate route but the plots bigger than me!  Then I plan to make some larger beds for sweetcorn, squash and pumpkins.

I really found that marking out the beds made the vast expanse of ground seem easier to tackl.e

Hope thats helped.  I'm sure that the more experienced members will also chip in with some excellent advice.

Happy growing

Sharon

[bupster]

weird weedy things

:D

If I were you, based on my experience and that of the 7 and counting old boys on the plot next door, I'd start by strimming the lot down and piling it up for your compost heap. Mark the beds out that you'd like, then dig and clear one at a time. It's harder work than the roundup route, but won't take that much longer (the beds still have to be dug whether you use weedkiller or not) and then you can still be organic if you want to. Get your spuds in soonish but don't worry too much about the rest as you've a fair time still yet to plant - we're about a month behind on the normal season this year. A little at a time is the main thing.

The boys next door did the (above) sensible clearing plan (I didn't), but after digging all their beds they've nothing really to do with the weather being odd. Had they started around now, they'd have everything ready neatly for June, and nothing planted! So while I definitely back their clearing and marking out plan, I reckon you tackle a bed at a time, clear and plant.

If nothing else it means you always have something to do and there's never an excuse to stay indoors  :)

[onionhead]

Sounds like you're in a similar situation to me, Mr Pigface. I started on my plot two weeks ago and the first thing I did was to mark out an area I thought I'd have time to dig over this season: about 10m x 5m. Managed about a quarter of that so far but there's still 6+ weeks to go before I can start whacking stuff in. 

The rest of the plot I've smothered with black polythene and sheets of cardboard to suppress the couch grass and other baddies. Hopefully that should slow them down at least until the growing season's over. Also bunged in a couple of rows of impulse-bought seed spuds to break in the ground, mark my territory and have something to look forward to (!)

[Pigface51]

 :o  Thanks for the advice - Having read the replies, I am looking to mark out   6 beds of 4ft x 8ft initially. I have plenty of space around the apple trees to do later - I have 'acquired' a couple of packs of "Rare British wild flower" seeds which I'm probably going to plant by the trees (the conservation bit) and also have a rhubarb & herb plot by the trees.

My main priority has to be the seed potatoes (they will go in as soon as my first bed is ready).

I have decided to go for the "broken back" approach to clearing the land rather than the roundup route - purely because time is against me and I cant afford to wait a few weeks for it to break down, whereas the allotments are only 70 yards from my front door (so, weather permitting, it is easy for me to do a hour or two in the evenings).

So far, whilst 'poking around' the long grass and behind the trees etc I have found:

1 x trowell
5 x hand garden forks
1 x hoe
1 x large rake
1 x white plastic 'patio' chair (great once cleaned)
1 x 10ft x 6 inch diameter plastic drain pipe
1 x compost bin (made of sliding edge segments that had been dis-assembled)
1 metal wheel barrow (rusty, but will do for me)
many x house bricks (which I will eventually use to 'edge' the apple trees)

...I have used the roots, grass & weeds I have dug up so far in the compost bin to start it off, alternating layers of root (dark/brown material) with grass cuttings (green material)...but based on how much more I have to go, I guess I'll need a few more bins!

All the best,
Paul (Pigface 51)

[onionhead]

Yeah, it's amazing the things that turn up in long grass and under brambles. So far I've discovered:

1 Bramley apple tree
1 common household bathtub
3 hosepipes
4 rhubarb plants
1 wheelbarrow (yet to find the wheel)
2 rolls of heavy-duty chainlink fencing
3 rotary washing lines  ???
and enough uPVC double-glazing to construct some kind of bizarre deathtrap greenhouse.

[sarah]

It sounds like you have made a good start Paul keep up the good work. I know that when I was clearing my own plot by the "broken back" method it really was a good introduction to the soil. I know it might sound a bit girly but having turned every inch of it myself and cleared most of the bindweed and couch (I wish!) it just felt like I knew every inch of the plot then.  :)

[timnsal]

Hello,

Another newbie here - just heard I'd got the plot about 5 minutes ago :D I've seen it, but not set foot on it yet. So I'm finding the advice on this thread useful too. Thanks.



Exciting time ......


Sally

[sarah]

congratulations sally. good luck with your new allotment, you will find plenty of good advice here. Its very exciting isnt it?! Keep us posted with how you get on.

[Petra]

I found an ironing board ??? and lots of blades that sem to have come off a rotavator of some sort and the ubiquitous piles of broken glass.

[Petera]

Just  don't try to do it all in one go.An allotment is for enjoyment not punishment.

[sarah]

Absolutely right Petera. When I started I had such grand plans.... Reality soon sets in. The plans I drew over the winter were so pretty. The plot itself looks somewhat different.  I am slowly beginning to lose the sense of panic I had for the first few months. Slow and steady wins the race. :)

[sweet-pea]

I'd definitely agree with what everyone else has said.  I've had my full plot for 3 years now and I'm still only half way to clearing it, mainly due to lack of time.  But every year I mark out new beds to dig them over.
Up until this year I just marked the beds out and dug them over, leaving the paths as they were.  But I have couch grass and as it keeps growing back into the beds, this year I've decided to completely clear a third of the plot and put in proper paths and wooden edges to my beds, with the hope that I can get rid of most of the couch grass.

One piece of advice I'd give is to cover any areas you're not digging/cultivating with weed supressant membrane/black plastic/or anything that will keep out the light.  That way it will kill what's growing underneath and it will be easier to clear when you find time to do so.  I didn't do this in my first year and ended up spending half my time trying to cut the grass before it went to seed...I failed!

Good luck and hope you enjoy your lottie :-)

[timnsal]

congratulations sally. good luck with your new allotment, you will find plenty of good advice here. Its very exciting isnt it?! Keep us posted with how you get on.

Thank you .  :)
I managed to pop down for an hour this afternoon. Drove through the rain (it's in the next village, about 10 minutes away) thinking I must be crazy. Had a good wander round and found some rhubarb forcing under a dustbin, a garden fork and, of course, plenty of broken glass. Oh, and some heaps of compost and leaf mould. (The rain had stopped)

I've made a start anyway, and dug out a very small bed. Felt quite pleased with myself - making a point of not looking at the vast undug expanse 8)

On the way home, started thinking about the implications of being half way through redoing the bathroom, and not having a bath in the house!

Sally

[keejaay]

Another newbie here

my plot is 130 foot long by 13 foot wide
took 12 weeks of hard backbreaking work
found
5 carpets
numourous empty grow bags buried
2 water butts
2 wheels - 4 car jacks - 5 containers of dirty motor oil
plus the usual bricks and roots
in all i have bagged up 50 large rubble sacks
maybe i can now look forward to actualy growing some veg

[Tee Gee]

This article from A4A Wiki might help;

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php?page=9

[lincsyokel2]

Another newbie here

my plot is 130 foot long by 13 foot wide

you mean its 6 poles?