Topic: What state was your allotment in when you first got it?

[e-mushroom]

Hi, got my very first allotment yesterday, so a total newbie.

Been pleasantly surprised in some respects:

1. The soil seems very fertile. Lots of well-nourished weeds. Black soil.
2. Lots of wildlife. Saw 2 very healthy toads, and a load of centipedes, a cheeky fox, and a sparrowhawk!
3. Wild raspberries, blackberries and redcurrants just getting on with it.
4. after years of living next to busy roads, how peaceful and quiet it was.
5. everyone I met at the allotment site was friendly and willing to chat, sometimes at length  :)

Been a bit shocked about other bits.

1. the amount of broken glass. Looks like either a greenhouse or cold panes were there. I could tell that there was glass there, even though it was buried under 4 or so inches of rotted grass, by the way it snapped and crunched underfoot.
2. carpet mulch. yuck!!! Horticultural black plastic sheeting is your friend!
3. non-allotment non-decomposable rubbish.

I think my plot should have come with a statement like
"warning: steep learning curve ahead"  :o

Judging by the sell-by dates of various food wrappers, I'd say the plot has lain derelict since 2000.
Thing is, the previous occupiers laid down a mix of carpet and plastic sheeting, and then left it. I'd say they did this to get rid of the couch grass roots which are endemic at the site. Well, this doesn't work, at least for couch grass, and i have the proof. Seems to kill everything else though. When it's left for so long, earth accumulates on top of it and the grass has grown ON TOP OF the plastic sheeting, and in some parts, THROUGH it. So, it has proven a strenuous exercise clearing even a bit of it.

So the first step is to clear a space to lay some gravel to site a shed and table and a place to store tools. This bit of ground (shed and gravel) is approx 20x10 (feet). Wish me luck, i think I'll need it  ;D

[beckydore]

Mine was knee high in grass, with nettles and docks. The council strimmed it and gave me a roll of black plastic sheeting (which now covers approx 80% of it). Apparantly the previous tenant had been using it until last year but he obviously hadn't pulled out the couch grass roots etc.

We started clearing space yesterday and found a few bits of broken glass. A few bits of wood in amongst it (some with nails in), and even some string pegged to the ground which was really annoying when trying to hoe stuff.

Was pleased with the clearing yesterday. Had hoped to go back late afternoon or early evening to plant onions but ended up staying out too long at lunch. Typically its now peeing it down and so I'm not sure I'll get them in tonight.

[e-mushroom]

The first 20x8ft segment is where the shed is going - that and a paved or gravelled area. Not sure if to pave or gravel. Both cost $$$$ but the gravel option might be cheaper. Against this, weeds would easily get through the gravel. I don't want to have to use residual weedkiller. Yeah, I'll go with the paving and sharp sand  :) The couch grass will need glyphosphate (spelling?) treatment. I'm very happy to weed by hand later but right now it's endemic and is smothering everything else, even the raspberry. :(

[Deb P]

I think in the early stages of clearing an allotment, especially one with a lot of junk to clear, I found it helpful to balance jobs I didn't look forward to (eg. digging out 2 baths full of couch ridden 'compost') with those I was looking forward to (digging and planting) to keep me going!

We had 15 trips to the local dump with all the various rubbish on my plot, including enough broken glass to glaze several greenhouses. We sorted that first, on the basis that although our kids are not that little, there were accidents waiting to happen there!

I also spent quite a bit of time (whilst it was raining or dark) planning where I wanted to put things. That way I could concentrate my efforts where it was needed most when I could get down the plot. Having a plan made me feel better, and meant I could plan my visits with the balance of hated jobs and more pleasant ones..........it worked for me anyway! Little and often, clear and cover as others have said. Oh, and take lots of photos to keep your enthusiasm going, so you can see your progress!

Here was my plot last August on the left, and after clearing at the end of last year on the right........


and in early June this year....

[Buzz]

Got mine at the end of Feb this year. First ever plot but enthusiam dented when I saw this:





I don't know why but, being on a waiting list I thought I'd take a over a plot that had been recently cultivated and would carry on the good work where someone else left off.

Three months later though and it's looking better. Next year is the one I'm looking forward to when it's all properly dug and ready to go but, I'm pleased with things so far...

[e-mushroom]

 :) wow thank you for posting those photos. Yes, i agree it is best to set out a plan, and do a little, often. need to take the digicamera there meself and post some photos. You'll laugh at any rate :)

So far, this is the plan of action:

1. clear space, de-weed, level and pave for shed/bench/storage box/patio

For now, i ferry my tools to site by pushbike (i don't drive). it's surprising how many tools I can strap on the bike with bungee cord. But I'd rather store em on site given that I live in a flat without a garden.

What kind of shed should I go for? Metal or wood? I want a metal box to store tools in the first instance. i was thinking metal shed because it looks like the last shed that was here was burned down  :o

[Carls3168]

When I took my plot on it was a jungle of weeds, loads of smashed glass and basically a health hazzard!
Working fulltime with other commitments meant I could only get to the plot a few hours each weekend, and I must admit there were times when I thought I had taken on too much and should I give it up!  :(

Needless to say though, I persisted, shead blood, sweat and tears and now have a fantastic place of sanctuary where I can escape from the world and do what  I like!  ;D

Do what you can when you can, take pics so you can see your progress and try not to let the weeds get you down too much!

