Very surprising letter arrived...

This time last year i signed up for an allotment. I was told the waiting list was 3 years but this weekend I got some great news, I have been offered a plot!!!

It turns out that the local council leveled a school building (it was a poorly built 1960's effort) and instead of selling it to a developer, they have decided to turn it over to allotments!

I'm so excited, what questions do I need to ask? What should I expect from soil which has always been playing fields? Where do I start!?!

Here is a pic I took today

 

How exciting!
They might not know much about the soil. Finding out what you are allowed to do on the plot is the first step. Some allow chickens and bees to be kept on them whilst others have a no livestock rule. Some allow fencing and others don't.
Good luck with it. We will need lots of pics.

 

Blimey, nice one Y

Well apart from couch grass and dandylions you won't have too many problems

 

Oh how lovely, Better than a win on the lottery you will make lotsa new friends, and will have time to get it in order before next years growing season and perhaps a small green house, some thing I always wanted but never got, just had to make do with a cold frame and you cant sit in that....

 

Wahoo!

 

Only 6"/150mm of topsoil, where established allotments (and new ones if done properly) would have about 12"/300mm.

You only mention playing fields, but what about where the building stood? That area may have compacted sub-soil under any topsoil spread when the site was reinstated after demolition.

From the pic it appears to be a huge site. Have they committed themselves to using all of it for allotments, or are they just assessing demand before possibly using some for other purposes?

 

Very important. Find out about the water supply!

 

Hi

The letter definitely states there are plots available and with a 3 year waiting list, there is sufficient interest in this area. The photo is of only half the site, the other side still has the car park and foundations from the school. You can see the site before the knocked the school down if you use street scene, its the school closest to the canal.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...2!3m1!1s0x487b23060e45e4db:0xdfa07f8ef6490213

I was hoping the soil would be quite good. before this school was built, the land would have been farmland? I have emailed the council to express my interest and I have asked the following questions:

Will the site have a water supply and how many access points?
Will there be toilet facilities?
What security will the site have?
How much is the rent?
I assume the site was a former school, is the intended site to be located on the school playing field? What will happen with the area which was the foundations and car park?

 

I forgot to ask about chickens or bees!

 

Soil in fields normally isn't as deep (and such good quality) as that in allotments and domestic veg patches. When building on greenfield sites we used to assume 6"/150mm topsoil depth. The existing ground levels of a field would have been unlikely to be suitable as they were for a playing field. It's like that the topsoil stripped from under the school, playfround, paths, car park, etc. may have been used to level it, as that would saved on the cost of removing it frpm site + tipping charges. So some areas might have a greater topsoil depth.

 

I hope it all works out well petal

 

I am doubting that. Most allotments (old ones ) will have had manure and compost added, annually, for generations. This will just have been grass - probably will have had some fertiliser added periodically, but that won't have improved the structure of the soil. If it was playing fields it might have land drains in place, which will help, but other than that its going to be like any virgin plot. Under playing fields I don't suppose you will encounter rubble etc. but the more organic matter you can put on, initially, the better I would say.

It would probably help if the council spray the whole thing (with Roundup) to kill all the grass / weeds, then plough it, and maybe rotavate it (before dividing up into plots) as it will a lot easier to do that en masses than individually. Also, if majority of plotholders are new to this game then I reckon there is a risk that many will become despondent whilst "taming" their plots, so the council tilling it for them, initially, will give them a flying start. Bit late in the year to be starting [planting] though :(

Choose a plot - near water standpipe, not too far to walk from the entrance, away from likely places that hooligans will trash things :(

Decide on what tools you need (if you don't own them already). Car boot and farm-auction type sales are good placed to get old, loved, and reliable spades etc. - usually dirt cheap too.

Look out for vegetable seeds (for next year) in late Summer sales (of this year's seed). Don't buy Parsnip and Carrot (need to be fresh seed), but the rest should be OK.

Shed?

The soil needs initial tilling. If the council doesn't do that for you I would use some machinery to break the ground (Rotavator might struggle to break virgin ground, needs to be a hefty machine - self propelled, rather than driven just by the tines (like a Merrytiller is).

If late in the year when they give you a plot then I would sow a green manure on everything, to over winter, and plan to start cropping next year.

When you start planting crops I would cover everything with cardboard (large ones - from Bike or White goods shops) and plant-through that. Pile on the manure and compost (first if possible, but on top of cardboard is OK if it is not available before laying that) and in a year or so your soil will be getting heart with minimum digging effort etc.

 

Back to earth with a bump! The council have just called and it's not a new allotment site at all, it's an existing site!? The letter definitely said a new site!!!

The council official is meeting me tomorrow evening to show me the plot. The bad news is there isn't any water supply, apparently they rely on harvested water. So, I suppose an established allotment is better than everyone starting from scratch but I'm concerned about the water situation. Do any of you guys have a similar situation?