new alloment ideas?

i have just got my first allotment, ideas/tips on what to try growing first with ease? thanks

 

I highly recommend this book!

www.amazon.co.uk/Vegetable-Herb-Expert-D-G-Hessayon/dp/0903505460

My grandad has been growing for 60+ years and he said it was the best hes seen.

Adam

 

thankyou adam i will take a look

 

Hi Heather,

This is my first proper year at vegetables so can`t really offer any advice about those until I have gathered some xperience.

I have found herbs to be extremely easy. I think I`m probably lucky but my parsley doesn`t die off-maybe it`s actually reseeding but I don`t think so and it comes back beautiful each year.

Sorry I can`t be of any further help.

 

RUNNER BEANS, they are very easy to grow really and give a very prolific crop , i normally get them growing in the green house aronud april pop them in the ground and away they go alot of people suggest digging a trench in autumn and filling with manure but i find putting them jst in the ground works for me as long as you keep them well watered and pick regularly they will just keep cropping and cropping, also potatoes are very easy to grow i dig a hole every 8-12 inchs 6inches deep and pop 1 in do your rows around 20inches apart and water well if you look on the packs the distances and dpths tend o vary between earlys, salads and mains but both are quite simple, its also a good idea to draw soil around the leaves when they are about 6inches high and kep repeating every 6 inches of grow for about 3 times hope this helps

 

Hi Heather and Welcome to GC.
I am an allotment Newbie in fact Bob and I got our first allotment in June of last year
this is what we were given as a workable plot...........:flag:



Like all newbies we threw ourselves into the new project with a passion that matched our love of our home gardens which is something I could never have imagined and like all newbies we rushed into it and did make some mistakes, I think just rushing was the main mistake!

To start off we wanted to get something in that we would be able to harvest in a couple of months instead of waiting until this year. So we dug two large areas and was able to plant beetroot, radish, leeks, dwarf french beans all of which we grew ourselves from seed and we also was given some cabbage and broccoli plants from our neighbour on the next plot from us.

All did well although the beetroot and carrots were kind of small, the dwarf french beans were amazing in fact they did so well we were able to pass some around and they tasted so much better than runner beans nice and tender. Radish is easy to grow and we seem to like the white variety best of all it kind of looks like a parsnip which is a little bit odd, the leeks we are still harvesting and are really lovely.

Sound advice I would give you is to plan out and divide your plot into 3 or 4 workable beds because a good crop rotation is a must to cut down disease etc. even more so if it's a small plot.

Remember to have a couple of compost bins to recycle most of your waste and also if you have room a little burning area to get rid of plants that get blight etc. You might also need a shed and or a place to get out of the elements.

Cabbages are pretty easy to grow and taste so much better than shop brought ones in fact everything you grow will taste fair better although you will have to remember to give everything a good old wash before you cook them and of course watch out for them cabbage white butterflies those are real problem!

Finally Heather the best advice I can give you and I know works amazingly well (from personal experience) is to get to know your fellow plot holders, don't be shy now because once you make that first step they will welcome you with open arms. Their skills, knowledge and sheer experience of working the plots some 30, 40+ years of it is worth more than you will ever get from any kind of book.

Below is a link to Bob and mines plots I do hope it encourages you in any small way.
All the best you have now join the noble ranks of being an Allotmenteer! :wink:Hel.xxx.

http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=15348&page=2

 

Hi HeatherH

We're starting a new allotment this year.

Follow the link below and see how we get on.

I suggest you grow spuds, runner beans, carrots, leeks etc etc.