Anyone got one? Been waiting for about a year and I’ve just signed up for a half plot. It’s about 15 metres x 7 metres. Someone’s given it up. It’s got a couple of trained out fanned Apple trees full of fruit, a secure tin shed, 3 compost bins, a couple of rainwater butts, one 'box' with blackcurrant bushes, 1 patch full of potatoes and about 5 other boxes. By boxes I mean areas sectioned off with cut scaffold planks. £26.50 per year and a whole list of rules and regulations. The head honcho said I’ve obviously got to clear and weed it where it’s been neglected and if it gets to next March and I’ve not got it ready, I'm out! There’s a secure entrance to it between a couple of houses and it’s surrounded by a quad of houses so hopefully fairly safe. Looks a vey big site - I’d estimate that there’s about 60 - 80 full size plots maybe. Seems a very well run allotment society with a store onsite that sell all sorts of fertilisers, netting, compost, home made jams, local honey (a couple of owners have bee hives) and they have a tea urn there so can probably cadge a cuppa when it’s open. Quite looking forward to it. 

Has anyone on here got an allotment and can give a complete novice a few tips/hints/ things to do/not to do? Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

I have 3 of the biggest allotments known to man. Why 3 ? I had mine and then met wife number 2 who has one now to grow flowers (we have a national Chrysanthemum champion on the plots and she also grows some of his stock) . 2 years ago an old girl I helped gave one up, new guy lasted 6 months but it has some nice fruit on so I took it on and give half to someone else to grow her flowers.

They are seriously big Parish allotments and my first one I rented from the Parish Council 35 years ago, then dug by hand. Now have three rotavators, 2 greenhouse and 2 sheds. Just more recently got some vines growing in the greenhouses and we have grapes now.

Got to have a big rethink soon as we also have gardens to keep.

My advice is that its all manageable if you can get down a few hours more than once a week. Grow a selection but not masses of one produce as no one can eat cabbages every night and remember the idea is to eat healthily so go organic. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

200 acre allotment my veggie patch is full of weeds, some huge tomato plants in greenhouse
35 acres of potatoes

Roundup is your friend. And dont let a pesticides prejudice spoil months of work. Target the bugs at the correct time and tiny amount of spray can save a lot of harvest. At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

We will have to agree to disagree about Roundup CG. That's your livelihood, I grow for the taste and being organic but I do loose a lot of crop to achieve that. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Roundup is for killing untidy areas when reinventing an allotment.

Insecticides for killing pea moths before they lay eggs in the peapods. For example


Insecticides have saved many more lives around the world. than they will ever take At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Commercial farming is a must have, we can agree on that CG.

Allotments are about more than just growing as its social interaction as well. You can also get pleasure from giving away the stuff that all comes together once the freezer is full and the jam is made etc.

Every organically grown plant we get to the eating stage for just two of us must be several times more expensive than just going into ASDA but a carrot in ASDA is not for me. I see the devastation carrot fly does to mine in the allotment so to stop that there is a mass of pesticide being used somewhere in the food chain.

One of the biggest changes over the years has been the vast increase of crop being taken by the flying rats (pigeons) and its about time a bounty was introduced to control them. I now have to net a lot of my crop. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Steve D wrote:

Has anyone on here got an allotment and can give a complete novice a few tips/hints/ things to do/not to do?

Parking Jimboland, don't ever, ever mention parking. God I have had my fill of complete doing that to include the allotment.

 FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

 If it wasn't so bad it'd be funny.

🐑
Freelander 2 HSE auto 2014 ( Florrie ) ..... Try again.
Freelander 2 GS 2012...... Gone.

Don't have an official allotment just part of a field (horses have the rest)' Agree with CG ref Roundup but if you keep on top of things probably won't be required, best friend is a hoe.


A few tips, don't try to do everything by tomorrow, you'll be knackered. Look around at other plots and see what they grow , they've probably been doing it a long time and learnt by their mistakes. Don't bother with pesticides and old remedies for carrot root fly, get yourself some fine mesh to keep your carrots covered. Likewise for cabbges, cover them with netting to keep off pigeons and remember that pan-fried pigeon breasts are delicious.
When your cabbages get caterpillars (and they will) instead of spraying just spend time going around and using your fingers to squash.
Best of luck with your new allotment, just another way to keep fit. 11 GS Bali Blue
07 GS FL2. Usually muddy. Gone
Numerous LRs since 1963

Today, me and the wife have been to visit our new allotment. Only £26.50 per year but already this morning I’ve spent £53 on a spade, fork and watering can. Looks like we’re in for the most expensive fruit and veg of our lifetime! It’s been well neglected so she started clearing it and I started digging it over. Came home with enough spuds to make our tea tonight which was a bonus. Got into trouble with the wife when I shut her in the windowless tool shed - she doesn’t like enclosed spaces since her Dad rolled her up in a carpet for laugh when she was 5. Established fruit already on there are a couple of cooking apple trees, an eating apple tree, a blackcurrant section and a raspberry section. Got a good bit of work ahead of us before we get it ready for planting and already I’m cream crackered! Apparently at 57 and 60, we're the 'young blood’!
Our plot.


Edit: The spuds were gorgeous - to think, they were still alive only an hour before we ate them.  Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

Good God ! You should see what a bare allotment could be like on our Parish plots, seriously count your blessings. I do have to agree though that start up costs can be high. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Not sure if this gives the right view but I am on the shed roof with a yard of plot behind me, The 2 Apple trees past the flowers are before another growing area then its a greenhouse and then another area of flowers 2 or so yards across.












Must dash as I have some weeding to do as we have two and half plots. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

That’s a proper allotment!

Been out scavenging today when I walked the dog round the fields at the back of us and got a bounty of blackberries. Going to make myself an apple and blackcurrant pie with the apples that were still left on our plot. I also came across some mushrooms. Looked them up and to me they look like common old field mushrooms so was thinking of frying them up. Any mushroom experts on here? Got to make a quick decision as the wife will be home at 1:30 and there’s NO WAY she'll let me cook and eat them!

 Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

When I was playing at (well it was all about survival etc) there was a book around call Food for Free. A bit of a bible as with some fungi its curtains. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current