Allotment Manual – in the style of a Hayes Manual –
Paul Peacock was the founder editor of Grow It! and Home Farmer magazines. He has written more than 20 gardening books and has been involved with many allotments. He introduced nationwide beekeeping allotment training and was involved with creating a school allotment in Manchester, receiving grants from various sources. He has recently become a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time

Allotment Manual: The Complete Step-by-step Guide

Look out for a FREE wildflower seed giveaway in Co-operative Food stores on Saturday 21 April to celebrate the re-launch of our Plan Bee campaign for 2012
See here for more info on Plan Bee

It is to customers who purchase the Daily Mirror or the Daily Record newspaper.
This year’s mix has been specially created to include flowers that are beneficial for honeybees, bumblebees, solitary bees, butterflies and moths and includes Wild Marjoram, Scentless Mayweed, Field Poppy, Oxeye Daisy, Red Campion, Self Heal, Wild Carrot, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Cornflower, and Wild Red Clover.

Use cat litter – discussed here on some bonsai forums

Yes! Cat litter can be used – if you find the right kind. What used to be
sold as “Tesco’s Premium”, I think it’s now “Tesco Dust Free”, is
produced as a horticultural additive, but sold for many times the price.

Wilkinson Sword Ratchet Pruner is on offer at Urban Allotments.
Great to use, makes light work of pruning
Use for Outdoors trees and shrubs and will cut Finger size branches
Price Was : £19.99 Price : £10.00
Saves you £10.

This is a garden essential for pruning everything! It’ll do up to finger size branches which means for most people it’s just what you need! It’ll prune the raspberries very quickly, sort the blackcurrants and gooseberries out too! Ideal for all your fruit pruning needs.

Gavin’s allotment site is a work in progress – with plenty of photos so you can see how he’s doing!

Crocus has this comfrey plant available. It’s a garden and allotment essential that you can make your own fertiliser from! Pick the leaves from established plants and soak in water to make a smelly but powerful brew! Dilute and water on plants. Use whole leaves in the bottom of the planting hole for potatoes.

Symphytum ‘Hidcote Blue’ (Comfrey) £6.99
Position: full sun or partial shade Soil: moist, fertile soil Rate of growth: fast-growing Flowering period: April and May Flower colour: pale blue and white Other features: contact with the foliage may cause skin irritation; the roots and leaves may cause severe discomfort if ingested Hardiness: fully hardy Pendent clusters of pale blue and white tubular flowers in April and May above mounds of mid-green leaves. This pretty pink form of comfrey is best planted in bold drifts in a moist, partially shady site. It makes excellent groundcover for semi-wild areas of the garden and a good companion for ferns and shade-loving woodland plants. Garden care: Mulch with well-rotted manure in spring and dead-head after flowering to encourage the growth of young foliage.

Eventual Height: 0.45m and
Eventual Spread: 0.45m

Aromatherapy Herb Garden’ Plant Collection

This collection contains some of the following (with their essential oil property
listed):
Sweet basil (x6 plants) – concentration
Wild bergamot – uplifting
Roman chamomile – relaxing
Fennel – antitoxic
Hyssop – sedative
Lemon balm – anti-depressant
Lavender – soothing
Rosemary – invigorating
Sweet marjoram – calming
Thyme – stimulant
Marigold – antiseptic
Echinacea – boost the immune system
The exact mix will depend where we are in the growing season.

Urban Allotments have some new plant collections focussing on companion planting.
By taking a complete package of plants you can both save money and save the
headache of choosing lots of different plants.
For a limited time these packages are discounted:
Companion
Plant Collection for Balconies £15 now £10
5 varieties from the following list depending upon availability:
– Aniseed plug plants (x6) to plant several between other plants
– Chervil plug plants (x6) to plant several between other plants
– Dill plug plants (x6) to plant several between other plants
– Horehound
– Marigold
– Summer Savory
– Nasturtium
– Marjoram

Companion
Plant Collection for Patios £35
48 multiseeded plug plants from this list (no more than 24 of any one variety):
– Aniseed plug plants to plant between other plants
– Chervil plug plants to plant between other plants
– Dill plug plants to plant between other plants
– Chive plug plants to plant between other plants
– Garlic plug plants to plant between other plants
– Coriander plug plants to plant between other plants

And you’ll receive a mix of 6 plants from this list:
– Borage
– Caraway
– Comfrey
– Horehound
– Hyssop
– Lavender
– Lovage
– Marigold
– Marjoram
– Nasturtiums
– Summer Savory
– Wormwood

Companion
Plant Collection for Allotments £95 now £65 (perfect size for
sharing).
96 multiseeded plug plants from this list (no more than 24 of any one variety):
– Aniseed plug plants to plant between other plants
– Chervil plug plants to plant between other plants
– Dill plug plants to plant between other plants
– Chive plug plants to plant between other plants
– Garlic plug plants to plant between other plants
– Coriander plug plants to plant between other plants
And you’ll receive a mix of 20 plants from this list:
– Borage
– Caraway
– Comfrey
– Horehound
– Horseradish
– Hyssop
– Lavender
– Lovage
– Marigold
– Marjoram
– Nasturtiums
– Peppermint/Spearmint
– Rosemary
– Summer Savory
– Wormwood

Companion
Plant Collection for Greenhouses £35 now £22
– Basil plug plants (x6) to plant several between other plants
– Chives (x6) to plant several between other plants
– Garlic Chives (x6) to plant several between other plants
– Dill plug plants (x6) to plant several between other plants
– Peppermint or Spearmint
– Elderberry bush/bare root depending on the season
– Garlic
– Nasturtium
– Marigold

Nice allotment!

You can see more photos on facebook of it