A slight spruce up...(new allotment)

Soldato
Joined
14 Nov 2004
Posts
5,446
Location
Hayle, Cornwall
I took over this allotment last year and didn't really do much with it, but Ive just had 2 weeks leave and voila...really proud of what Monty (my 13 year old lad) and myself have managed to achieve. A friend lent me his rotovator. Another friends father has a reclamation yard for the wood. The greenhouse was free on a local FB marketplace, we took it apart jet washed the moss off of it and rebuilt it with no broken glass!The lot we took over took some bloomen clearing and bindweed will be an issue forever but we now have 2.5 raised beds and seedlings appearing in the greenhouse. oh and I love my dual compost bins (just need a tarp to finish off the lid). Fence posts and new chicken wire is on their way..oh and it has a pond with lots of little frogs.

The left bed is 6.51m x 1.47m = 9.56m2
The wider bed on the right is 1.87m x 6.76m = 12.64m2
The narrower bed on the right is 4.8m x 1.20m = 5.76m2

so 28.05m2 growing space + the greenhouse and a few other spaces I can use.

Its all looking rather tidy and ready to grow some food.










[url=https://postimages.org/]












I am an allotoholic.


rotters[/url]
 
Associate
Joined
16 May 2004
Posts
1,847
Location
Near Chester
Looks great! We took ours on late last year. Managed to get the bulk of it cleared and sprayed down before Xmas. Previous holder (despite leaving it in an utter state) had a good Rhubarb patch which we have already enjoyed some of the goods from :)

Our first foray in to this, very little experience but have enjoyed so far. Just planted up a couple of rows of onions, potatoes going in later in the week if weather stays good. Got some other bits just getting going in our conservatory!









 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
12,335
Location
Birmingham
Fantastic work. I’d love an allotment but I don’t have the time to make it as good as I would want. It would probably end up as one of the overgrown messy ones. Small raised beds at the end of the garden will suffice for now and I’ll learn how to do everything on a small scale in preparation for when I’ve got the time to do it properly (probably in about 30 years!).
 
Associate
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16 May 2004
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Near Chester
I can see how ours is going to need attention, we will mostly be doing stuff at the weekends, and as summer comes and longer evenings i am sure we will be there some evenings too. We have a 5 year old so she is gaining more interest in it now as stuff is being planted/growing rather then us just clearing it down :) We are fortunate that our garden backs onto these allotments and the entrance is easily within walking distance of us! There is a good community of people around them too, guy next to us as a full size (pics above are a half size plot on this site!) and keeps his pristine so been happy to take some advice of him...

For £30/year we cant argue!
 
Soldato
Joined
10 Jan 2007
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4,862
Location
Warwickshire
I helped a friend clear an allotment in Cov once, was a lot worse than the pics you posted, was basicly a massive load of brambles and other crap
 
Associate
Joined
16 May 2004
Posts
1,847
Location
Near Chester
I helped a friend clear an allotment in Cov once, was a lot worse than the pics you posted, was basically a massive load of brambles and other crap

On ours, there were 4 plots available on the day, so they invited 4 off the waiting list to choose the plot they wanted. One couple chose one of the other plots which was in a far worse state then ours with brambles/broken sheds/glass and all sorts on it. They picked that one over the others as they fancied a project!
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
14 Nov 2004
Posts
5,446
Location
Hayle, Cornwall
Some updates, I have had a fabulous year of growing and now have a heated propagator to get my seeds started early.

My Son (Monty) and I wanted to build a living tunnel to grow upwards...it has worked really well and very efficient with space. Next year I will grow more squashes as I have a freezer full of runner beans (not a complaint)...but loving more variety.
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I have grown 7 varieties of chilli this year and really got into fermenting them and making my own sriracha..its delicious and full of our own ingredients.
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I had a pond on my site but had done very little with it. This year I have made it more of a nature pond and am now growing carnivorous plants.
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I have really really got into making compost..I love the science behind it and it is the ultimate recycling!
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This upset a few of the older allotmenters...but oh well it jazzed our little corner up.
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And finally who doesn't love some free ****...literally. This stuff was great..donated from the local birds of paradise park..lots of penguin poo.
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so all in all its been a brilliant year..apart from the bindweed an ongoing battle and woodlice/slug damage..I have loved every minute of it.
 

