Allotments 4 All

How much does it cost (roughly) to start up a plot?

I know how long is a piece of string etc...

But the basics.

I don't want to spend alot of money, but don't want to be rumaging in skips either

Gary

Next to nothing if you already have a complement of tools. You don't have to have paths other than trodden soil, you don't have to have raised beds. If there are no taps on site a water but is a must, assuming you have water to drain into it from a shed roof or something. Your biggest initial cost will be seeds and sets/tubers...
8)

Hi Gary,
re your plotting costs.  Just to let you know that I got my greenhouse through loot.com, put in my postcode etc., and got it really cheap 2nd hand, no skips in sight. 
2nd hand is good, it's gonna get grubby anyway, and you keep your pennies in your pocket.
Good luck.
ps, also try freecycle for stuff for free.

any car boots by you, it's surprising what you can get, even fruit canes and strawberry plants as well as tools etc

I tried for a green house last night off freecycle but it had gone(after only a few minutes). I've also tried for pavers with as much luck.

When I first saw my plot I had all these good ideas, but when I worked out how much they would cost, some (most) will have to wait.

I am going to need some tools as I don't have many, and quicker than I thought I broke my fork on Sunday.

I already have my first dozen strawberry plants taken from the ones in my garden this year, hopefully to get planted this weekend.

Gary

I think its worth saving for a good quality fork and spade. The only make I haven't broken so far is Spear & Jackson. Usually quite well priced at B&Q.

BBC reported earlier in the year that in your first year you are looking to spend approx £300 then £200 the following year forllowed by £150, £100, £50 and then averaging at between £50 and £75 over time.

Though that was hogwash till i realised i had spent just slightly more than £300 in my first 14 months!

It will also depend on what has been left on your plot by previous people or what you discover whilst clearing it; some things look totally useless at first glance, then turn out to be a great find. I spent ages untangling brambles and couch several feet high that had grown through what looked like a mess of wire fencing; it turned out to be several half circles of chickenwire netting, ideal for covering brassicas etc. I've also dug up upteen bricks (now being used for edging and paths).

I've also used a lot of free pallets from building merchants that they deliver wood on; they measure 8' by 4'; how convenient!! That's the edging for my raised beds sorted then! :)

One tool I would invest in is a canterbury fork/azada; totally brilliant at ripping out couch grass and kind to your back.

One thing you can't easily cost out is your time; which is probably the biggest investment of all; I go down to do a couple of hours digging, and before I know it the afternoon has just gone again..... ;D

my advise for what its worth is to invest in a shed first of all,theres nothing better than to go in your shed put the kettle on your camping stove and just look out at your plot. you will find like me that if you have a refuge from the weather's and somewhere to sit that you will spend more time at your allotment than if you don't

If you think the azada is a bit expensive try a mattock that's what i use it's my most useful tool. I finally got my shed a few weeks ago after nearly a year. I've just been painting it today, I tired for ages to get one second hand but decided I'd be looking for ever and I got tired of loading up my car for each visit then finding I'd left something important behind. Now i'll have an extra 1/2 hour working instead of loading up tools. I got the shed from Gardenbuildingsdirect and the driver delivered it to my allotment so i didn't need to hire a van which made the price more acceptable. I've spent quite a lot this year because i also had to fence my site...I can't fit pallets in my car or at least more than one so i have a wire netting fence around three sides. I have a new plot so I needed the fencing the neighbouring plot holder when he's not spraying glyphosate on my squash is trying to move the boundaries in his favour. Also people walking dogs let their dogs run on the allotments (and worse) so a fence was essential. I've probably spent £300 this year but don't expect to spend anywhere near as much next year.
It's also possible to buy stuff/get it free from your local waste and recycling centre.

One of things I would like next is a shed. I spent the other weekend around the DIY stores looking at them but they were so poor I have decided to build my own. I have worked it out at about £120 for a 6x6 and far better than the 6x4 for £99. I just need some pavers so that I can get a base down and then I can start.
I remember few years ago my parents getting a cheap second hand shed, cost them more in the long run.

What's the matter with skips? I got a plastic/metal chair off one that is a relief to sit on up at the allotment after a bout of digging etc (much mocked by older neighbours, and occasionally borrowed, I'm told by my spies).

A friend got me a Canterbury hoe for £2 at a farm sale and my husband put a handle on it. Perfect tool. I watched my much older neighbours using theirs and coveted one.

My very best long-handled edging shears came from local market, and still has £4 taped to it. The pleasure of smoothly slicing through the grass is brilliant, and the silken feel of the wooden handles is a bonus. I get lots of other tools from there, too.

