Your new plot

Starting out

Once you have got your plot the first thing you should do is check it over for hazards. Although your provider should have done so already, it’s better to be safe than sorry as you anything from broken glass to barbed wire, rusty nails, brambles and nettles could be lurking in the undergrowth. You should also not bring any children along until you are sure the area is safe.

Before you start you’ll need to invest in some tools, as well as sturdy footwear (walking boots/wellies) and protective gardening gloves. It’s better to buy a few good quality tools than to waste money purchasing lots of cheap ones, as you’ll most likely end up relying on just a couple of them.

Clearing your plot

Don’t start trying to do too much at once - it will only put you off. Instead begin slowly by clearing your plot a little at a time and at your own pace. But remember, as soon as you clear a patch, you must plant some produce in it, otherwise it will become a home to weeds.

You can also cover areas waiting to be cleared with a mulch (generally a bulky organic material, such as bark chippings or peat) to aid water retention and to stop weeds growing. This will make it easier to clear and prepare the ground later.

Keep it simple

Don’t run before you can walk. Keep it simple by planting ‘pioneer crops’ such as potatoes and squashes, which are both easy to grown and help break up the soil.

To find out more about starting out, see the publication Allotments: a plotholder’s guide (PDF).

Always remember, taking on an allotment is a long-term commitment, so you shouldn’t be discouraged if things don’t go to plan. Conversely you should celebrate the successful fruits of your labours with family and friends – nothing tastes as good as when you’ve grown it yourself!

Below is a list of Internet links which you might also find useful:

BBC Dig In - Grow your own grub - Want to know more about sowing, growing and harvesting.

Royal Horticultural Society Plantfinder - puts gardeners in touch with growers and suppliers of plants

Kitchen Garden magazine - the UK's no. 1 fruit and veg-growing magazine

Jobs to do in

May

May is the end of spring or the start of summer, depending on how you look at it. It's still too soon for most of the mainstream summer flowers, but if you live in an area with acid soil, you can't help noticing that rhododendron time is in full swing. May is one of the most exciting months in the garden, because you can see new flowers opening every time you step outdoors. Longer evenings and warmer weather bring the barbecues and outdoor furniture out, and it's hard to curb your impatience to get the bedding plants in.

Weather watching is a gardener's favourite sport at any time, but this month it's crucial, as is keeping tabs on the new rash of garden pests that start appearing as it warms up. Another top priority this month is to keep up to date with routine mowing, weeding and hoeing, because once those annuals and frost-tender vegetables are planted out, you'll be adding a whole lot of watering to your routine. But hey, it's pleasureable work in fine weather, and in May, the best of the year is to come. Relish it!

Job check list for May

Vegetables and herbs

No-dig method

No-dig gardening is gardening without turning over the soil. It is a common misconception that soil must be dug over before plants will grow in it. After all, nature has never had any trouble! The HDRA runs a flower and vegetable garden that was converted from grass pasture without any digging at all. Six years on, it is still growing well. The soil has a good strong texture and the topsoil is fine and crumbly.

There is often concern that a soil that is not dug will become compact and airless. As long as it is fed with compost and other organic materials, as all soils should be, this should not be the case. On a no-dig system these materials are spread over the soil surface and gradually taken into the soil by worms and other creatures. Their activity creates a good strong soil structure in which roots will thrive.

The top few centimetres of a no-dig soil develop a particularly good structure, so that seedlings find it easy to emerge and rain can easily penetrate the soil. There is no worry of a hard cap forming. Applying plant foods to the surface also keeps them where they are of most use. The majority of soil microbes – the creatures responsible for making plant foods available – live in the top few centimetres of soil, and this is where most of a plant’s feeding roots will be.

Many advocates of a no-dig system insist that is requires much more in the way of compost, manures and organic mulches than other growing systems. This need not be so. The HDRA has run successful no-dig gardens for many years, using almost exactly the same inputs as for a dug plot. The only added extra has been a hay or straw mulch for the potatoes. Do not be put off no-dig by thinking that you cannot make a sufficient compost.

Once the ground is weed-free, making a no-dig bed is simple. If it has been disturbed, then rake the soil level. Spread any manure, compost or other required soil-amendment over the surface and start growing.

If, when looking at your soil profile, you identified a hard pan or compacted soil, then the soil should be dug once or twice before converting to no-dig. Whichever form of digging you use, remember that the aim of the bed system is to avoid walking on the soil. Dig from the path if you can, or stand on a board placed on the soil that you have yet to dig. If rock minerals and liming materials are to be added, then these can be sprinkled over the soil surface. They will then be mixed in as you dig. Manures, composts and other fertilizers should be added once the digging is complete. They can be hoed or forked into the top few centimetres of soil.

Allotment News

The allotments are now looking really good! After a slow start we now have a number of plots taken and fully working. But we still need more allomenteers to take over the empty plots.

Andy is the latest plot holder, he is making a really great contribution to the site, its good to have him onboard.

Other news

A bumper crop of people chase allotment plots as week celebrates growing your own
SCUNTHORPE'S allotments are in such demand there is a waiting list for those wanting to grow their own. A total of 170 people are eager to get their hands in the soil and enjoy fresh vegetables. And those who are lucky enough to have their own plot in Scunthorpe are now celebrating National Allotment Week.
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Planning Permission and District Councils
It will be remembered that Issue 1/2010 of Allotment & Leisure Gardener had an article which commenced examination of the controversy as to whether Planning Permission is required for sheds, greenhouses and polytunnels on an allotment plot.
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