In our first year on the smallholding in some respects I should have done nothing but prepare areas, mend boundaries and get organised, instead I did none of that and dived into growing as much as possible. I wanted to learn the seasons, the soil and observe how plants grew in this new land. Get to grips with what I could do here as a gardener. This has allowed me to make a new plan for the allotment and this year, my aim is to match what we grow better with what we use in the kitchen. Below is my current plan, it will take me some years to truly know the plot but this largely feels right for now. Most nerve-wracking is the placement of the new asparagus bed (we love asparagus) because it takes two years to establish and then produces for up to twenty years and doesn’t really like to be moved. We have separate areas for herbs, tomatoes, chillies and aubergine. The plot is on a slope with the fruit cage and compost at the top, perennial veg at the bottom.
Can you live without raspberries? I can’t, I have both summer and autumn varieties.
A must for me🤷🏼♀️
We cannot 😄 don’t worry we have lots in the fruit cage 😋
I have just acquired my first allotment at the age of 72yrs.🥳 I am really excited to get going on it but somewhat daunted also. 🥴 Having stumbled across your site while searching for ‘how to plan my plot’ I would be very grateful for any ‘newbie’ advice. The plot is aprox 120sq mtrs and hasn’t been worked for a while as it is completely covered in couch grass. It looks as though it has been dug over in the past as it is uneven with large lumps of grass throughout. Can you please suggest what would be the best way to tackle such a large area initially? It has been suggested I dig it over gradually. Should I do this before planning where to put a shed and compost heap? I understand the council do not take any waste away so there would be an awful lot to go into a compost area. Any advice would be grateful, thank you.
Sorry Sue, I thought I’d replied to you last year! I’m sure you have the swing of it now, but I would start off small focussing on one area at a time. I wrote this guide a number of years ago which I think is still good starter advice https://www.jackwallington.com/13-tips-to-help-allotment-newbies-by-an-allotment-newbie/