A new allotment

Sounds good karmalady. What’s it like? Is it what you were hoping for?

Congratulations!
Have had 3 allotments in my time and they were all fascinating.
Am very envious.

Hope there's not too much ground work - garden the pun - to do before you can commence your own planting. Good luck and happy gardening

Typically overgrown with a wonky damp wooden shed, it is do-able plot I have had to spend money, strimmer, dry storage, weed fabric. compost bin etc

I am trying not to see the plot as a whole, not yet, Just focusing on clearing the raised beds first and quickly covering them. All the wooden sides have started to rot but at least they are defined areas to cover

I will keep the shed, t has gutters and I will be setting up a water butt system after winter. I cannot see me using the shed for storage, everywhere has leaked inside

Today I will be mixing what I do, bed clearing and covering and then starting on the humungous overgrown mess in the wonky fruit cage. There is a self- sown tree to cut down so am taking my saw and my ratchet secateurs

Are you on a list? or have you a new or overgrown plot and how are you tackling it? I would love some ideas

I am bearing in mind that I should not get carried away like yesterday, so have ordered a very cheap watch. I feel lucky not to have woken with aches and pains

I’m such a #lazygran karma. Such hard work (and money!) involved. I’d be thinking “just buy a pound of tomatoes” or whatever. I’m sure you’ll share your abundant surplus though next summer! Seeing things grow must be half the pleasure I imagine - just not for me. I had to laugh the other day when a friend described her garden as ‘outdoor housework’. Anyway - all the best from me with your new project. Pace yourself.

For me the fun of the allotment is that you get to meet other gardeners.
Have a lot of work to do here just in the garden and am waiting for knee replacements so gave my plot up.
Will watch this with interest. Could you take some pictures?
The most important thing is to have 2 chairs and a thermos with coffee or tea. Used to have a Kelly's kettle to boil water.
Want are you going to plant?

Karma I’m glad to hear you have a new allotment. We used to have one years ago and both enjoyed working it, but gave it up because once I started working full time, we couldn’t give enough time to it. It was a big plot. I do like to see a good well kept allotment, it’s a joy, and I wish you many happy hours there.

I do like going there, the physical work, being at one with earth and nature and meeting other like-minded people. It is not about the price of veg but tbh I am hoping to recoup my initial costs via the organic fruit and veg. I have been organic for many years and buying is expensive

Today I, again, got carried away, it is like being in a different realm of calm and peace. My last allotment was very healing when I was widowed but I don`t know when to stop, I need that watch I ordered

It was even more daunting today, I cleared quite a bit, cut down very large overgrown fruit bushes which had spread their deep roots all over and then used a saw to get through a 10" diameter of a self-sown tree trunk. I have many difficult roots, left after removing much top growth, the ground in that area is also covered in ivy brambles and nettles. I did take a look around when I arrived and had a fleeting moment of doubt but getting stuck in dispersed that negativity

A garden fork is not enough so I have ordered a very good mattock, 5 lb weight at the head, 36" long. I will certainly be getting stronger. I decided to tackle the worst bits first, when I need to dig down to try and sever roots, it will be impossible mid winter

Money is hemorrhaging, I just ordered a mattock, pop up waste bags and a tarpaulin to cover my temporary pile, which will dry the soil and perhaps make a compost, also some more protective gloves, the brambles were pricking me

What am I going to grow, tbh I cannot think that far ahead

I would recommend that if you are thinking you might like an allotment, get on a list. Age is no barrier

My car with back seats down has a good big capacity and was again fully loaded for the tip. Its really heavy work walking that distance to my car with a full load balanced on my 2 wheeled barrow, three trips to my car today, 6 very large containers

I belong to a U3A allotment group. There are eight of us which is good because it’s a full size plot. It’s hard work but we enjoy the companionship and laughs as much as the growing.

Good luck and have fun with yours.

DS got an allotment last Spring. It was overgrown, but you could still see where the beds had been. He tackled one bed at a time and covered the others in weed suppressant fabric to kill and stop weeds. He was just in time to plant potatoes in the first. These broke down the soil. Then he gradually tackled bits of the others, planting beans, radishes and other summer crops.
He hasn’t a shed yet, but bought a poly tunnel and has grown tomatoes, peppers and aubergines this summer.
It is a slow process, but so good for relaxing away from the every day concerns. As you say you can meet, and often get good advice from like minded people.
I do hope your allotment brings you many hours of joy, not to mention delicious produce.