I already had a spade and fork and hoe... i had a water butt too!

So far i have pinched lengths of 2 x 2 from OH's work to make fence for the chooks and i spend £45 on scaffolding netting online for the fence for the chooks... shed was given to me for free and that is now the chook house.

I got loads of seeds from here for free and i have bought about £30 worth... i also buy the veg magazines at £6/month and bought the Allotment book for £8 from wHS...

1 lot of fleece from wickes for about £5

So really in the scheme of things i have spend hardly anything in the last 6 months.

I will buy buying some seed tray thingys from organic gardening co... at £25 for 2 and i will be buying polythene sheeting to make some cloches and will probably pinch some pipes from my dads work (water board)

Oh and i need some bales of straw for hot box and for my paths = prob £15 worth!¬

To artichoke
What's the matter with skips?
When I was a young child, (not that long ago), me and a few of my little mates made this really cool den in a skip. An arm chair, settee and other bits of cool stuff. We dug down in it, and it was great fun.
I then spent the next two week in hospital with a kidney infection, suspected from what I had picked up whilst playing in the skip.
Granted taking the odd thing from the top of a skip, and making a den in one as kids is a little different, but I am sure you can see my reservations as the last time I played in one it almost killed me?

Gary, whilst nearly dieing is clearly a rubbish things to happen, I think you need to resolve your skip-phobia.

Interestingly (or not), as a child me & mates played on a couple of rubbish tips (in old quarries & probably illegal  but full of rusty things, rats & farm chemicals). I also know someone who used to live in a skip whilst homeless (he also tells a very funny story about finding and a few months later losing his best ever box).

We're all fine Gary - embrace your fear of skips!! There's a whole support network waiting here for you!

I sympathise, Gary, but really you could have got a bug like that almost anywhere.

I am currently fishing cardboard out of an absolutely gigantic skip 3 or 4m high, pulling boxes towards me with a swan neck hoe (expensive new birthday present, in this case)  while clinging to an uncomfortable ladder with my other hand - the cardboard is totally free weed smotherer for the allotment I am clearing out of rough meadow land. I suppose that theoretically I could fall off and break my back, but I am the optimistic type.

I also get sackfuls of woodchips from a nearby factory plus rough uneven waste planks for propping up raised beds. If you look around and don't mind appearing rather eccentric there is a lot available free.

Eg some men were mowing rough grass and comfrey alongside a business near the allotment site and bagging up the results to put on a dump - they were very cheerful about tipping it onto my compost heap instead - a shorter walk.

the problem is today we dont make anything to last and woud rather throw something perfectly usable away because it dont look right anymore.

I have no problem in skip diving ( the the owners permission ), have jointed freecycle ( bypass the skip ) and have the telephone numbers for most of the building site offices in my local area.

The joy of having an allotment is the chance to be out of the retail chain. If it makes me seam a little strange (ok, stranger than normal) who cares and who am i hurting.

How much carbon am i saving my re-using something and growning my own rather than buying something new or flowen in veg?

Scaffolding planks are very useful if you want to mark the edge of the plot or have raised/enclosed beds.

yep, i picked up some gravel boards for £2 each, as i could not find any boards where i am. I think someone else got to them first.

I've had my plot since April 2006 and spent:
- Rent = £12.70
- Waterbutts = £56 (total for 1 x 180L + 4 x 250L tubs from ebay, includes delivery)
- Azada x2 = £38 (one medium, one light doubleheaded)
- raised beds system (linkabord) = £96 so far (6 raised beds)...about another £56 to spend still
- Manure = £30
- organic tomato feeds = £4.99
- organic pest sprays (derris etc) = £8.00
- various seeds = £48 approx
- garlic & onion sets = £17

...Other stuff I have "aquired for free":
- old wheelbarrow (left on plot)
- hoe (left on plot)
- hand fork (left on plot)
- trowel (left on plot)
- various canes (4ft - 8ft) - donated by work colleague in exchange for lettuce & apples
- compost bin - donated by work colleague for couple of pounds of plums
- paving slabs - left over from when we had our patio redone (I knew it was worth keepingthen behind the garden shed)
- veg netting - donated by neighbour who was really glad someone had taken on the 'untidy plot' next to his garden
- bucket - 'made' out of old paint tub
- large compost bin made out of pallets from work (free)
- table made out of small pallets from work (free)
- plastic chair (let on plot)

....I'd suggest having a chat with some of the other plot holders - they might have old/surplus items you could beg/borrow/trade