SPG

SPG

Soldato
Joined
28 Jul 2010
Posts
10,231
Great stuff, a friend of mine introduced me to homemade sauerkraut after a glut on his allotment a utter revelation without all the vinegar.

Wish i had the time for one tbh, roll on retirement :)
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
14 Nov 2004
Posts
5,446
Location
Hayle, Cornwall
Was just making a spreadsheet of what to grown and when...so listed everything I have grown this year and some I plan to grow next year.

Golden Cayenne
Habanero
Jalapeno
Maules red hot
Patio fire
Bolivian rainbow
and from the chilli stall this weekend I now have:
Apache
pot black
Paper lanterns
Piquante
Apricots
Friars hat
Ghost chillis

Cavalo Nero
Lettuce Gourmet loose leaf mix
Lettuce Romaine
Lettuce Winter Density
Lettuce Black seeded Simpson
Cucamelon
Onion Aisla Craig
Tomatillos
Tomato Mortgage Lifter
Tomato Orange Roussollini
Tomato Indigo Blue
Tomato Sungold F1
Tomato Golden Nugget
Carrot Autumn King
Carrot Solar Yellow
Peas Alderman
Sunflower Autumn Beauty
Swiss Chard
Cauliflower Romanesco Natalino
Cabbage Earliest of All
Cabbage Pak Choi
Cabbage Wong Bok
Cabbage Red Acre
Cabbage Winter King
Cabbage Savoy
Collards Vates Greens
Swede Best of All
Squash Spaghetti Curcurbita Pepo
Squash Harlequin
Squash Patty Pan
Radish Sparkler
Beetroot Crimson Globe
Beetroot stripey ones..forgotten their name.
Sprouting pea
Sprouting broccoli
Sprouting Sunflower
Pea Asparagus pea
Lemongrass
Cucumber Piccolo Di Pargi
Cucumber Marketmore
Cucumber Beth Alpha F1
Bean Neckergold
Bean Yard Long Un Metro Ramp
Broad beans (Grano Violetto)
3 Grape vines with about 6 cuttings doing very well.
Lakemont' Grape Vine
Muscat Blue
3 Blueberries
Chandler' Blueberry Bush
Saskatoon Berry
Bluecrop
Mulberry bush - Charlotte Russe
Gooseberry Plant - Invicta
Gooseberry Plant - Hinnonmaki Yellow Stevens
Red Currants x3
Blackcurrants x2
I inherited 3 crowns of rhubarb..lovely stuff.
Strawberry Marshmello
Strawberry Cambridge
3 figs Brown
Turkey Ficus
Carica -Ice Ficus
Carica -Scone

around my pond I am growing
Sarracenia Pitcher Plant
venus fly traps
sundews
Pinguiculas

Daffodils
Black eyed Susan rudbeckia Hirta
Osteospermum Ecklonis Sky And Ice
Delphinium Magic Fountain pure white
Aquilegia McKana's Hybrids

3 columnar trees..
Apple Fuji
Pear Conference
Cherry Stella

New tree delivered today Rosette, a Cornish apple on an M6 root stock so that it won't get too big.

I was just pondering how things had gone this year and what I wanted to grow next year...well there isnt room for much more. Love it.


rotters
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Aug 2013
Posts
6,597
Location
Shropshire
Glyphosate 360 or known as Roundup works well with bindweed -spray on regular basis - never dig bindweed up - always spray it

Probably find it as Gallup
 
Associate
Joined
13 Feb 2010
Posts
604
Location
Bournemouth
Looks like a great site to start growing your own.
Would love an allotment as I enjoy growing fruit & veg, but don't have as much free time as id like at the moment, so I have to stick to pots and planters in the garden for now.

Vandals and thieves would worry me though.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
14 Nov 2004
Posts
5,446
Location
Hayle, Cornwall
Where did you get the flag from?
We are glampers so we use this pole to identify our tent at the campsite. I got that one from Amazon.

Vandals and thieves would worry me though.
We are in SW Cornwall, luckily it's still pretty ok crime wise..but allotments do get thieves..I have just been lucky so far.

This weekend I potted on some seedlings and built a planter for my wife, will plant it up for mothers day.

rotters
 
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