Topic: Newbie with a new plot

[tottieheed]

Hello

I am very new to growing things and have only just got the keys to my brand new allotment, which, up until 2 months ago was a grassy field with an occasional tree. The site has been ploughed, divided into plots and sheds erected. The soil seems pretty heavy with lots of roots and very few stones.

I am interested in knowing what your priorities and timescales would be with such a plot. What mistakes am I likely to make and how can I avoid making them? I feel that if I get it right at this stage it may save problems in the future.

I think what I mean is, what would you do if you could start your allotment again from scratch?

I was hoping to plant some early potatoes on the first weekend in March, some onions too at the same time. Will this be too early in Fife, Scotland?

Any advice will be gratefully received and if anyone is interested I can post some photos as the plot takes shape.

Many thanks

J

[Buster54]

Hi and welcome tottieheed a few pics wouldn't go a miss as we all like pics,If it were me I would make a plan of what crops you are going to plant and plan for crop rotating as like what you gonna do with the ground once your early potatoes are dug up were your gonna plant your winter veg that will be sitting from September till March or onions and garlic that wont be ready till June July  time and as for mistakes I make them every year,then start digging the plot removing roots weeds and the like and plant as you go,can't speak for where you are but we generally  have to time our spuds to emerge just after the last frost  in sunny South Yorks which is forecast to be early May
This is just a taste for you your no doubt gonna get lots more advice then it upto you  so happy allotmenteering

[shirlton]

Welcome tottiehead. Don't worry about making mistakes. thats how you learn. Just try to rotate your crops to avoid having a build up of deseases and pests that are relativeto each veg and also to give the  stuff you grow the conditions they like
Enjoy what you are doing, thats the main thing.

[manicscousers]

Hiya, tottieheed, welcome to a4a  ;D
We'd make a paper plan, mark out the paths and just walk on them to save compacting the soil.
Plant up the fruit beds, stick in some shallots then onions and have fun  ;D

[non-stick]

Enjoy what you are doing, thats the main thing.

Absolutely - and dont worry about any failures, the successes should compensate. Rotation is good but I find as spring progresses into summer I have to be less rigid as to what goes where as space is at a premium

And dont try and do too much too soon. Get some stuff growing as you carry on clearing/digging/preparing/planning. We only cultivate about 60% of our very overgrown plot first year - we left the rest for later :-)

[BarriedaleNick]

Well it's a great time to start a plot as you have the whole season ahead of you.
Ideally divide your plot into managable areas and start preparing the ground - if it has been plouged then you have a good start.  At this point you have no idea of the fertility of the soil or what weeds are likely to come up.   A good dig will help you get an idea of what your soil is like and help you to see to get rid of perennial weed roots.  The worst mistake i made was getting a rotovator and chopping up all the bindweed etc into smaller roots - which then grew again.
Some folks like to make permanent beds - either raised or just marked out by paths.  It helps you to be organised and makes rotation of crops easier to manage.  You can make beds any size you like but ideally you sould be looking to make them so you can weed etc without walking over the soil in the bed.
So mark out some beds - dig them over and then you are good to go. It is a bit damp and the soil very wet and heavy at this time of year so go easy or wait a bit!

Your first year is going to be a "suck-it-and-see" year - your soil may be wonderful and fruitful or not so dont expect miracles!
Also I would take it easy - I've seen many a starter go full tilt and spend weeks digging only to get disillusioned with all the work.  You seem to have the right idea - get some spuds and oiniosn in (garlic too) and then get stuff going indoors - March is the time we all wake up and start sowing (althoughmany have already got a head start!)

March maybe a little early for spuds up there but you may get away with it...

[cornykev]

First job is to dig out all the roots as you go, or they will grow back and you will fighting them for years
Divide into 4 beds for rotation
Shallots can go in now and onions later, weather depending
If your in Scotland then I wouldn't put your ealies in until late March/April, last frost depending
Keep digging out roots and plant as you go.    ;D

[cacran]

Hi, welcome to allotmenting.
I bet you are raring to go.
When I got my allotment, I marked out the beds with wooden stakes and string. I then dug the beds bit by bit so I did not get too fed up. If you make sure you only walk between these marked out beds, the paths will evolve, over time. I put down brick paths at first but they finished up lifting and were very uneven. After almost breaking my neck, I replaced them with strips of old carpet (pattern down, so they didn't look too garish,lol!) I don't know how long they will last but there's always someone throwing some out.
Anyway, enjoy yourself.

[Bubbles26]

Welcome to A4A  ;D

I'm a complete Newbie too so I'm not dishing out any advice, just wanted to welcome you and share in your excitement at getting your new plot. We got ours at the beginning of Feb and have been clearing and digging the ground over ever since.

We are so enthusiastic at the moment that I am having to be very disciplined about having 'rest days' (I am fortunate enough to not work during the winter so have every day off to be up there digging). I think we sometimes do too much in a day and end up completely shattered, but even then, it is a good shattered, with the feeling of having achieved something  :)

I would love to see some photos as things progress - I've had to stop taking pics now as all we are doing is digging all the weed roots out so on a pic the plot looks no different lol

Like you I can not wait to get things in the ground and the time it is taking to prepare the plot and waiting for Spring is testing all my patience - but it will get here and then we can get going properly.

I have got so much great advice on here and no matter how silly you feel asking a 'simple' question no one ever makes you feel stupid, they just offer tips and advice to keep you on the right track - I hope you find this site as useful as I do

Good luck  ;D

[RenishawPhil]

Well done and good luck on getting your first allotment!!

