First Time Allotment Plan

Hi



Could you let me know your thoughts on my plan please? Would be great to get some veteran advice.

• Any particular varieties you had/haven't had success with?
• Companion planting worth it?
• Is it bad to plant potatoes near squash? I've heard it's not ideal. (assuming the squash grow at all!)

Thanks!

 

Some of you companion plants should be closer to the crops. Some work by attracting predatory insects like ladybirds. Some work by attracting pests and serving as a decoy, and some work by masking the scent of the crop making it harder for the pests to find it. This latter group, which would include the marigolds, should be as close as possible to the crops they are meant to protect.

 

thanks clueless, i'm planning on dotting them around the plot in a more hap hazard fashion. The lupins and prettier plants are more for the wife to look at.

 

If the marigolds are the proper variety, ie English or Pot Marigolds (of the Calendula family, not the nowadays more popular Tagetes french marigolds), don't forget they too are a crop. You can pick the big orange heads off and use the petals in salads, or in any recipe where posh people would use saffron. Marigold petals have quite a good flavour, but quite strong, so should be used in moderation. If anyone in your circle has blonde hair, it is alleged to make an excellent hair rinse to promote a good shine. I don't know why it couldn't work on other colours of hair but the herb books always list blonde hair, so there we go.

 

Thank you again, I'll try them this year. May have a nibble on a nasturtium or two also!

 

Hi,

It would help if told us the size's of these plots and how wide the paths are.

Is this all you intend to grow? No beans or peas, salad stuffs, cabbages, cauliflowers, sprouts etc etc?

Looking at your diagram I would be tempted to reduce pathways and amalgamate beds here, leeks and onions - 1 bed, carrots and spuds - 1 bed, pumpkins AG - 1 bed and squash summer and winter - 1 bed. If it was my plot, I would have 2 beds only, spuds, carrots, onions & leeks in one and pumpkins and squashes in the other...maximum growing space and traditional allotment growing style. Many folk nowadays opt for a bed system no more than 4foot wide so that they can reach into the middle of it without walking on the soil, this is fine if you have plenty of space or do not wish to grow much but I prefer the traditional style giving max growing space

Once dug try not to walk on the beds and if you have to, walk on scaffold boards so you dont compact the soil if you have to walk on it at all.

Steve...

 

I more or less agree with Steve particularly in the path to growing area ratio.

This is how my allotment is laid out, not that I am saying you should follow it;

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Allotments/Allotment ss/allotment.html

Here are a few other few pointers;

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Allotments/Layout Plan.htm

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Planning/Planning.htm

and this is an example of how I plan my beds;

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Computers/Plot layout.htm

As I said I am not expecting you to follow these ideas to the letter, but I thought you might get some hints that you could possibly develop to your own preferences!

 

Impressive slideshow Tee Gee

 

Sorry, I should've explained. The potatoes and carrots are one bed, onions and leek are one bed, squashes are one bed. The pumpkin has now got a bed of its own.

There are paths inbetween all of these beds made out of tiles like this (roughly 25cm square):



From the top of the onions to the bottom of the potatoes is 3 metres and from the left of the potatoes to the right of the squashes is 5 metres. Tiny I know!

Yes, this is everything I plan on growing, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the task at one point so have scaled it down to just the main crops we eat and something else for fun. I wont have a great deal of time to tend the plot and I work Mon-Fri 9-5 and have a 2 month old son.

I hope this clarifies a few things!

 

If you make the sizes of the beds to suit using weed suppressing membranes like Mypex (1/2/3/4m widths), then they can be moved around from bed to bed as crops are rotated.

 

BTW..I suggest you plant your Mint in a pot, it spreads like wildfire and will take over that bed in a year or two...

Steve...

 

Thanks for your info, does everything else look okay then?