Suggested additions for newbie wiki page

[BAK]

I propose to review and change the "For Newbies" A4A wiki page before January ...

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php?page=9

Any suggestions would be welcome, eg more links to websites (particularly of A4A members).

Thanks

[BAK]

[PurpleHeather]

The site looks pretty comprehensive

The thing which seems to be problematic at the moment is for newbies getting allotments or a place to grow in the UK.

Is there any way you could add advice to land owners who have spare land? Or detail the law a little to show how a group could lobby their council to provide more allotments?   

Do we have an area dedicated to window box and patio growing of small crops, window sill salads and herbs for instance?

[realfood]

There are several schemes on the go, to help people find ground to cultivate. There is one run by http://www.rivercottage.net/landshare/ and one run by http://www.homegrownuk.org/ but I am not sure how many plots they have available. The National Trust is making space available.

[Baccy Man]

A link to "Allotments: A Plotholder's Guide" would probably answer a few newbie questions.
http://www.farmgarden.org.uk/ari/documents/plotholdersguide.pdf

[PurpleHeather]

How about quoting the appropriate part of the allotments and smallholdings act?

[BAK]

Baccy Man - I had already started to make some changes and the inclusion of your suggested link was one thing that I had done.

realfood - good idea although I will use the pukka landshare site.

PurpleHeather - I will have a look round for something that is readable. Anything that is too dry is likely to be ignored.

Thanks all. More thoughts welcome.

[Digeroo]

I think it would be nice to have a tab on the home page labelled newbies.  I was a bit thick and did not find the wiki tab for some time.

Perhaps also an explanation of how this site operates.  I think some find the mix of advice and humour somewhat surprising.  So while you profile some of the experts you could also profile some of the jokers.

[BAK]

Digeroo - a new tab on the home page is Dan's domain. I suggest that you contact him and/or add it to the website suggestions forum.

[asbean]

I thinnk we've had this discussion before, and decided against a specific area for newbies.  Can't remember the thread, but all newbies start off differently, some announce they are new, introduce themselves, others jump into a thread with a comment and if people notice they are new they welcome them, but not always.

[grannyjanny]

Aminopyralid warning & perhaps link to info.

[mrestofus]

how about a list of alternative names for different vegetables.