Topic: Need help please! Huge allotment!!

[lottie_lou]

 ???  Hello all, my boyfriend and I have just got our first allotment, well, it is 126ft long and 32ft wide - no fencing no structure, nothing at all really!!  The ground needs to be turned over but the ground is full of roots and bricks from the previous owner who left it unworked for six years.  Any advice on the best way to do this would be greatly received!!

Also, could anyone in the newcastle-upon-tyne area suggest a place to get recycled/reclaimed wood for fencing??

Thank you

 ;D

[Tee Gee]

Do a little at a time would be my first bit of advice!

Too many bad backs have resulted in blasting into it.

My view would be for you to set out your plot into five foot wide beds with an 18"-24" path between them and thoroughly dig each bed and weed as you go on .

Once each bed is ready you can plant it up with anything you like /can get your hands on.

You can plan for sowing Spring green,onions and Garlic later on in the year.

Possibly by next spring all will be dug and you can set your stall out to grow anything you want!

Because I have been there (and most of us have) let me point you in the direction of my website which is at; http://tinyurl.com/yn57zu and pictures of my allotment are at; http://tinyurl.com/y72ret

Best of luck I don't envy you the hard work in front of you but take it from me it is all worth it in the end!!

[lottie_lou]

Thank you very much for all of that!  I must admit, it is a very daunting experience at the mo' with all the work we have to do but I have wanted an allotment since I was a tot and now that I have one, I am very excited!!!

I will certainly take you advice on board, set out my plots and work like that, at least then i am focussing on one bit at a time rather than going hell for leather!!!

Thank you thank you thank you!!!

 ;D

[asbean]

I think most of us have been where you're going .. it's a sort of rite of passage. Good luck, in a couple of years' time you'll look back on now and think - WOW!  We did that.
Tee Gee's right - don't do too much digging at first, a little at a time is more satisfying than not being able to continue because you've overdone it.

Good luck!

[lottie_lou]

Thank you....it is reassuring to hear!! 

We will crack on with it bit by bit, and i am sure like you say we will get there in the end!!  I have my before pictures and we are taking the 'during' ones as we plod through!!!

I am sure i will be mithering folks on here constantly for some advice!

 ;D

[Marymary]

Blimey that is a big one  :).  Welcome to A4A, you will get loads of good advice here from people who have been in exactly the same position.  Take it bit by bit & cover what you can't do to kill the weeds & most importantly try & enjoy it.  :)

[lottie_lou]

Everyone so far has been lovely!!  Cant wait for work to finish now so that i can head off and dig!!  Very exciting stuff!

Thank you for dropping in!

 ;D

[saddad]

Watch yourself digging can be compulsive... we have five plots @ 300 sq yds each!
Welcome to A4A and Mither away!
 ;D

[Nelson]

The best advice would be to take it bit by bit and to do something to control the weeds on the parts you haven't cultivated yet.

We've had our lottie for a year now and I've still ony got half of it done.  The rest has been covered in woven plastic sheeting and I've planted courgettes through that in order to use the space more efficiently.

Alotmenteering is definately a marathon not a sprint.   ;D

[lottie_lou]

Watch yourself digging can be compulsive... we have five plots @ 300 sq yds each!
Welcome to A4A and Mither away!
 ;D

Oh i think we are already addicted!  ;)

Thanks for the invite to mither....i promise i will be taking you up on that!

[lottie_lou]

The best advice would be to take it bit by bit and to do something to control the weeds on the parts you haven't cultivated yet.

We've had our lottie for a year now and I've still ony got half of it done.  The rest has been covered in woven plastic sheeting and I've planted courgettes through that in order to use the space more efficiently.

Alotmenteering is definately a marathon not a sprint.   ;D

Thanks, I think we had it in our heads that we had to get it all done and dusted as soon as possible.  The advice I ahve had so far makes sense, am going to sit down decide how we are going to plan it all, and then take baby steps, rather than the giant leaps that i really want to  ;)

[manicscousers]

Hiya and welcome to the site
we covered our paths with thick cardboard( like from a tv or washing machine), black compost beds and weed suppressant, depending on what we had/how much spare cash we had at the time..I'm sure someone on this forum said electrical shops are glad to get rid of it..then wood chip to cover..just don't panic  :)
sorry, i forgot..look in skips and ask for stuff, it's amazing what people get rid of  :)

[cornykev]

Welcome aboard, as said above bit at a time, and try to cover what you will be digging last as the Scousers say raid skips for carpet, cardboard, wood etc, happy digging.  ;D ;D ;D

[lottie_lou]

Ha ha!!  Way ahead of you on that one, skips are being examined at every opportunity!!  We have put a request out to everyone we know and are already in possession of wood, carpets and other bits and bobs!

We have well and truly caught the 'bug' and are thoroughly enjoying the whole thing!!

Thanks for the note  ;D

[Rohaise]

.....but WHY. ? !!!   ..why are   these allotment plots always left in such a blooming mess ?     :-\  Rohaise

[DenBee]

I wish I'd taken photos of the one I had to turn down last year.  It was horrendous.  Our allotments are individual ones, each surrounded by high hedges.  This one was like a Borneo jungle - you couldn't make it to the far end without a scythe.  The growth was almost as high as the hedge.

The one we've got this year isn't nearly as bad, but it's definitely not been worked for some years.  We do have a stipulation in our leases that we're supposed to keep the allotment cultivated, but it's not a council site, it's privately owned and managed (no committee).   If the management agents have been within 15 miles of the whole site I'd be amazed.  So as long as you pay your rent, you're fine.

Mind you I do wonder how quickly they'd be onto us if we breached any of the other rules.  Like the one about not running a market garden from your allotment, or not keeping birds - I'd like to break that one and keep chickens, but I won't.

[lottie_lou]

.....but WHY. ? !!!   ..why are   these allotment plots always left in such a blooming mess ?     :-\  Rohaise

Tell me about it!!  But, all that said, we knew that it would be a mess!  we are now taking it bit by bit and enjoying it a lot more!!  We have built 5 metres of fence with our own fair hands and have marked out two plots to plant things in!!!   ;D

[antipodes]

blimey, they need that old fart from my site on your sites it would seem! On mine, if anything is left for five minutes, you get shouted at! and any type of unorthodox stuff like carpet, cardboard etc is very much frowned upon.