Christian Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 After a patient 3 year wait, it is finally happening! I contacted the council and asked them to provide allotments for the Village and they have! 20 plots, about a 5 minute walk from the house and on my usual walk with Milo! I am sooooo excited. The field was ploughed a few weeks ago and they marked out the plots today. A main path is going in, water in the Spring and they are providing us all with a 6 x 4' shed each, a water butt, plus huge shed for communal use. They said no sheds originally, but I emailed and asked them to reconsider, as you need somewhere to shelter from the rain (and put up bunting) £52 a year which I thought was expensive at first, but others have said thats about right and they are paying for the sheds. Away next week, but after that I'm heading down there to start planning. Got my colouring pencils out ready for the plan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Exciting times! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKMARCH Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 That sounds great and a good price with a shed and water butt and if its freshly turned over you can start straight away very exciting. We have just got our first, two half plots but they haven't been used for some time so will take a long time to get sorted before we can properly use it but I will be planning too. I have bought an allotment handbook to help. There are no sheds on our site at all so will probably make do with a low tool box and a new bench sounds like a good idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Congratulations! What are you planning to grow? I love hearing about people's allotments and veg plots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purplemaniacs Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 That's great news. You will be doing a lot of pondering over the seed catalogues. Chrissie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Thanks everyone. Congratulations! What are you planning to grow? No idea yet Olly! Things that don't need much watering every day due to me being away with work I guess? I have a watering system in the garden at home, so things like tomatoes. etc I will grow here. Standard things like potatoes, onions, pumpkins, sweetcorn, globe artichokes (love them) and veg that takes up lots of space. Plus loads of flowers! I have already picked out the colour for the shed (Sage green, white trim with matching kennel for Milo)!! I can't wait to get started. 10 plots have gone so far and I know a few people there. Plus my neighbour has the plot next to me, so watering when away will be easier. I'm glad I saved my old wooden bedroom windows, so I can make a couple of cold frames now. Well, try and make some. Need to find some pallets to make a compost bin too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 what's the field been used for in the last 2 or 3 years if it's just been rough pasture/open space then you'll need to hand dig it to get the grass and weed roots out and it's going to need a lot of muck/ compost dug into it to get the fertility up for growing fruit and veg also if it's heavy ground then it'll also help to break it up. ask the allotment officer for the contact details of the tree officer so you can ask for wood chips to be dropped of there great for paths on the plot plus using for mulch but better still they are ideal for making compost in bulk. in the summer when there's a lot of leaf in the chip they rot down a lot quicker as they get nice and hot so come the next spring they're ideal as mulch over the spud bed then as the spuds get lifted the mulch gets dug in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Does your allotment have electricity? My dad's doesn't, so everything is either manual labour or runs on petrol. I got him a water pump that runs on petrol, to water the allotment. He also got (almost) free paving slab somewhere to make a path. If it is a soggy period, you'll be happier with some slabs then wood chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 It's just been a field for years (probably 20+) but they put horses on it for a few weeks to get the grass down. The local farmer ploughed it and the soil looks good. It's very chalky in this part of the world, but I've managed to speak to a lady with horses and she is more than happy to give away manure No electricity on the plots, but have my trusty Kelly Kettle and a gas ring for tea making The council are putting a main path down the middle of the site, but plot holders are responsible for the individual paths. Glad I have a corner plot as that means only two paths to do.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Check out Charles Dowding - he has had articles in Country Smallholding - it is the no dig method but he has done trials and I've seen his photos where he's done the no dig and more conventional methods. He also has books out which I'm putting on my Christmas list! I've always been interested in no dig but it's so hard not to when you've always done it the old fashioned way! Now anything that saves time with pretty good results ticks the plus boxes (especially now I'm a decrepit old fogey). We had a very good crop of bindweed on our allotment and I just didn't have the time to keep control of it. But even so we still had some good stuff from there - we just stopped because the rats were rife on that site and we lost more to nibbling than anything else. But I'm really excited for you - well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 How exciting being part of a brand new allotment . I bet you (and Milo!) will make lots of new friends . