Allotments 4 All

Our college is setting up a small plot of college land to be turned into an allotment plot. Not sure of the exact size yet, but it will be quite a bit smaller than a standard full plot. This will be on college land. The plot is to be tended by the new 'green club' which involves students aged 16-18 from the 6th form department. The club will run for 2 hours per week during term time. There are quite a few students interested in getting involved and the college is funding the set up and club costs. Any tips on organising this sort of activity. Many of the students will be A level science/geography students and I will probably teach many of them. Any tips on how to run this sort of club?

Hi Sparkly welcome to A4A you've told us about the school and the students but you aint said who you are or what you intend doing on the plot(growing fruit or veg)erecting sheds greenhouses and whats happening after term time  there are lots of fruit and veg dept what you plant are ready for harvesting during July/August in fact if you do your sums right you can harvest something just about all year round,plots have to be constantly maintained or all the hard work is for nothing little bit more info please and we may be able to point you in the right direction  ;)

I've noticed the college plot on our site gets ignored over summer & is now a sea of weeds. Something to think about. So I reckon anything involving overwintering - garlic, onions, broad beans...

The "community" plot on ours has done really well this year (they had it last year but it was neglected). It's for people with various alcohol & addiction issues, but I don't think that's particularly relevant. At times it must be a bit like herding cats, but they appear to have got things right this year. They pool what they harvest into a communal meal. The come for an hour or two at the most. They agree what needs doing at the start of each visit, then agree who will do what...

I think overall it's worked because the group have taken ownership, rather than being told what to do by the boss...

Hi Sparkly, how are you. Smashing news.

There is a college in the US I bought seeds from a couple of years ago who are doing Heritage varieties on a good scale, all organic , they have done some good work with rare varieties  and they have a website , if I can find the name I will post it for you.

Mean while, if your gang would like a few  rare squash/tomato  seeds let me know.

There is one of the tool manufactures that has a scheme to help with costs, again not sure of the name but a wee bit of googling could find it.

Try googling free plants/ tools school. I found several things when we did it.. We got spuds  for school from some school thing  , tomato  plants in propogaters from  a  B&Q scheme and seeds from  another scheme, Franchi have a seeds for school scheme too. just look on their site for that.

Good luck,

XX Jeannine

Hi Sparkly,great idea and hope all goes well.I have some spare seeds if you need any pm me.

My main concern would be the two hours a week,it does not seem enough to me. :)

Just a thought - is Mendel's peas too basic for A-level? I do like the idea of an edible experiment!

I wouldn't have thought Mendel's pea experiment would be too basic at all, though it's possibly more biology than geography. We have a school plot on our site; it's new this year, but there has been a bit of tooth-gnashing over the state it's got into over the summer, as it's rather visible. You need to think of weeding at least over the summer holiday.

Quote from: Buster54 on August 29, 2008, 19:48:42
Hi Sparkly welcome to A4A you've told us about the school and the students but you aint said who you are or what you intend doing on the plot(growing fruit or veg)erecting sheds greenhouses and whats happening after term time  there are lots of fruit and veg dept what you plant are ready for harvesting during July/August in fact if you do your sums right you can harvest something just about all year round,plots have to be constantly maintained or all the hard work is for nothing little bit more info please and we may be able to point you in the right direction  ;)

Hi Buster. I am not really a new member on A4A and I do already have a plot myself :) I am not 100% on the plans yet as the project has jsut been given the go-ahead. The person who will be incharge of the main project is my collegue from geography and see hasn't had a plot before so I am planning to give some input to ensure the plans are appropriate and workable. Mendal's pea is a bit basic for A level, but dihybrid inheritance is studied at A level and they need revision on monohybrid inheritance as a basis for this so great idea! Although, this is really being set up as a general interest club, I will use the site for the basis of some science ideas with my classes and tutorial group. I realise that 2 hours per week is a short amount of time, but that will be a minimum. I am hoping once students are interested they will volunteer to spend a small amount of time before or after classes on other days on the plot. I am going to suggest an area of 30x30ft because of the time restaints. I am thinking that raised beds is the most workable solution in terms of keeping the plot looking orderly. There will be between 10-30 students involved so quite a bit could be done in 2 hours :). I don't think we will have a greenhouse at the moment, but I am hoping we will have a shed.

Quote from: Jeannine on August 29, 2008, 20:04:05
Hi Sparkly, how are you. Smashing news.

There is a college in the US I bought seeds from a couple of years ago who are doing Heritage varieties on a good scale, all organic , they have done some good work with rare varieties  and they have a website , if I can find the name I will post it for you.

Mean while, if your gang would like a few  rare squash/tomato  seeds let me know.

There is one of the tool manufactures that has a scheme to help with costs, again not sure of the name but a wee bit of googling could find it.

Try googling free plants/ tools school. I found several things when we did it.. We got spuds  for school from some school thing  , tomato  plants in propogaters from  a  B&Q scheme and seeds from  another scheme, Franchi have a seeds for school scheme too. just look on their site for that.

Good luck,

XX Jeannine

Great tips Jeannine! The name of the college would be fab too.

We have an 'Organic Plot' at our college. 8 beds, 4 of which are edged with wood. 1 is a comfrey bed. the 4 edged beds are deep mulched, no dig beds, the other 3 are dug. in the 3 that are dug 'fast crops' are planted and harvested before summer hols, the others have plants that mature in sept (sweetcorn/squash/tom's) and winter greens. 8 students, 2 hrs per week. good work delegation skills are needed! ;)