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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 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!

Having an 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! Making friends with your allotment neighbours’ opens up many an opportunity to share advice and experiences as well as the odd cuppa over the camping stove. If you plan to take holidays perhaps you can share a watering rota during hot weather…

Growing Benefits

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

  • Escapism
  • Exercise
  • Fresh air
  • Outdoors
  • Social
  • Community
  • Contentment
  • Sense of achievement
  • Satisfaction
  • Learning
  • Challenging
  • Hobby
  • Interest
  • Pasttime
  • Distraction
  • Mental well-being
  • Healthier diet
  • Money saving

  • 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!

Soil

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, treat it with manure/compost and mulch dependent 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…

Crop Rotation

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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'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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