New to this

[steveuk]

Hi
Hope for some advice please, I have just aquired my allotment, even though only a half, could anyone give me ideas how best to lay out .

any help appriciated
thanks in anticipation
regards
steve

[steveuk]

[Roy Bham UK]

 ;D Hi Steve and welcome aboard, take a peek at my plan of action for this year to give some ideas, not sure I have them set in the correct position for serious rotation but I'm still learning just like you. ;D

Oh! by the way this is a plan of two plots. ;)

[Robert_Brenchley]

I don't think it's too critical how you lay it out; just do it how it suits you, and keep it as flexible as possible in case you want to change later.

[supersprout]

Hey steve, welcome to the forum :)
My two plots look strangely similar to Roy's.
Like robert says, keep it flexible. For my first year, everything was marked out with string and pegs (tripwires to my neighbours :-[) Made lots of little adjustments. Don't even think about permanent edging until you've got the layout that suits you best - it may take a few growing seasons to fine tune.
If you plan to do beds, make sure you can reach to the middle. Mine are 1.1m wide
North-south is the preferred orientation, but it's not too critical - mine run east-west.
Taller crops to the North, so they don't cut off the sun.
See if you can calculate roughly how much of each crop you'll need, and allocate space or beds on that basis. You're sure to over - or under - plant tee hee, that's half the fun. There's always next year ::)
Keep notes! I wish I'd done that the first year.
If you've just got your lottie, plant and sow what you can now.
Use the winter for drawing up plans (and shredding them and starting again) ;)
What about a 'before' pic of your new lottie?
Above all - have fun! ;D

[amphibian]

It all depends on the shape of your allotment. Mine is long and thin making layout easy, I just run beds accross the entire width of the plot, no need for any paths except those between the beds. If i had a quare allotment then I'd have to think about internal paths and the like.

The distribution of shade across your site is probably the single biggest influence on your final layout.

[Roy Bham UK]

I originally planned on beds then changed my mind and just laid end boards as bed markers, ::)  this made it easier when tilling and tilled the paths to get on top of the weeds, string I found a nuisance as it very often got tangled in my tiller blades or strimmer Grrr! >:(

I have even numbered the end boards now how sad, :P  the beds are approx 11ft x 4ft and find them easy to maintain. ;D

Here’s a before and after shot. ;)

[supersprout]

ooh roy, I can only aspire to numbers!! :o 8) ;D
is that mulch on your paths - woodchip? very tidy :P
love the before and after - bet you're glad you took the first one! your plot does look lovely :)

[bennettsleg]

Oooh. Roy: your plan ain't half daunting! :)

Steve, it's my second year (1st year with effort applied though... :D) and have found:
- never go for rotivating the weeds in, it gives a false impression of how lovely and weed-free the earth is.  When they all grow back it's daunting and demoralising.  It's more effort but to dig an area clear at a time is a better way to go (I speak from experience...)

Get hold of as many books as possible and read up on everything.  The crop rotation planning was a bit of a pig to sort out but I think I've cracked mine: Potatoes become onions & roots, onions & roots become brassicas, brassicas become peas & beans, peas and beans become potatoes.  There are other beds for perenial crops (rhubarb, jerusalem artichokes, raspberries, strawb's).

Try and get something in the ground asap so that harvesting can begin and you feel like you're achieving stuff already.

Did you inherit any fruit/veg?

[steveuk]

Hi all

Thank you for this wow great help, i would add picture but not sure how, I have a end of the allotment plot, which seemed to be dumping ground, cleared that,

if any one can explain how to add a picture on here , may be easier
cheers
steve (newbie on the plot) excuse the pun

[busy_lizzie]

Hi Steve and welcome. You can post pics through photobucket - please don't ask me how, but there are others who can explain.  The easiest way is to donate £10 a year to Dan the man, our wonderful moderator, and you can have a great picture facility.  If you look at mine or others you will see pics beside our avators. 

Think it does depend on the shape of your plot as Amphibian says.  Some people lay their plots out by having a path up the middle or the side and rows leading on from them, and that gets you more yeild.  I have different shaped beds with  paths interwoven as it is easier  to keep tidy that way, and doesn't seem as daunting. Some of our paths are made from wooden pallets and we can move them when we need to have some flexibility for rotation.  We might need a bigger bed for potatoes for instance.  It is all a matter of experimenting and finding what suits you  I think!  :) busy_lizzie   

[Digger_07]

I think you have had good advice, the only thing I would add is to concentrate on what you like to eat and what is costly in the shop.  Once you have succeded with the stuff you like then move onto the more "technical" stuff.

You still have time to get salad type stuff in and the taste resembles nothing like what you buy.

;)

[steveuk]

Hi all

this is patch i took on hope it works so you can see it,
again thanks
steve