So glad you've got your plot karmalady. I've had mine seven years, got it two months after my first knee replacement and did quite a lot of work shuffling around on my bottom at that point. It's less than half a plot, tucked away in a corner, surrounded by tall trees so not much sunlight, but I have globe artichokes, horseradish, asparagus, lots of herbs, fruit bushes, a fig tree, a pond that I dug two years ago and another, an old sunken bath, that my son and grandson dug in. The wildlife is lovely. I have a shed with a gas cooker plus a good sized greenhouse. There are 120 plots in all and our water supply is from stand pipes. We are a council run site and for insurance purposes can only let registered people on the plot, so my sons and grandchildren are registered.

I've never been able to pace myself, I enjoy it too much, and even when I was on crutches I managed to cut up a huge fallen sycamore. I regard my allotment as a workout and usually end up feeling sore but satisfied. 😄

I love your posts, so inspiring and so many times it comes across that allotments are havens

I used the roughneck mattock today, it arrived at 1.50 and I was in the allotment by 2.30. Such a good tool, the weight helps it to work, it is tiring after several swings and pulling but I did get some roots up and ivy too. Lots more of the same, must get that done before the frost freezes the ground

I needed a break so started tearing away at the rubbish net covering the fruit cage, supported by rotting wood. Full of entangled overgrown and out of control shrubs and then I discovered the humungous amount of bindweed and ground ivy. Yikes

I need to keep control of the bindweed as even a tiny amount of root can grow. I have ordered yet more waste bags, I have decided I will fill these with shrub roots and any ivy or bindweed but I will do it within the cage, then straight into the car and to the tip. I will have to thoroughly clean any tools afterwards. I have a young wild tree to cut in there too

More money spent, I need more strong weed control fabric for the fruit cage plus pegs. I don`t want to go the glyphosate route so will be patient, blackout will kill off the bindweed, it takes two years

Also money spent on oil based shed preservative and a brush and a couple of plastic paint kettles. I think I can improve the shed, later of course. I could reach the roof and guttering with a ladder

Tbh I am loving this new enthusiasm for something positive, haven`t done any knitting since I got the allotment

Mizuna, I really like what you are growing. I may well pinch your ideas next spring

I had one for 15 years, then we decided to live in France for 8 months of the year, but I was asked over there to build and manage one, so I did.
When we returned permanently to the UK I put my name down and eventually got a plot, but it was dreadful, full of mares tail and regularly flooded. So now I help my friend with growing for his and I do a little in my garden, he lives in a flat, so I grown seedlings for him and we share the produce.

Mine is a verrrrry rustic plot with lots of niches. I've made an old wood pile in one corner, to allow wildlife to overwinter. Another area, tucked away, is for greenery cut down and small roots dug up. Occasionally a council lorry collects our detritus. Also they deliver huge piles of wood chippings to a communal area on the site, which come from the trees they trim around the town. I use it to mark the paths on my plot.

We're forbidden to use any sort of pesticide so the whole vast area is in effect organic. The acreage was bequeathed 'for the use of the people of the town' by an entrepreneur 100 years ago. For this privilege I pay £54 a year, including water.

I have one corner with giant echium, well away from other plots because they are very good at self-seeding. Most people here grow some sort of flowers as well.

I love my allotment it’s not perfectly laid out, it costs me virtually nothing and gives me enough produce to share with my family and friends all through the summer and autumn
I inherited a huge strawberry patch two gooseberry bushes and an apple and pear tree ( neither did very well this year) and a lovely big lavender bush
I grow potatoes onions leeks shallots runner beans Broad beans, peas, cucumbers, courgettes plus the fruit
I ve tried carrots beetroots parsnips and corn without much success, it’s try and see what suits the ground etc
It’s fun and keeps me healthy gets my vit D in too

We have some brand new plots in our village at the end of the playing field, as the old allotments we’re returned back to the Manor House when it was sold.

The Parish Council organised rabbit proof fencing and the local farmer came in with his machine and ploughed all the plots up and removed the rubbish ( metal and odds and ends). Large gates were added.

The plots were then divided up and a lottery style announced the lucky few.