First of i would decide what to grow

As you say the soil is quite heavy it would be worth you getting hold of a good trailer load of fresh manure, its often cheaper then well rotted and you can work it in to your soil in the autumn(thats if you got space to store it, otherwise get it in the autumn.

With regards to spuds, i would say you are 3-4 weeks to early that far up north. The ground needs time to warm up and we still get snow etc

Onions are fine to get it in now

If you have lots of weeds sprouting up, its worth spraying with round up, as you are not going to dig it all at once. then it will help clear the ground you are not currently working on.

[tottieheed]

Thanks for your helpful replies

I think I got it!

Manure, paths, dig and have fun, sounds like a plan

Looks like I got a busy weekend ahead

Thanks again

[meter rat]

Welcome to the forum. This time last year, we were in the same situation as you are now newbies with a field with nothing in it. Only our allotment needed marking out and wasn't ploughed  We planned ours with regards to paths, compost bins, shed sitting area and areas for permanent planting for fruit. What was left has been divided into 12 beds. 6 beds were dug in the first year and planted, with 4 of them planted with potates.  We also created a pumpkin patch, raised bed for asparagus and rhubarb, and planted quick growing crops like spinach. Over Winter the soft fruit has been planted The remaining beds will be finished by late spring. We found that by doing a little and often things progressed quicker than you think.
As others have said work slowly and enjoy it.  ;D

[sunloving]

Hello and welcome to the forum, good luck with your new plot.

I agree with all above and would add , to stop as soon as your back get twinges rather than stagger to the car doubled over an hour later. This way you get to dig some more tommorow and the next day.
and second you could try a row of peas such as metor/early onward/feltham first, and a row of broadbeans. If youve got som e big frosts ahead you can always stick some fleece or plastic over them until April!

Good luck Dont feel youve got to dig it all over before you plant anything.

x Sunloving

[caroline7758]

Welcome, Tottiehead! As you can see, you've come to the right place for good advice!

[detailista]

I was a noobie two years ago :)

My tips would be - don't buy too many seeds!  Draw a plan first thinking about your crop rotation and then buy seeds etc after. 

keep your eye out for sheets of thick black plastic in skips or tarp or similar and cover over areas you're not working to keep the light out and prevent weeds growing until you're ready to deal with that patch.

Try and involve friends, family etc. and take lots of photos!  I can't beleive the difference in two years and it helps motivate you to keep going when you realise what you've achieved.

Make friends with as many as you can on your site - they'll hopefully give you cuttings of plants- rhubarb for example.

Onions and potatos are great to start with, and broad beans and peas are easy too.  Are you going to chit your potatoes first?  I'd recommend it. 

Make a compost pile or get a compost bin.

The best buy for my allotment was a little BBQ :)  It gets me lots of help from my daughter if i promise a sausage sandwich at lunch time.

Read 'The half hour gardener', it puts the tasks in perspective and is a great intro.

All the best advice I've had has been from this forum, never be afraid to ask (but worth trying a search first as it may have been discussed plenty before)  There are many ways to do the same thing and in the end it's good to find out what works for you .

Have you got a water source?  A water butt is good if not.

Enjoy :) I can't believe how much joy it's bought to our lives, sometimes we just go and do nothing but enjoy the space. hope it brings you lots of happiness too.

[ohmeohmy07]

Start with a 'I won't be daunted' attitude.
When I started mine a few years ago and it was a complete tip, I gave myself 3 basic categories of tasks. I know it sounds corny but it worked: short-term things that would give me something to take home and boast about pretty soon, medium-term goals for the rest of the year, and the long-term 'what would I like my allotment to look like in 5 years time' tasks such as rebuilding the shed, setting up a greehouse, and deciding whether to have raised beds or just the usual.

A key in the longer term tasks is getting rid of the pesky roots that haunt even the best of us - thistles, bindweed, couch grass, and if you're really unfortunate, mare's tail. If you just cut the green bits off, the roots will simply respond by growing again. If you take some of the roots out, but leave some in the soil, they'll grow again. If you've cut the roots into several bits (either using a spade, or worse, a rotovator) THEY WILL ALL GIVE YOU NEW PLANTS. In my book, be particular aware of producing more work than you wanted by using a labour-saving device ... 

I worked on digging up the rhyzomes - that's the part of the root that runs horizontally sending up new shoots every inch or so. One rhyzome gives you 100 weeds! To get at them you sometimes have to dig to the depth of two or three spadefuls. But it's well worth it in the end. I have not conquered everything everywhere, but it's much much better than when I began.

I'd also make use of as much well-rotted compost as you can lay your hands on (or perhaps some rotted down leaves from a wood or a park), because that'll make your soil so much easier to use and much much better for the plants. So start composting NOW, even if it's only the weeds you've dug up in clearing your space. But DON"T put the roots of the worst weeds in because they won't die, they'll just be grateful when you spread out the compost for the space you've now given them to grow in.

But every bit of effort you put in will bring many many rewards.
Good luck.

[ohmeohmy07]

One other thing: there are as many ways of gardening as there are gardeners. Some will say plant now, some will say ooh not now, some will say don't bother with being fussy, others will say be keen to get everything right, some like machines, others like doing everything by hand, and some like weedkillers and chemical fertilizers whilst others want to be as organic as they can. Very confusing sometimes. No-one has a monopoly of the truth and everyone has something useful to pass on. In a very short while you will be passing on your useful experience to someone else who asks for help!

[Digeroo]

Its a welcome to A4A and and allotmenting from me too.

Manure, paths, dig and have fun, sounds like a plan

I like this advice. 

I will add hoeing and mulching to the list to keep those weeds under control.