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Getting Started on Your Allotment - Don’t lose the plot!

Allotment & Vegetable Garden

Congratulations! You have decided to join the UK’s nation of growers. You may have a dedicated area of the garden for a vegetable patch, a few pots on the patio or you can rent a plot at a site with your local allotment society.  

Either way, we are here to help you out with a beginner’s allotment plan. Giving you all the necessary allotment information, our plan will help you in your growing journey, whether you are thinking of starting a vegetable garden or are looking for a new hobby to fill your time. 

We hope you find our community website helpful on your growing journey.

Allotment Plot

If you have successfully secured the tenure of a local allotment plot be sure to pay your rent and carefully read their rules and regulations before you get started. You may have a secured site where you hold a key, be sure to keep it safe - You will be surprised at how many end up buried in the soil!

Starting a vegetable garden on your allotment not only gives you the satisfaction of growing but also peace & quiet, fresh air and escapism from everyday life and has a social scene too giving you the tonic you perhaps didn’t realise you needed! Even as a beginner, you are bound to make friends with your allotment neighbours, opening up opportunities to share advice and experiences and the odd cuppa over the camping stove. If you plan to take holidays perhaps you can share a watering rota during hot weather.

Allotment Growing Benefits

Having an allotment brings great health benefits to both young and old physically, mentally and emotionally. Some of the benefits may be obvious but here are some of ours:

1. Enjoy Fresh, Organic Produce

You will harvest an abundance of fresh, organic fruits and veggies from your garden or allotment plot. Starting a vegetable garden as part of your beginners' allotment plan will provide you with an unmatched sense of contentment, whether you grow tomatoes to crisp salad greens. 

2. Start Living a Healthy Life

The nutritional value of eating fruits and vegetables right out of your plot cannot be overstated. Your produce is also free of harmful chemicals typically used for growing commercially, making them all the more healthy. Furthermore, the manual labour that will be put in for tending your plot will not only enhance your physical health but also your mental well-being. You are bound to taste the difference!

3. Save Money

You can significantly reduce your shopping costs with an allotment patch, another encouragement for beginners and those interested in learning more. You will quickly realise how much more expensive buying fruits and vegetables from supermarkets are. Another benefit is that you get to choose what you grow, so you can prioritise expensive and high-yielding crops while minimising waste. 

4. Become Part of a Community

You can become a part of our thriving community of allotment growers online and locally. We are a healthy and happy group of growers who offer any kind of support to those who need it. We share advice, trade seeds, and celebrate wins together!

5. Promoting Sustainable Living

Growing your own fruit and vegetables lowers your carbon footprint because it requires less packing and shipping than shop-bought food. Besides this, by offering a home for a variety of plant species and important insects like bees and butterflies, you can support the local biodiversity.

  • Tips - Slugs & Snails

    If you would rather steer away from pellets, broken egg shells are an effective way to rid your plot from these plant loving pests.

  • Tips - Watering Can

    Turn the rose of the watering can around so you can see the holes for watering a wider area for quickness.

  • Tips - Thirsty Plants

    Cut a plastic bottle in half and use the cap end as a funnel - Place in the soil to direct rain water straight to the roots.

  • Tips - Labelling

    Label or make a note of the variety and the date you've sown, you can soon forget what it is and when it will be ready!

  • Tips - Scarecrows

    Scarecrow alternatives - Remove the lid from a plastic drinks bottle and put on the end of a cane in the ground – the sun will reflect off the clear plastic and the rattling noise will scare the birds away. You can also hang bunting or flags as a deterrent. Another method is to tie old CD’s to string and hang them up!

Allotment Soil

Taking care of your allotment soil and making sure it is healthy is one of the most important factors of a beginner’s allotment plan. Whether you’re presented with a ‘blank canvas’ or a piece of land that needs rotavating first – Be sure to make it weed-free; roots and all and have good soil as a foundation. You can turn the soil, and treat it with manure/compost and mulch depending on its requirements and position. If crops have once grown here you will not be surprised to find odd random re-growth where seeds have dispersed or roots have been left… 

Selecting the Right Crops

As a beginner, you should be very careful about what you grow at your allotment as all your efforts might go to waste if you make a wrong decision. Before you begin, take some time to study about your local climate and what plants are likely to thrive in it. If you are starting a vegetable garden for the first time, consider growing crops like potatoes, carrots, and peas as these vegetables seem to grow well in the cooler months, and are much more hardy than others.

Tough plants such as radishes, carrots, and beets, along with herbs like mint and chives are all suitable for a beginner’s allotment as they need minimal care. We recommend experimenting with more difficult crops, such as asparagus or artichokes once you have had success and are more confident. 

 

Allotment Crop Rotation

While growing, plants absorb the water and nutrients in the soil to thrive and produce fruits. The soil your crops are planted in is crucial for optimal growing and needs nurturing to ensure it’s providing your plants with the essential nutrients.  

Different types of plants have varying requirements when it comes to nutrients. For example, leafy greens like spinach and lettuce require higher levels of nitrogen, while root vegetables such as carrots and beets benefit from phosphorus. 

If you grow the same set of plants for many years in a row, some nutrients from the soil will become depleted, while others will become excessive, decreasing the quality of the soil. With crop rotation, you can maintain the soil’s nutritional balance, which is an important aspect of starting a vegetable garden.

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'Lettuce' begin!

…This is where crop rotation plays a part – All plants take water and nutrients offered by the soil in order to thrive and produce their fruits and therefore the soil needs nurturing too so that it can provide these essentials.

Different types of plants have varying requirements hence why planting brassicas, root vegetables, legumes and so on benefit from a fresh ‘home’ each season – although opinions vary on this. Vegetables with longer, deeper roots can be replaced with smaller rooted vegetables to help reduce soil erosion. …This is where crop rotation plays a part – All plants take water and nutrients offered by the soil in order to thrive and produce their fruits and therefore the soil needs nurturing too so that it can provide these essentials.

Different types of plants have varying requirements hence why planting brassicas, root vegetables, legumes and so on benefit from a fresh ‘home’ each season – although opinions vary on this. Vegetables with longer, deeper roots can be replaced with smaller rooted vegetables to help reduce soil erosion.

 

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