Maltby, Rotherham

Long shot, but is anyone on here from the Maltby area and have an allotment?

cheers

 

No, but I knew a Nigel Maltby who died in the 1980's

 

Hello all,

I have an allotment!!!

Instead of creating a new thread i thought i might aswell carry on with this one. The reason i originally asked if anyone on here knew anyone from Maltby, Rotherham who had an allotment is because i wanted a plot here.

I ended up having a walk down to the allotments back in November and got talking to one of the plot holders called Jack who helps run the onsite shop. I got my name on the list and was told that there was a waiting list which i expected. I ended up talking to this chap for about 1-2 hours! This guy is full of knowledge and have travelled the world over collecting plant specimens. He told me a story about when he was commissioned by the Columbian government to do research on their Fuchsia species. He is part of the Fuchsia conservation group.

Just over a week ago i received a phone call asking if i was still interested in a plot as 2 had come available, we arranged to meet on the sunday. I think that Jack might have pushed me up the waiting list. (being nice does pay!)

I met a lovely lady called Karen who allocates the plots. On the day she told me that another plot had come up since the phone call.

The first plot shown was at the bottom of the allotment land. It had a greenhouse and a shed. The window panes had slipped down and needed pinning back up and the door didnt shut. The shed had been split in half. Half was a tool shed full of crap and the other half was converted into a chicken coop which needed a very good scrub. The plot itself was a square shape and needed a good tidy. The problem with this plot was it was right next to a stream. This plot has flooded a few times. It was also set out into beds. I didnt want to spend a lot of time and effort on this plot for it to get flooded and ruined! I also quite fancy a blank canvas.

The second plot was one directly behind it further up the hill. The fella who owned this one was moving to the plot next door as it looked nicer (lazy git). He had built a shabby shed/greenhouse that Karen wasnt sure if he was taking it with him or leaving it there as he wouldnt talk to her as she was a woman. I didnt fancy getting involved with this plot.

The last plot i was shown was further up the hill nearer the car park. It was right next to the water tap and had a car parkiing space directly behind it. It was longer than the other two but slightly narrower. It did have raised beds throughout, however these have been removed. The previous owner had spent money buying the wood to make these beds and wanted the allotment owners/administrators to buy the wood and greenhouse off of him. He was told that this wasnt possible and that he could either take everything off site with him or ask the new person for a donation. He got upset and had a bonfire in the middle of the plot.. It is basically a blank canvas, perfect!

There are several bags of rubbish scattered across the plot, old plant pots everwhere and bits of gravel/shale on previous beds. There is also a pile of old glass in the corner. There are 4 compost bins at the top which has saved me the hasstle of building them.

This is the plot i have chosen.

The plot doesnt have any fence/barrier. I am thinking of planting a mini box hedging around the perimiter. It has also been covered in weeds.

Myself and the girlfriend are heading down there tomorrow at 10:30 to meet Karen's husband where i will receive my keys and sign the paper work. We will be removing all rubbish off the site, make a couple of adjustments to the compost bins, remove the broken glass and have a go at turning over a patch of the soil so that i have a starting point to plant something.

I really need to draw a plan of what i am going to plant and where.

I am chuffing over the moon!!! i cant wait to get down there.

I will be keeping this thread updated with plenty of pics...

 

I strongly suggest you go for something more substantial for the perimeter. Unfortunately, not all your fellow allotmenteers will be trustworthy, and certainly not all of the passers-by.

Apart from that, excellent, well done

 

Congratulations Craig on your new plot!

You mentioned about planning out your plot so here is a useful tool to help with that.

http://photoephemeris.com/tpe-for-desktop

This tool once you have downloaded and installed it will allow you to zoom in on a map of pour allotment plot, then the magic thing is you can pick anytime of the year and assess where the sun rises and sets, so you can lay out your plot to take best advantage of the sun, it will stop little mistakes like placing shed where it will block the sun from beds behind it.