GOOD LUCK!!!!!  ;D

[dawn34]

our plot was like a jungle knee high weeds etc etc decided last year to take on a second plot the one next door hasn't been used for about 3 years that also knee high in weeds, got it ploughed cost us a tenner as the ground was so hard digging now we wished we hadn't as it knee high in weeds again horse tail or whatever it's called totally all over plot and spinach has grown everywhere please be nice and give us dry weather really need to spend timeover there, we have planted spuds etc but the weeds doing my head in.

[OliveOil]

OMG i think you would die if you saw my before and after pics.

1 year ago - 1 plot, ploughed and dragged and sweetcorn was the first to go in...

1 year and 2 plots later - the top end is over grown with weeds, chooks have top end...

2nd plots is pretty good, 1st plot is waist high in weeds!

[SnooziSuzi]

My plot was (and still is in places) full of weeds - bindweed, docs, couch, nettles etc, but apparently these are nothing compared to what was in it before I took it on...

Mine and the two adjacent plots had been used as a rubbish dump by all of the ecologically consious allotmenteers around me for about 5 years.   >:(  There's bricks, broken pots, broken glass,  enough plastic bags to do your shopping with and enough stones to build a house!  most of what passes for dirt in mine is just ash from the old guys emptying their ash pans in it.  The soil is sandy and has no nutrients whatsoever.  It's a bit of a lame duck really.

It's a bit demoralising actually when you have every intention of doing a good job, but before your fork gets a few inches into the soil it's stopped by huge slabs of concrete, buried just below the ground, or, as I found a couple of months ago, the remnants of someones sofa which they had lovingly burned!!  I keep finding springs and coils and bits of foam trying to decompose but never managing it!

The old guys around me are quick to offer advice which goes along the lines of "oooo, I wouldn't do it like that" or "that's not the way we do it" or "we don't plant those" but never actually backing anything up with any sage advice.  I wish my Grandad was still here - he'd know what to do  :'(

[sazhig]

Ours was thigh deep in couch & you couldn't see where it began or ended when we first got it May last year.....tbh not much has changed as we have had other stuff to deal with as well & haven't done as much as we would have liked plus this weather has made the weeds go nuts this year :o.....but now we have access to a mower on site (PILs have a shed on their plot that we have a key for) we are keeping on top of it a little better...so even if we aren't growing very much it is at least manageable and I can slowly see bits of my plans coming together. I am aiming for it to be fully productive no sooner than 2-3 years.

Check out my blog for the starting & current (well beginning of June) views


Saz

[kenkew]

Something like this;

[OliveOil]

Ooo Ken - I'm drooling over your lovely soft as a baby's bum soil in the second pic... I take it from the first pic that was a lot of hard graft!

[Eristic]

Here's mine in March last year.



Clearance in progress


Digging under way

[cornykev]

Welcome Mushroom, as you can see a lot of us started off from nothing, no piccies from me I'm afraid but the weeds and whatnot were about 6 foot high  :o , the council cut it down and we removed all the debris thatwas left, then weeks later they rotavated it, we pulled out as many weeds as possible but it was hard work and the weeds keep growing and growing  :( but thats allotmenteering. Good luck and happy digging.  ;D ;D ;D

[Sparkly]

We have a plot and a half. The half plot had been well covered with black plastic for about a year. Some areas were very badly infested with bind weed roots and some couch grass around the edges of the plot. There was not much top growth of weeds due to the plastic, and really we did not find much glass on the plot. It took us about a month to get it dug over and remove all the roots. The full plot, on the other hand, is a mess of about every perenial you can imagine. It is waist high in some parts with couch grass and brambles. There are 4 apples trees which you can just about make out within the brambles! There is actually no path at one side because all the brambles have taken over! There is a 7ft high compost heap which, again, is completely covered in weeds. We took this new plot on about 7 weeks ago but haven't got that much done due to the rain boooooo. We have roughly dug and covered up about 1/3 of the plot and attempted to find the apple trees. I break up on friday for a 7 week holiday so I am hoping th weather clears up so i am blitz it!

[Mrs Ava]

Plot number one was all brambles, from start to end.  We did however have 2 lovely apple trees, whose name escapes me, and 2 gooseberry bushes.  That was a very long and painful clearance, but as I cleared an area, I planted something, so as I worked I was always looking back at a lovely freshly dug, planted plot.

Plot number two was like a football pitch and was all full of dips, hills and hollows.  Clearing the grass was a nightmare and took me a year as I did it as I went along, keeping number one allotment beautiful.  I cleared half in the first spring and used that, the the other half in the autumn when I wasn't so busy picking and planting.  Did inherit lots of blackcurrant and raspberry plants on that plot.

[Si D]

Mine was hip high couch dotted with the odd doc and nettle.

Doing it in two stages, one half can wait until next year.

Digging the cleared half I've had to start doing it when there is no one else on the site as I don't want to offend with my foul language.  Someone seems to have used it as a land fill site - bin bags full of domestic plastic food containers, smashed drinking glasses, tin cans, bits of metal, etc etc.

But it's getting there slowly but surely.

[Tee Gee]

This was mine sorry about the quality of the picture but I think you see enough to see it was quite rough.

[manicscousers]

nuff said  ;D