Yes!! An allotment has finally come up

[ojay54]

Just a suggestion to go with the A1 advice the others have given: At this time of the year many retailers are getting rid of the seasons growbags really cheaply.5 or 6 would be really handy on your membrane to grow some stuff now,salad stuff/carrots/etc,and when you're done with them in the spring the bags' contents will make a good mulch for all those cordons you're going to plant overwinter......(What?...you're not planting cordons?..! )

[RunnerBean]

Good tip on the grow bags, thanks.

We're not allowed fruit trees sadly, but I want to get the fruit cage up so I can put in all my raspberries and strawberries in the spring.

My next door neighbour also has an allotment and is heading up there tomorrow morning with his petrol strimmer, so he's going to give me a hand clearing some of the weeds. I'll probably take my loppers as well because some of the brambles are really thick. WIsh me luck! Will take an 'after' photo. Can't wait to see what's underneath all those weeds.

[ojay54]

Is it common for allotments to ban top fruit?.......bonkers,they aren't any higher than raspberries.

[Green Aura]

I think so, OJ. The committee who ran the site of my allotment (I only had it very briefly) didn't allow trees of any kind, flowers or growing to sell - I think that was all!

There were trees of all kinds, flowers and rosa rugosa shrubs in abundance though, on most of the unoccupied (but still "owned") plots.

[RunnerBean]

I don't mind, over half of my back garden is taken up with fruit and veg at the moment. I've already got one dwarf apple tree and I'll have plenty of space for a couple more once everything else moves up to the allotment.

That's just reminded me of my mum's first allotment. She used to go two or three times a week but she had a couple of weeks off once with flu. When she got back, some thieving *$#*%# had dug up her 5 dwarf fruit trees. Unbelievable! Fortunately I live in a much nicer area (as does she now) and despite the fact that the allotments are open, there's never usually any trouble.

[Flo]

Is it common for allotments to ban top fruit?.......bonkers,they aren't any higher than raspberries.

It's actually quite common to ban technically any crop that lasts for longer than 12 months. That's because you pays your rent every 12 months and you might decide to leave your plot. In which case someone may get things they don't want on it and which can be problems to remove.

[happyhippy]

Looks like a nice area?How's it going?Been busy?Any new pics?

[RunnerBean]

Yes, I have done some clearing up but I've been ill the last week or so, so lagging behind a bit now. I've cleared most of the brambles, there were 3 goji berry bushes underneath! Also 3 raised beds, although one is very titchy. My plan is in the next week to try and get cracking on the fruit cage. There are some posts already there but it's only about 5 ft tall so no good for my raspberries. The footings for the posts are fine though so hopefully it won't be a massive job. I might just raise it up at one side and have a slanty fruit cage.

Argh, I can't get the photos to upload again. Is it because they're in PNG format? I don't even know what that is or why it's done that. I've got some on my blog here- http://diggingforsanity.wordpress.com/2 ... oto-diary/

[Green Aura]

Looks like you've made a great start, RB. It's like finding treasure trove when you spot a plant that someone's left behind - so exciting - or is that just me

[RunnerBean]

I love freebies I've been given a load of cardboard to cover the plot over the winter and the person that gave me the cardboard has several horses, so if I need any horse poo I just need to give her a shout. I love living in a village.

[ojay54]

Horse crap,even though it often has loads of thistle seeds is absolutely the biz,so collect every little bit you can,even if you leave it 2 or 3 years,it's still worth having.If you've got access to a good supply , you're really fortunate.

[RunnerBean]

There's actually a communal horse poo pile at the allotments (from the livery stables a few doors down) but it's full of woodchip so I've been told to avoid it. But this is a very horsey part of the country so I'm spoilt for choice really. People don't even bother trying to sell it here, they're happy for someone to just take it away.

[ojay54]

If you've got the space,it might be worth taking 4 pallets and building a separate compost heap for the manure your fellow gardeners are wont to eschew (as it were).The wood chip will break down over a couple of years,it might be a bit acidic,as woodchips seem to be mostly pine,but you could balance that out with a bit of effort( eg. 1 : 1 your compost to spent mushroom compost),and free compost is a great deal.