Hello! Sweet corn wind breaks.

[lincolnallot]

Hello everyone. I'm new to all this, but I've got an allotment anyway and jumping in at the deep end (having only grown a turnip once a very long time ago as a kid - it was a good one though).
So I'm planning out my plot and I'm wondering if lay out really matters that much. I want to grow some sweetcorn, peas and beans - all of which will have some sort of shading and wind breaking effect.
Do people find that certain more delicate crops will grow in their shade or should I make sure they're at the northern end of my plot??? Or am I being a bit over cautious?

(I'm sure my turnip grew in full sun shine)

[lincolnallot]

[mat]

Hi, I thought about this too.  My allotment is new (last Oct) and I have planned the beds to run in a N-S direction (meaning two beds across the width of the plot)  I will plant the taller plants on the northern end of the beds, leaving the shorter plants on the soutern side; this way, they will not shade over the rest of the beds (my neighbour may have more of a problem though... ::)

mat

[grawrc]

I'm planting in blocks this year rather than rows which kind of gets round the problem a bit.

[grotbag]

hi. I must admit I dont worry about position, just plant and watch it grow

[grawrc]

I think you're probably quite right. No point in getting too uptight about things. After all they all want to grow and be healthy.

[lincolnallot]

Cheers. I think I've just got first time nerves ;)

Is there anything that would definately like to grow in the shade - like some Basil or something similar?

Actually - just tell me to shut up and I will...

[lorna]

lincolnallot. Welcome to A4A it is a great site to be on. Hope you get lots of enjoyment from your lottie. Always someone who can answer any questions you may have. Good luck. Lorna.

[redimp]

Hello - cool name!!!  Where are you mate.  If you are in Lincoln, I am up on the Wragby Road.  Few other Lincoln lot on here - we've got Pete Mason who is really from Oldham but he doesn't like it there so he moved to a city with a decent football club.  There's is Kitty who paints - mostly cats but also other animals - she has a gallery in the posh end of town.

If you are not from Lincoln, I am very embarrassed and will spend the rest of the evening extracting my foot from my mouth.

Oh, and by the way I tend to put the taller stuff on the north side of my plot and generally work from North to South so that the maturer stuff doesn't block the light from the new stuff.  Also my best lettuces were grown underneath my bean canes - I think they benefitted from both the shade and the nitrogen fixed by the beans.

[lincolnallot]

I wouldn't be seen dead in Lincoln.......

No - it seems a very nice city. I've only lived here a few months having just moved over from Sheffield.

My plot is on the Yarbrough Cresent site, so if you see a man who looks like he doesn't know what he's doing - come on over and say hello.

I think I might live in the 'posh end of town' - but coming from Sheffield, the whole place is the posh end of town!

Thanks for the tip. I think I'll give that way a go, as it sounds sensible to me.