Greenfingers - Nelson's Allotment Thread

WillyNelson

WillyNelson

WillyNelson

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Worthington-on-sea
The time has finally arrived :D I got a call last week to tell me that I've made it to the top of the waiting list for allotments. Within a few short months we should be harvesting my own delicious and nutritious organic fruit and vegetables

They offered me a viewing last Thursday at 12:30 but it would've been a bit difficult as I would've had to take the whole day off at short notice. Rearranged it for this Thursday at 10am.

Hopefully they've got a few for me to choose from but I'm not going to be fussy, I'll take whatever they've got. With any luck it will have been cultivated within the last two years so shouldn't need too much preparation. I've started re-reading my allotment books and my sister put me onto an offer for 10% off at an online organic plant supplier. We should be ready to go as soon as we sign the lease.

The plan is to be 100% organic, using natural fertilizers and crop rotation to aid nutrition and complimentary planting to attract natural preditors and keep pests and diseases under control. This should save a fair amount on our grocery bill. Shop bought organic stuff tends to be rather costly but we'll be able to grow our own for pennies. The complimentary planting should also introduce plant friendly wildlife and give plenty of flowers and herbs for cutting.

Watch this space folks, updates and pics will come as soon as I have any. In the mean time, if anyone has any experience growing their own veg or allotment gardening, feel free to share.

I'm off to sharpen my hoe!
 
Excellent idea dude!

Sounds very similar to what a mate of mine is planning on doing with her allotment.
 
Is the stuff you grow entirely for your own consumption? Maybe you could sell any excess to make a bit of profit, or at least just act to offset the minor costs of running the allotment.
 
Conscript said:
Is the stuff you grow entirely for your own consumption? Maybe you could sell any excess to make a bit of profit, or at least just act to offset the minor costs of running the allotment.
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The plan is to be self suficcient for seasonal vegetables, staple items and expensive ones, I don't mind paying for speciality or cheap things. I doubt that we'll get that much to begin with, enough to cover our own consumption, but as we get better and the ground gets more firtile we should get more, probably not enough to sell though.

I'd imagine that some crops we'll have will harvest more than we can use, beans, carrots, things like that. Things that you get a lot of. In which case we'll probably give the surplus away. There's a lot of stuff that you can leave in the ground until you want it and you can spread the time that you plant to spread the harvest time.

Of course, if any of you are local to me or deserve a treat you may get offered some of the surplus. Even after a quick trip through the postal system it'll still be fresher than anything you get in the supermarket.
 
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was reading in some paper last week about allotments. apparently you can feed a family of 4 or 5 from a standard size (?) allotment. pretty impressive!!

the main bit of advice i can remember is start of simple, and expand your crop when your confident with the basics.

good luck. am really interested in how much time it takes to look after etc.
 
According to the book I've got it takes 2 hours twice a week and 4 at the weekend in the summer and 2 hours a week during the winter. I'll probably need to pop up there every day in the summer to water and check on things.

A standard allotment site is 120m² so I wouldn't be surprised if you could feed a family from that, as long as you worked hard and made it as productive as possible all year round.
 
I've just got back from viewing the plots. Of the three available, the first was pretty overgrown with a knackered old greenhouse full of brambles at one end but the surrounding plots all looked in good shape and well cared for. Second was the best one, recently worked on with only a light covering of grass and surrounded by picturebook plots full of winter veg. Third was a bit grassier but clear of any big weeds, the plots around it were all a bit ropey looking and it was surrounded on three sides by other people's sheds.

There was an old bloke viewing them too so I let him have first choice. He was abot 70 and walked with a stick so I thought it was the decent thing to do. He looked like he was going to pick the third plot as its closer to an entrance and water supply but he grabbed the best one in the end. That left me with a jungle of brambles or a patch of gloomy wasteland...

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present Nelson's Allotment
theplot8ex.jpg


Yup, the bramble jungle. I reckon it won't take more than half a day to clear, the brambles aren't that thick. It's very overgrown with ivy between the greenhouse and the shed so that may take a bit longer and the shed looks pretty rotten and will probably have to be replaced.

The good thing is its only about 100m from the entrance so we won't have too far to carry stuff and the plots around it are well tended so we should be able to learn quite a lot from their owners. We should have the key by the weekend so work starts Saturday.
 
If you can clear that lot single-handed in half a day I'll doff my hat to you! Brambles are the worst. Get hold of a thick pair of gloves and wear clothes that you don't mind ending up looking like you've been clearing brambles.
 
Belmit said:
If you can clear that lot single-handed in half a day I'll doff my hat to you!
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Ooh, I love a good challenge! ;)

The brambles aren't that thick and are mainly inside the greenhouse. Not quite single handed either as Mrs Nelson will be there to help. I'll let you know how we get on.
 
deweed, strip it... lay some roll-on lawn and youre sorted - place to have a picnic or a game of cricket in the summer! \o/

how big is the area youve just bought?
 
Phantom said:
deweed, strip it... lay some roll-on lawn and youre sorted - place to have a picnic or a game of cricket in the summer! \o/

how big is the area youve just bought?
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Hmm, would be just right for a badminton court or a small game of croquet with pimms on the sidelines :cool: Not sure how big it actually is, I'm rubbish at estimating sizes - maybe about 15m x 7m.

Wouldn't be very good for keeping chickens, I'd rather keep them in the back garden if I was going to have any. Plus I'm not sure that chickens are alowed.
 
You need a petrol lawnmower with a cast aluminium body. I have one, and it would shred them weeds to pieces.

I reckon I need to get my veggie plot sorted. Its coming around to plantin' season.'


OOOOOARRR!
 
It's been beautiful weather down here by the sea so we had a good run at clearing the plot on Saturday. We cut all the long grass down and then made a start on the brambles, working from either side towards the green house and managed to clear the lot in about 3 hours. A lot of the rubbish in front of the shed has also been cleared and we found the footings of a compost bin with a few inches of nice looking compost in the bottom. This was cleared and filled with all the compostable waste we'd collected. Also found a big sheet of agricultural plastic which makes a nice compost cover.

Sadly the shed's had it, the roof's totally knackered and I'm not too happy about replacing just that. Good news is the rear wall & floor are made of 6" planks which still seem sound, they should provide enough timber to make two big compost bins and some raised beds.

Went back for a couple of hours today to remove the glass from the greenhouse walls so we could clear inside. Only about a quarter of it is still intact but we've stored it carefully for cleaning and reuse. we got all the brambles shifted but we filled up the bins with them on Sat (can't compost brambles) so we'll have to go back during the week after the bins have been emptied.

Not bad for 7 or so hours of work. Still a fair way to go though.
plot0204067gi.jpg
 
Nelson said:
made a start on the brambles, working from either side towards the green house and managed to clear the lot in about 3 hours.
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*Doffs hat*




*Eats it for good measure*
 
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