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Wednesday, 08 February 2012 17:33 |
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Article by Arati
Firstly a few words about myself : Until about three years back had a very vague ideas of British vegetables, No prior experience in my lifetime of any serious gardening other than watering plants when my dad was not able to make it. However in 2010 I had a personal loss and started looking at ways to get over it - and that's when i got into alotments. And now I am hooked on it..!!
My main problems in the first year of landing the allotment were literally not knowing what tasks to be done when around the plot , what plugs to buy from the garden centres because they all seem so awfully expensive and probably defeats the purpose if you are aiming is to slash a couple of quids from your family budget..
So here's a couple of my advices based my experience to anyone starting on allotments.
First Year:
- Firstly if offered a choice of plots , go for one which is not too close to the fence to invite any attention to your crops (we do have a fair bit of stealing going on) . Similarly don't go for a overly hidden plot - over the years i’ve had my passion take over my sense of time and been working until very dark-take safety aspect very seriously. Also consider proximity to water resources etc.
- If your allotment is in bad shape don't hurry into clearing up the whole place at one go. Target one half of the plot to be cleared up and put spuds in the other half. Make sure you cut the seed potatoes to get the maximum numbers. This worked wonders at keeping the weeds at bay for me..!! Another alternative to is rent a rotovator, maybe check with team allotmenters if they need one and split the cost over a weekend rental. Pumpkin leaves can grow to take
- a lot of space so maybe plant them to grow over the weeds. The key here is to deprive the weeds of any light.
- Decide on the tools you cant do without - fork to turn the soil, rake to level the soil, a good cultivator tool to get the weeds out...Often the people who left would leave their tools behind so check with the other guys if there is a common tool pool that you can use and cut the cost!
- Aim to have a permanent area in your garden , that way you can avoid the dreaded council letter's . You can choose between perennial herbs, soft fruit bushes(the pounds shops do some good ones), asparagus, strawberries,rhubarb etc
- Recommended perennial herbs that have done well for me - rosemary,chives, sage,thyme,mint. Of course don't forget to sow coriander every year and parsley every two years. Also plant mint in containers, they can go really mad growing all over your plot!
- Vegetable crops that are easy to grow and can be dropped straight into soil : 1) Runner beans . You can sow them directly into your soil and you Can do it as late as June/July and get a decent harvest. For the root crops try beetroot, carrots, radish. For herbs try chives. And sow iceberg lettuces,cabbages and loads of salads all throughout..
- Plants that are easy to grow but i normally have more success by starting them indoors cucumbers, basil, tomatoes, sweetcorn
- Get onion bulbs rather than seed , they do much better for beginners.
- One of the plants that can be easily propagated are strawberries, so make sure you don't buy too many plugs of these in the first year. within a year or two you will be overwhelmed for space from their runners ( baby plants)
- Come spring and the slugs will definitely leave you squirming in your bed at night because its unsafe to walk down to the allotments with flash lights. Possible solutions include. 1)Plant nasturtiums (they look really pretty too) , 2)save up all the eggshells over winter and crush them into the soil. 3)Use slug pellets.
- Don't forget plant feeds.. due to the short growing season , it makes sense to invest in a slow releasing or the liquid ones and give a feed every 2 weeks....
- If you have clayey soil - do the digging in autumn or late spring before the soil gets too hard. you will find the soil a lot less manageable in early summer when it turn rock like and you'll need to resort to hosing the soil.. Also get wellies - absolute must for clayey soil!!
- manure your soil in Autumn and turn it over. I wondered the first year why people were braving the cold to did dig dig. I understood when i struggled the following summer. Digging and weeding are mandatory chores throughout the year.
- Manure the plot with leaf compost in autumn and turn it up. Really makes a huuuge difference to my clayey soil..
- Make sure you leave some space for winter growth and plan these to be put together so that they don't get in the way of manuring or turning up the rest of plot . Winter crops I’ve tried are leeks, winter chard, kale, broccoli, brussel sprouts , garlic. Of course there are others like winter cabbages etc but i’ve never had mush success due to water logging in my clayey soil.
- Plan crop rotation, so make sure the root crops go into one corner, the legumes (peas beans etc) go into the next and keep the perennial section in one area
- Label all seed sowings. its amazing how fast we forget which was where.
- Doesn't hurt to get a bit thrifty - start composting your kitchen waste and reuse toilet roll holders for seed sowings. Also preplan and purchase at least a couple of your seeds at the end of a season when you can get more for your money.
- Finally trade excess plants with fellow allotmenters. Be considerate and volunteer if possible to look after other’s plots when they are on vacations..Now just watch out for the kind deeds to be returned :)
Second year???
Go onto trying the more difficult and exotic varieties like chicory, artichoke, peppers and lots more....Enjoy growing your own..!!
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 08 February 2012 22:50 |
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Comments
The problem i have is that. On the top road from the site (our allotment being at the bottom of a slope ) they had a burst water pipe. My garden has overnight become an ideal habitat for frogs and wading birds. Id love to hear any tips anybody has for reducing the amount of water which i now have pooling around.x
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