Downside is that the allotment ‘owners’ have to apply for planning permission to erect any buildings on the plots, including any type of garden shed, which seems a bit unfair.

The good news is that the local farmer (who has been so helpful to the Village for years) has allowed water to be fed from a stand pipe from his nearby field.

I’m with FGT they are nice to look at, but with a large garden and a failed veg plot here, it’s not for me. We go away so often that everything shrivels up and dies or gets eaten by the rabbits. Last year I found 5 walnut trees courtesy of the squirrels, (they have such deep roots for such a small shoot)

I wandered past with the dog yesterday, there are pergolas, fruit cages, lovely dahlias, cabbages, sweet corn, many other veggies all doing very well and 2 rabbits looking very pleased with themselves!

1 plot remains unclaimed.

But I appreciate the hard work and enjoyment that people get from them.

karmalady

Name on the list in april and I got my allotment yesterday. A half plot. I only waited 5 months

That's quick! Try to get your hands on a metal detector prior to commencing digging - you just never know what may be a few inches below the surface. Congrats.

I wish mae13, I have spent too much money so far. I know, it is an investment for the future

I am in a very physically tough stage, a tree stump wants to defeat me but it wont. I have managed to dig down somewhat, to expose very large roots, I sawed through those. There is an awful lot of suction in the clay soil and there are more very thick long roots that I have no hope of reaching. So there is stands, surrounded by a hole. I have drilled and used root killer otherwise it will throw up more trees

I want to cover that whole area for winter, it is full of ground ivy and I have lots of mature bush roots to get out, as well as to remove the ivy. I manage those with my mattock and a gorilla bar but only one shrub per session as it is such heavy work

Back to the stump, I have used root killer but want the stump to be below soil level, otherwise I cannot lay the black plastic down without a trip hazard. I am not giving up, going to buy a bow saw today and this time will saw vertically down into the stump, several slices then maybe I will get strength to saw horizontally one chunk at a time.

I have been every day so far, going home for a delivery and to eat and back again. This body is surviving. I am getting stuff to the tip daily, thankful for my skoda yeti, it has a lot of space. I want to cover another old bed today and keep on with the above jobs plus removing old rotting wood and a fruit cage that is falling down

I have ordered quite a bit of weed cover but it is heavy and hard for one person to manipulate so I had to go for more expensive shorter lengths. My garage is filling up

It was spending time on a neighbour’s allotment as a young child that fostered my love of gardening. His son and I were the same age and spent most of our time together. Saturday afternoons, Mr W would give us small tasks - potting cuttings and seedlings, planting onion sets and beans, weeding and watering. When we got fed up, or got too much under his feet, we would run off and play in the woods, leaving him in peace. Our garden at home was about as big as a king sized bed, but I used to try and grow things in it. He would give me plants to put in my wee plot! When DH and I had finished our military globe trotting, years later, I said the two things I most wanted were a piano, and an allotment. When had an allotment, I loved the science of growing vegetables more than the end result.

If you can find a small space to sow some broad beans or plant garlic it’ll bring you joy next year amongst your hard work karmalady.

You could start some cuttings of Rosemary, indoors. I’m doing that for DS so that he has a Rosemary boundary on a bed. Apart from the usefulness, they make an attraction for the bees and other insects and look pretty.
In the summer calendula and other annuals can be grown among the veg as they attract pollinators. Some say that planting Nasturtiums will attract the black fly and keep them off the beans. I’m not so sure it works.

We loved our allotment in West London years ago. It was right under the flight path into Heathrow! Landing planes were so low sometimes we could wave to passengers. The children enjoyed being there and we made some good friends.
We are on the list for a half-plot here but no joy yet. I would love to cultivate one with the Gchn.

Karma can you do some bartering with your skills? An hour’s hard labour in exchange for a tasty soup, maybe a day for a cosy hat?

Thanks for suggestions, this capricorn is really a mountain goat. Just home for a 30 minute break and to fetch my lump hammer and a device to maybe bash into the stump. I took off about 4 sq inches in total this morning and bought a bow saw. First I had to work out how to tighten the blade

Met another lady this morning, the ladies I meet there are hard workers

Rest of the cage structure is coming down this afternoon and I will try and dig up another root as well as bash 4 bells at the stump. The wood is obviously hardwood, my gorilla bar bounces off it