When you get your allotment you will be so excited! You’ll also have a huge jolt of fear about what you’ve taken on.
Hopefully you’re taking on a perfectly maintained plot, with a history showing you what’s planted where, what crop rotation has been going on, when the soil was last limed, and what varieties the fruit trees and bushes are.
Of course reality is never like that. You’ll have a plot that’s waist height in weeds, with everything so overgrown you can’t tell what’s what. You’ll have such a variety of weeds that your heart starts to pound with fear at the horror stories you’ve heard about the invasive weeds now lurking on your little bit of heaven.
If you’ve got a blank canvas than that can be as frightening as a really badly overgrown plot – where do you start?
Whatever your plot is like you should not rush to pick up a spade. The first temptation is to rush in and not plan anything out.
You should start an allotment notebook. Measure the site and write it down in your book. Mark on which way is north, and where the paths are. On a hugely overgrown plot it can be hard to tell if you’ve got anything in there but have a good look at every section and try to work out what’s growing there.
An important note to make here – when you start digging over your plot and you find strange roots then put them to one side and explore a bit more. If you find more roots the same then you’ve uncovered a bed of something. Ask someone with plenty of experience what the roots look like. You might be digging up a perfectly good bed of something tasty!
Depending on the time of year there might be evidence of plants coming up. If you suspect there are plants that you want to keep then ask neighbouring plot holders if they can remember what was planted on your plot. They might not remember but it is worth enquiring.
If you have a shed or greenhouse on your plot then you are very lucky! Measure how big they are and make a note of what’s in there. Is the greenhouse complete with staging, does it need glass replacing? If you measure the size of glass you need and keep the measurements with you then next time you see a glass cutting shop you can pop in and find out how much new glass costs and even get it cut then rather than having to come back with the measurements.
Once you’ve make a note of everything you can possibly make a note of then start taking some photos. With a digital camera it’s easy to take lots of photos. Take some crouched down to give you a different view of the plot. Take from the corners diagonally too and stand at either side and take photos along the boundaries.
It’s probably then time for a cup of tea and a sit down to have a think about where to start!
There’s this plant on the allotment in the hedge that’s finally flowered. The flowers are blue. I think it’s borage.
Borage is a hardy annual.
You can use the pretty blue flowers in a salad or you can prserve them for topping cakes with. They are very pretty little blue stars.
Tea made from borage is supposed to reduce fever.
Also available in a white version from Crocus
borage (borage – organic) £1.99
Position: full sun or light shade Soil: fertile and moist Rate of growth: fast Hardiness: hardy annual (it will die within one year) A wonderfully useful as well as decorative plant. The young leaves and vivid blue flowers of this annual herb have a fresh cucumber-like flavour, so are often used in salads, soups, chilled drinks or simply as a garnish. The flowers attract bees and other beneficial insects, while the foliage has been known to reduce attacks of hornworm when planted between tomato plants. At the end of the year, add the plants to the compost heap as they will promote many beneficial minerals. Borage is an annual plant, but it will self-seed readily in good conditions. If you don’t want more plants, dead-head the flowers as soon as they fade. Garden care: Form shallow drills at 30cm intervals in a well prepared bed, and sow thinly, just covering the seed before watering well. The seeds have a higher germination rate when temperatures are between 15 – 25C, so early sowings can be covered with a cloche. When big enough to handle, thin the seedlings to 25cm. Sow: March – May Flowering: June – September Approximate quantity: 75 seeds.
Slug control is best done with nemotodes. Once you’ve tried them you’ll not want to be without them.
Jersey Plants Direct has these great products
Slugs: Control with 12 Million Parasitic Nematodes (Phas) £12.99
Keeping your garden slug freeControl with Parasitic Nematodes (Phasmarhabditis sp.): Microscopic transparent worms which feed and multiply inside the slug, not visible with a hand lens. Dilute with water before use. Must be applied to moist compost/soil anytime between May and September. One infected the slug stops feeding. The Nematodes will provide protection from slugs for approximately 6 weeks.Arguably a gardeners number one pest! Use our biological control method to keep your garden slug free.
Cheap shops that sell potatoes, onions and other plants are worth a look. Various pound shops and bargain stores have great deals on onion sets and small packs of spuds. Useful if you only want a few of each type. Supermarkets sell compost. It’s not bad value – Costco also sell compost which is great. All the DIY stores sell it too, as will your local garden centre. Shop around, compare prices.
Growbags are starting to appear in the supermarkets.
Lidl’s are £1.29
As soon as I find other prices I will post!
Buckets can be got from Morrisons – look in the flower section! Ask the assistant if they have any flower buckets for sale. They’re 8 for a quid which is pretty good value!
Seed swap with your gardening friends.
Try taking cuttings before buying plants. If your neighbour has a plant ask if you can try taking a cutting.
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My other half was tidying out the cat house we have outside. In it he found lots of spider moults and this amazing paper wasps nest. It’s very delicate made of paper. It’s about 3 cm long and inside you can see the honeycomb shapes.
It was empty!
St Anns Allotments have a vacancy for a part time horticulturalist. Responsibilities include the setting out and management of our heritage display garden, recruitment and management of volunteers, propagation and selling plants for sale. This is a one year contract, 12 hours a week, including some weekends . Hours may be seasonally adjusted, and the position may be extended subject to income generation. Salary £10.50 per hour.
The funding for the post has been given by The Finnis Scott Foundation.
Garden/Land Manager
Type of job: full time
About the Job:
Required in south Oxfordshire, on 22 acre estate comprising semi-formal gardens, small orchard, woodland and fields, with Grade II Listed Barns (in need of development).
Position requires:
(i) organic gardening, knowledge of trees & shrubs, care of land
(ii) basic financial/organisational skills, eg preparing budgets and spread-sheets
(iii) creativity/imagination in order to realise potential of property & develop projects with owner, beneficial to the local community.
With the huge pile of grass clippings we got I decided to have an experiment.
I’ve got one end of a bed that tends to be a bit damp so I thought I’d experiment on this as I’m not sure what to grow in it yet.
This first video shows that I’ve put a layer of grass clippings all over the section of the bed at the end.
I’ve put out the seed potatoes in three rows along the grass cuttings and started to cover it up with top soil.
The potatoes are all covered up with top soil now.
What I might do with one end of the bed is mulch it up with straw, and mulch the other end of the potato bed with grass clippings. It’ll be a great chance to see if there’s any difference between the two.
There’s this plant on the allotment in the hedge that’s finally flowered. The flowers are blue. I think it’s borage.
My other half was tidying out the cat house we have outside. In it he found lots of spider moults and this amazing paper wasps nest. It’s very delicate made of paper. It’s about 3 cm long and inside you can see the honeycomb shapes.