Topic: what can I plant now?

[gardening jan]

just got a 5 rod allotment and I'm so excited i can hardly contain myself!  It's in really good condition looking at some of the other plots that were available. Dug over a bed today and the soil looks fantastic I can hardly believe my luck. I'm a complete beginner, but have tons of enthusiasm and cant wait to get planting! But not sure what I can plant at this time apart from broad beans, that are going in tomorrow and garlic that I ve just ordered, any ideas?

[ceres]

Hi Jan, welcome to A4A, lots of good info and experts here!  Congrats on your new plot, sounds like you got lucky there.

What part of the country are you in?  If you're down south, you might just get away with overwintering broad beans, peas, garlic, onions, shallots (if you can still find any in the shops/online) although it is getting a bit late.

Winter is the best time if you want to plant any fruit trees and bushes while they are dormant.

If you don't have much clearing to do, it's a great time for building shed/compost bins/cold frames/raised beds etc. etc if you're going to have them set up for the growing season when you won't have time!

And you need to get your orders sorted for seeds, sets, seed potatoes etc. so lots of drooling over seed catalogues when the weather's too miserable for anything else!

[thegreatgardener]

lettuce is your best bet at this point if have row cover.
I suggest black seed Simpson I have it survive 3 inches of snow in the open
several times.

spinach is also another good choice.

[gardening jan]

Hi Jan, welcome to A4A, lots of good info and experts here!  Congrats on your new plot, sounds like you got lucky there.

What part of the country are you in?  If you're down south, you might just get away with overwintering broad beans, peas, garlic, onions, shallots (if you can still find any in the shops/online) although it is getting a bit late.

Winter is the best time if you want to plant any fruit trees and bushes while they are dormant.

If you don't have much clearing to do, it's a great time for building shed/compost bins/cold frames/raised beds etc. etc if you're going to have them set up for the growing season when you won't have time!

And you need to get your orders sorted for seeds, sets, seed potatoes etc. so lots of drooling over seed catalogues when the weather's too miserable for anything else!

Thanks ceres, I'm even excited to get a reply to my message. I am down south, not far from heathrow. I need to read up about composting I have a small compost bin being given to me I think it's going to be quite small, do you think I need to build a big one then? The plot I have has already been divided into small beds about 4 foot wide they are great but most of the other plots have much bigger beds do you think I will waste too much precious growing space with these smaller beds?
Thanks also to the great gardener I will definately try the spinach and lettuce.

[ceres]

Hi jan
You must be very close to me then so you can stretch the season a little bit down here.  I think a single small bin won't be big enough for an allotment - it generates a lot of weeds and waste vegetable material!  A series of 3 big bins seems to work quite well, one that you're filling, one that's cooking and one that you're emptying.  Some people on here have many many more though.  You can use allsorts to make a bin - old wooden pallets, doors, builders bags, wire mesh etc. etc. or even just have a heap.  Some folks get big daleks from Freecycle or at a subsidised cost from the council.

It's important not to walk on your soil once it's cleared and dug over so you should be able to reach all parts of your bed without walking on it, so 4 ft width is probably OK.  If you have lots of little square beds, a lot of ground that you could plant is taken up with paths so it's worth having a think about it.

[5rod]

welcome
onions,garlic,peas.broad beans,just to get yourself going.
order potatoes.dont over do it. you got all next year .
best advice plan plan and plan
                      good luck 5rod

[thifasmom]

It's important not to walk on your soil once it's cleared and dug over so you should be able to reach all parts of your bed without walking on it, so 4 ft width is probably OK.  If you have lots of little square beds, a lot of ground that you could plant is taken up with paths so it's worth having a think about it.

hi and welcome,

you might be able to connect a couple of the beds, therefore eliminating some of the paths.

[gwynleg]

Congratulations on your allotment - its so exciting and I still find it so nearly 2 years on. I have got raised beds which are 4 feet across but much wider. I have basically divided the allotment into 2 lengthways with a path down middle and at sides then made the beds the width of the half thats left (if that makes sense). Its good to have beds no wider than that across so you can reach but I think mine are about 8ft in length and thats an easy walk back and forth......

How wonderful to not have too many weeds (brambles, bindweed, couch grass....)! Good luck with it.

[cornykev]

Hi Jan and welcome to the site, peas, broad beans and if the soil's not to wet get some garlic in, it may be too late to get wintering onions in but some might take a chance. Go on your council website and they may be doing deals on compost bins, I have 6 dalek style ones on the go.  ;D ;D ;D

[saddad]

Welcome to the site Jan. Fruit trees if your site allows them....  :)

[PJW_Letchworth]

Hi Jan, and welcome to A4A.  I think you'll enjoy reading the threads on here.  We're a bunch of friendly and helpful people.  Everyone on here has certainly helped me out on more than one occasion!

I tend to spend the winter months planning the plot for the new season.  I have a spreadsheet I keep records of the seeds etc.  I'm fairly new to all this as well so I don't know what needs to be sown when.  The spreadsheet has all this information on and is easy to see.  I also draw a plan of the plot and mark what is going where.  I keep them from year to year so I can make sure I practice crop rotation.  This season and part of last season I started to split the plot into beds.  It is so much easier in my opinion to look after and work around.  Take a look at http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/phillworboys/.

Good luck for the new season!