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 So pleased for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 Oohh! exciting! Lots of hours to spend doing design and layout before spring Are you allowed to keep chickens there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 Are you allowed to keep chickens there? Oh no, not chickens.....they won't ever have room enough on a veggie plot. As you are on a corner ask if you can put a hive of bees there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 No poultry allowed, but that's ok, I have my hens at home. Am tempted by bees, but my neighbour down the lane is getting the plot next to mine and she has a young boy, so slightly concerned about him and bees....? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Bees are fabulous but they're quite a lot of work, and although a good-tempered colony should be fine on an allotment I think there are better places to keep them. My advice would be to do a beginners course with your local beekeeping society in the spring and then decide if you really want to keep them and if so whether the allotment's the right place. You might need to get consent from the council and/or the other allotmenteers. You might be able to find a corner of the local farmer's field or somewhere else to keep them. You'll have plenty of chicken manure! Set a bit of space aside to grow dahlias or something for fun. I only have a small veg area in my garden, so I focus on stuff that's expensive to buy - I grew fennel and celeriac this year, as well as beans and courgettes and the usual, but if I had space I'd grow more spuds and onions. Ooh I'm quite excited just thinking about it! Do show us your plan when it's done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted October 29, 2014 Author Share Posted October 29, 2014 Well I'm at my Dad's in Germany at the moment but the colouring pencils will be out next week when I draw up my plan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyhunnypie Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Perhaps you could have a beautiful little pond to attract frogs etc. Natural pest control & all that?! Your allotment will be one of the best, I remember pictures of your raised beds in the past - always lovely & well kept. Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted October 31, 2014 Author Share Posted October 31, 2014 Thanks Em, am thinking of a small pond, just the issue of a water loving terrier and them frogs..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrskirchin Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 We have had our allotment since late July. I love it! Got plenty planted already, with plenty more planned. We only have a half plot though, so want a second plot already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted November 9, 2014 Author Share Posted November 9, 2014 Mine is 9m x 12m and I've been drawing up plans this week. Can't really get down there until the 18th November, with work etc. Wanted to pop down after work yesterday as I was home by 1pm but then the heavens opened and we had an hour of torrential rain. I need to get some paving slabs ASAP, and get the shed up first really. Excited isn't the word! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 Ok a little update. A lovely builder has been at the plot sorting out his wife's allotment. He charges £30 to build a base and put the shed up. Money well spent, so he's done that for me (and about 15 others). He's also built me a raised area next to shed for a gravelled seating area. Plus a green coated chicken wire fence to keep the Terrier inside my plot and made me a little picket fence style gate I have marked out my raised beds with twine and sticks and he is making the beds this weekend! to be honest, I don't have the wood working skills or the car (I have a mini) to get the wood From the shop, so him doing it is money well spent. Shed is painted pale blue with white trim, making the curtains this weekend and the solar powered fairy lights are up! I bought a few (ok, 15) dahlia tubers yesterday, which I'll start off in pots at home, ready to be planted into my 'cutting' bed later in May. I am really excited by a cutting bed for flowers, I buy quite a few flowers for the house and it'll be nice to grow my own - and cheaper. Still undecided about what veg to grow. I've bought onion sets, defitely sweet corn, beans, parsnips, carrots, but can't grow anything that needs masses of watering like tomatoes. I won't be able to go every day, so the plan is to get the soil really well matured for the hungry crops and leave then to the elements......I can go every 3 days when I'm working and hoping that if I really drench the crops, they'll be ok. Oh, discovered a bucket of raspberry canes left next to my shed and still don't know who they are from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Sounds really good Christian. Of course we will need shed piccies. How lovely that someone is looking after you - they think you need much more raspberries on that plot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I grow tomatoes on the allotment (normally the spares) with I just leave to there only devices they get no extra water and I find they normally do better than the ones at home in the pots I don't use that much water on the plot as I only get down at the weekend in the summer I normally water when I plant out and then water again the next visit then if it gets really dry I'll pop in in the week and water the stuff that needs watering mainly brassicas and onions strawberries and the squashes if it's really dry or they are looking a bit sorry for themselves I never water root crops or the spuds planted in open ground Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Just a thought, how about inverting a large plastic bottle at the side of a tomato pot and get one of those drip attachments so that water is going in at a nice steady rate while you are away - better than nothing. If you can get hold of one of those ex-drinking water machine bottles even better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
