My new (to me) allotment (with pictures)

[Dannytsg]

So after over a year and a half of waiting, numerous different contacts of different allotment societies and council phone calls, I have finally secured an allotment for my wife and I to start trying to be more green and self sustainable with food. Being perfectly honest I am relatively new to the whole allotment thing, however we have been growing small items at home such as potatoes and strawberries and we now feel it's the right time to really get stuck in.

The allotment itself is about 10 minutes from our home and the site is run by an allotment society which isn't controlled by the council (however I do believe the council still have powers under some allotments act to enforce the use of said land). The allotment itself was a vacant possession as the previous owner hadn't done anything with it at all for months and despite numerous warnings finally gave the plot up and we got it. I came to a deal with the previous owner to buy everything on the allotment (that doesn't include the land) for £30 and I think I go a bargain as he just wanted rid.

The allotment comes with:

• 2 greenhouses
• 1 summerhouse (with sink and calor gas heating)
• 2 polytunnels
• hose water supply
• 2 compost bins
• fire bin
• raised beds already on site
• plenty of overgrown plants

The plan

First item on the agenda is to remove any rubbish that we don't need and take it to the tip. Then we are going to remove all the old plants, weeds and dead foliage, turn the beds over and make some running repairs to the poly tunnels and summerhouse ready for growing

I have taken some photos of it as it is now and will hopefully be able to update as time goes on to show what progress we make.

 

[Dannytsg]

All in all I think that we have done quite well to get this plot. It is 208 square meters of space and it is £25 per year for the land lease. Couple that with the fact that all the structures I now own and my £55 for this year has to be the best buy I've had in recent times.

 

[RE8ELD0G]

Good stuff.
Cant wait for summer to start on my garden again.

 

[Toddy]

The fellow who's given up the lease doesn't look like he's done anything but make a mess…..good on you getting the lot for £30 though even if you do need to clear up his trash.

Bit of graft and it'll soon look sound and ready to work though

Best of luck with it

cheers,
M

 

[muffinski]

You have done well as I pay £100 a year for a full allotment which is through an Association although it looks like I have less weeding to do...

 

[Dannytsg]

The fellow who's given up the lease doesn't look like he's done anything but make a mess…..good on you getting the lot for £30 though even if you do need to clear up his trash.

Bit of graft and it'll soon look sound and ready to work though

Best of luck with it

cheers,
M

From what I gather the previous owner used to work the allotment with his brother in law. The 2 sisters had a big fall out and as a result, the allotment has been left for a few months before they gave it up. I can't really argue though as for the money it's a steal, especially now that I own all the structures. It's just going to be a few weeks of strimming, weeding and turning over soil to get the beds ready and a good few fire bins burning old rubbish.

You have done well as I pay £100 a year for a full allotment which is through an Association although it looks like I have less weeding to do...

This association charge 12p per sq/mtr which is really really cheap. We were on the council waiting list and would be looking at £120+ for an equivalent plot with them without any of the structures.

 

[muffinski]

I have just taken this on and negotiated £50 to the previous owners for the fencing they just had put in and asked to keep the shed. Like you am new to this but has been on my agenda for many years. There is a half plot at the end which I also took on with a view to use as small orchard and get some heritage apples and pears. Pet hate of mine is imported apples and pears we use to have so many amazing varieties grown right here in the UK, but sadly people want the perfect looking apples without imperfections!

 

[British Red]

Looks great Dan. You've got more than £1,000 of infrastructure for £30!

Not much wrong with the land, a small petrol rotovator will pay you back dividends.

 

[Toddy]

…………..with a view to use as small orchard and get some heritage apples and pears. Pet hate of mine is imported apples and pears we use to have so many amazing varieties grown right here in the UK, but sadly people want the perfect looking apples without imperfections!

I miss the different apples and pears; I really do.
Harvestman posted a thread on an Apple Day that he attended, and the photos of the apples (and pears) had me hungry
Thin skinned, rough skinned, sweet, tangy, mealy or crunchy, pink tinged, golden yellow or snow white, and the ones I remember from childhood actually smelled like apples and pears too

My Uncle's elderly neighbour had her apple tree cut down and grubbed out because she couldn't clear up under it properly now and too few people came to collect any apples and she couldn't use them. It was a real shame I did suggest that a notice in the Kirk, the newsagent or the supermarket would bring folks with bags, but she wasn't keen on people she didn't know in her garden either.
Understandable, but still a shame, and that's true right across the country.
Thankfully more people are planting and growing, and more are aware of it again too.
There are a few good threads on cider making on the forum

M

 

[Dannytsg]

Looks great Dan. You've got more than £1,000 of infrastructure for £30!

Not much wrong with the land, a small petrol rotovator will pay you back dividends.

I have been looking into getting a rotovator to help turn it over once I have strimmed down all the weeds. My company has a HSS hire account so I can get one to help me get kickstarted with it before committing to buying one.

 

[muffinski]

Toddy I will have a look for that thread.

 

[British Red]

I have been looking into getting a rotovator to help turn it over once I have strimmed down all the weeds. My company has a HSS hire account so I can get one to help me get kickstarted with it before committing to buying one.

It'll speed you on, just beware of splitting couch grass or bindweed. Mine gets a really good workout. You can pick them up fairly cheaply at llocal auctions. Well worth it. So is a long handled spade, digging hoe and a Canterbury fork.

Shout me if you need heritage seed

Red

 

[cranmere]

Beware of using a rotovator if you have any perennial weeds like couch grass and bindweed because all it will do is chop up the roots and spread them around to grow lots of new plants. It's worth taking your time and digging it over with a fork, removing all the roots you can as you go. It's a pain in the rear the first year but it saves a huge amount of work in subsequent years. Strim down areas that you haven't got around to clearing yet.

You can plant some seeds late in summer so there is no huge hurry to deal with it all at once.

 

[tommy the cat]

Been looking for a long handled spade BR and sources???

 

[British Red]

http://www.get-digging.co.uk/tools.htm

 

[Dannytsg]

Been working hard recently to get the greenhouses and ploy tunnels cleaned out. Well as of today we have two clear ploy tunnels, both of which have now been chicken manured and watered ready for planting in two weeks. I have also started planting seeds today in the greenhouse to bring the seedlings on.

Poly tunnels now rid of weeds, chicken manure on and watered in.

Broad beans and sugar snap peas potted and in the greenhouse. We have also got potatoes chitting as well as parsnip, leek and onion started.

I have also done some more acquisition and modifications to the summerhouse. I bought a generator to allow me to power my electric tools and also supply electrify on demand into the summer house, which now has a wired in strip light and 4 way plug. That coupled with my wood burner and plummed in sink makes my little BOL completely OTG.

2 stroke generator cost me £45 but does the trick and has a 6 hour continuous run time.

4 way socket wired in to the summerhouse

Let there be light!

Wood burner keeping we warm on the decking today.

 

[Mesquite]

Looking good Danny

 

[British Red]

Looking very good Danny. Bit early for parsnips though?

 

[Dannytsg]

A tad, but the strain of Parsnip seeds sewn are apparently good to be sewn Feb-Apr and then transferred over. Hoping to accelerate them into the poly tunnel. Will have to see if it works I guess

 

[British Red]

Its a new one on me...never found parsnips too keen on transplanting. Probably not tried your variety