Topic: New to the group and just got an allotment Any help welcome

[Bebushman]

Hi there Im new to the group and would like to say hi to everyone,
Just over a month ago I got my Plot its five polls, I started to dig out all the brambles and other weeds from the worst side of the allotment and all is looking good is there anything I can do to improve  my soil to give my veg that little extra help. And whats the best veg to start sowing indoors. I also have acess to a greenhouse.
If there's any other help or advise you could give I would be very greatful,
Aaron

[lorna]

Welcome to A4A. There will be plenty of advice coming your way from the members who have a wealth of experience. Good luck.

[grannyjanny]

Welcome to A4A bebushman. You have come to the right place ;D. Congratulations on your plot ;D. Do a bit at a time & take lots of pictures. My OH double dug our half plot & he went backwards so he couldn't see how much he had left to do ;) ;D.

[BarriedaleNick]

Hi and welcome!
You'll find that everyone has their own way of doing things but there are some basics that we seem to agree on!
Soil conditioning - depends on your soil but you cant really go wrong with adding organic matter.  Manure, seaweed, compost, straw, green manures - will all help.  Stables and city farms are great - other plot holders on site will be able to help you source good stuff locally.  Your soil may be already very productive or knackered - only a season growing will tell!
What are people sowing now - well some take Jan and Feb off completely!!  Chilis are favourite to get going early esp if you can get them to a greenhouse. Onions are another early fav to get going indoors from seed.  Personally thats all I will do unitl the start of March - then its full steam.
In general I get virtually everything going indoors or in the greenhouse as opposed to sowing direct - carrots and parsnips being part of the exception.
The trouble is that indoors is hot and there isnt much light so there is a tendency for things to get leggy - thats where the greenhouse will be of great use.  once your seedlings are up and away you can move then to the greenhouse - still have to watch for late frosts though.

If you want specific advise - do a search as there are loads of threads on most subjects - but dont worry about asking questions but its best to be a little specific as you'll get better answers.  Good luck

[gavinjconway]

Welcome to the site - I am also new since October.. GrannyJannie OH has the right plan of action!!

Remember you cant do it all in a day so just keep at it and d something every time you go there. Plan to  grow veg you like and try not to do veg that is cheap in the shops. Do something different and please ask questions. We are all here to help each other.

[Digeroo]

Welcome to A4A.  Congratulations on getting your allotment.  I have had mine three years now, and I hope you enjoy yours as much as I do mine. 

Sounds as if you are making a great start with the brambles and weeds.  I am keen on lots of biomater and fertilizer. 

I thiink you need to make a list of what you want to grow and plan things out. 

Do give us some information about whereabouts you are and what type of soil you have.   There is quite a difference between the South West and the North East.

[Bebushman]

Thank you all for the welcomes and for the advise.
I am very new to allotment growing, but looking forward to trying all sorts of veg, herbs, salads and fruits and will keep you updated. Im in Hertfordshire area and hopeing to do a soil test soon.

[Unwashed]

Welcome to Allotments4All Bebushman.

Grow lots of potatoes - Kestrel are an excellent second early.  They grow strongly so out-compete most weeds, and you need to do a lot of digging to plant them and earth them up and that all helps get the soil into condition.

Don't be too worried if the weeds start to take over, it can take a couple of years to get on top of a plot if it's been let go so relax and enjoy.

[green lily]

Probably planning and marking out where your paths are going so you start to keep planting area more tread free.
Perhaps fixing some compost bins to stack any compostable weeds. If you burn stuff remember the wood ash is very valuable and should be stored in a dry tin for use later. I'ts potash and good for flowering plants like peas and beans.Sooo keep it away from the carrots and parsnips...... ::)
Best of luck, don't try too much unless you've a lot of willing hands to help you. This a long term project and Rome [or a brill allotment] wasn't built in a day... ;D

[Bebushman]

Ahh that's where Im lucky there's three of us working on it but Ive done the most due to the fact I have more spare time  ;) But looking forward to seeing the results we get this year.
And thank you all again,
Aaron

[antipodes]

Yes, get a composter sorted out to start producing your own fertile compost. And if you can get hold of anything that has come out of a farm animal's rear end, you are onto a winner  ;D
Never hurts either to fertilize a bit when you come to plant and sow, I usually get some granule fertilizer (something organic, they are usually made from seaweed, bat guano and heaven knows what) and dig in a scattered handful. Helps give them a good start.
You will soon be another obsessive gardener like the rest of us! Welcome.

[chriscross1966]

If you have the space at home then invest in a few propagators (heated are most useful but the unheated ones are better than nothing) and use them to start plants off in module trays ... that way you get to plant out small plants that have had a decent start in life.... can make for more success in the early years.... nothing like waiting (and waiting and waiting) for your firtst row of cabbages/onions/leeks to come through and only getting patchy germination to put you off... With some care pretty much everything can be started in modules, even carrots (push toilet roll tubes into the cells of a 24-module tray) and parsnips (ditto but even better with kitchen roll inners)...

See if there's a potato day local to you or a good garden centr4e that sells its seed spuds loose, experimenting with a few tubers of lots of varieties can be a rgeat way of finding out what grows well in your soil, plus the variety is massievly better than any of the catalogues....  Seed swapping can do the same for a lot of other plants too... the only plant you really want to avoid doing that with is sweetcorn, there are too many variables about which ones can't be planted next to each other to take the chance....

If you can source manure locally then it's great for soil codnition (but apart from pig and well rotted cow it has precious little fertilizer in it)... but do a broad bean test to check for weedkiller residues.... corn and squashes tolerate it cheerfully enough but beans don't and it can badly affect potatoes and tomatoes

[shirlton]

Take your time and enjoy your allotment. You will make mistakes as we all do but as long as you learn from them, thats all that matters. Don't foget the pics.

[Monkey Brains]

Try to keep it simple and as cheap as possible in the first year - investing money into your plot is better spent in years 2 onwards, once you are sure that growing your own has really got under your skin and you know for sure that it has become a permanent thing in your life.

Starting your own compost heap from vegetable peelings etc is excellent advice as this costs nothing.  Addding manure (though check what plants appreciate it and which ones don't) is excellent if you can get it for free, but can become quite expensive if you need to pay to get a load delivered. If you've got lot of weeds growing then that suggests to me that the ground is already really fertile - we took on a plot that had had 7 years of assorted tenants coming along, doing just a little bit then losing interest - when we took over we just dug it all out and weeded it and planted stuff and found that it didn't need anything adding to the soil the first year, other than a few handfuls of stuff like Blood Fish & Bone, or chicken manure pellets, which we got from the poundshop. We only started adding manure & compost from the 2nd year onwards.

Seeds from places like Aldi, Lidl or poundshops are excellent quality (around 30-40p per pack rather than the £2-3 you'll pay in garden centres or from seed suppliers). Ok - you may not get the choice of variety, but they're just as good in terms of quality and germination rates.

Best veg to start off indoors? Check back of the seed packet - anything that needs a minimum temperature of say plus 15c degrees to germinate you'll need to start off indoors at this time of year - but be careful not to mollycoddle your plants or they'll grow up to be weaklings that struggle later on - if you don't have the space or conditions to do this then wait a while - later sowings will catch up. E.g., you can sow things like leeks now - starting them off indoors but moving outdoors to frost-free conditions once they are up. But I find it easier to sow them into pots outdoors in a few months time. Come March/April/May all of your windowsills will be groaning with thousands of seedlings anyway, so don't start things too early...