Try also if you can to create four equal sized beds, this will allow you to rotate crops each year to a different bed to help control pests and disease, or if that is not possible then the traditional one big bed you see on many allotments, and you can rotate crops within that.

I also echo what clueless said, get some sort of a perimeter up now, its unfortunate but people will take this 'n that if they can.

Cant wait to see some photo's of the plot and I wish you the best of luck with it.

Steve...

 

Thanks guys, i think i am quite lucky with the plots position.

Its south facing, has no trees near by, my neighbours shed is at the back of his plot which wont affect my crops at all.

I picked up the keys today and paid my money. Me and my girlfriend spent 2 hours trying to make a start on clearing it up. We came back with 3 black bin bags full and there is still stuff everywhere. It seemed a lot messier the second time round.

I have a few pics to share which i took this morning:

 

I agree with the 4 bed rotation plan

i will need a little help with what crops to put in each bed, could you please help me by placing the crops in to beds 1,2,3 and 4? intended growing list:

lettuce - iceberg
several varieties of onions
garlic
carrots
cabbage
broccoli
caulies
sweetcorn
potatoes
courgette
peas
cucumber

 

sorry i should say, im thinking of building a small raised bed for the carrots so that i can manipulate the soil structure better and try to avoid carrot fly

 

Howdo all,

My parents offered their help for this weekend so i snapped up the offer before they could finish their sentence. We went down today and worked on the plot for about 2 1/2 hours. We pulled up most of the black underlay that were on the paths and put this in a pile.
We spent most of the time de-weeding and turning over the soil. It scarey how much work there is to do!!! I forgot to take my camera down so unfortunately dont have any updates to show.

I'm going to sort out some days off from work so i'll take it down then.

What i can show you however is my plan for the plot. I spent a while researching crop rotation as mentioned above and found a really good piece on the RHS website: http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=124

This has enabled me to see what vegetables fall into what category. With the plot having cabbages left over, i am able to have my starting point.

This is what my plan is: (i managed to get my girlfriend to make it look nice)



The cabbages on the site are currently in bed 3. As per the RHS guidance, these will be moving into bed 2. I can now see where everything is going to be planted this year helping me to choose which parts to dig over first.

I also went to Wilkinsons on saturday and bought some maris piper and desiree spuds as well as some onion sets

 

I'll give a quick description of the plan above.

There are the compost bins at the top. Where the diagnal lines are next to them is currently filled with rubbish and broken glass. This is my future site for my shed.

Infront of the bins there is grass which i will be keeping. Next to that you will see some carrots. This is currently a small raised bed where the previous owner grew runner beans. This is where i plan to build the planter up and grow carrots. I will be able to manipulate the soil better and avoid carrot fly.

In front of the carrots there is a space and then some rhubarb growing. Behind this rhubarb i was thinking of planting to fruit bushes/canes. To the right of the rhubarb there is also space. Again, fruit bushes and maybe even a couple of fruit trees on a dwarf rootstock.

Then below that i will have my four beds where i will rotate the crops.

 

come back people, i feel like im talking to myself..

I spent another 2-3 hours down the allotment this morning. My parents kindly offered their help again. Me and my dad carried on turing over the soil, starting where we finished last week. We kept unearthing tonnes of potatoes which the previous owner didnt bother to pull up. These are all in the compost bin as we speak. My mum was gradually removing the pile of underlay we created last week. This was the stuff that was put down between the raised beds. She was breaking this into smaller pieces and stuffing it into building bags ready to be taken to the tip. She has filled 9 bags. The pile is now half the size.

I have taken a few pics!!! hopefully you can see the difference. I reckon that a quarter of the plot is now ready to plant on. Pics will appear in a sec...

 

Plan looks good,you've certainly cracked into the work; it all looks good. Take a look at what the old hands are planting, where and how they are going about it - it'll save you an awful lot aof hard work and heart ache

Good luck

Andrew