Allotmentalists - like it!

We've had two allotments over the last 6 years, and took them on without much gardening experience other than growing a bit of salad in the back garden. I suppose 6 years makes us partially seasoned, so for for what it's worth, here's what we've learned:

1. Take all advice with a pinch of salt. There are many ways to skin a cat, and there are plenty of people who are convinced their way is the only way. Likewise, there are plenty of doom-mongers regarding diseases, certain species of weeds etc, that make you think if you have any of these problems appear you will soon have a toxic plot unsuitable for anything! This isn't the case, there are few problems that can't be lived with or worked around. This goes for what's in print just as much as neighbourly advice.

2. Don't take on too much all at once. Sharing your 10x30 sounds good. Are you splitting the plot into two, or simply sharing work/fruits of your labour? There are advantages and disadvantages to both. If you get on well and can put in about equal amounts of labour then simple sharing sounds best - otherwise splitting the plot in half can be better for maintaining relations!

3. Likewise regarding taking on too much, what condition is your allotment in? If it's been lying fallow for long it can be a lot of work getting it back in to shape, and it can be a good idea to work intensely on a small area and cover the rest with carpet or similar (anything that blocks light basically) until you are ready to use it. We made the mistake on our first allotment of trying to get the whole plot ready in a half-assed way (i.e. leaving loads of perennial weeds in) and were very nearly defeated in our first year as we couldn't keep up with the weeds...

4. Get a hoe and be prepared to use it! If your plot has been fallow for more than a few weeks in the summer it's likely to have loads of weed seeds waiting to sprout next year. These can grow astonishingly fast, but it's quite easy to deal with these little and often with a hoe. Try not to let weeds grow to flowering/seeding stage - "one years weed is seven years seed" (but read this saying on conjunction with my doom monger caveat above!)

5. Only grow fruit/veg that you (or friends) like to eat. Experiment by all means, but don't grow anything you don't like or can't easily get rid of.

6. Similar to the above, it's a good idea to concentrate more on unusual or expensive veg, or simply veg that is best eaten really fresh rather than trying to be self-sufficient in low value stuff like that stores well like main crop spuds, cabbage, carrots, swedes, onions etc. Good examples are tomatoes, sweetcorn, early potatoes etc. Also look for varieties that have excellent taste or cooking qualities. Mainstream retail varieties tend to be based on appearance and shelf life - taste has been left behind. You don't know what sweetcorn tastes like until you've eaten a cob within half an hour of picking it!

7. Don't keep anything of value on the allotment. If you have a shed, I'd seriously consider not putting a lock on it. Get some old tools to keep on the allotment (often better than the new stuff anyway), and don't necessarily keep them in the shed - hide them round the back or similar. Locks are only for keeping honest people out. Thieves are attracted to the most secure looking sheds but still gain access easily (crowbar) doing a great deal of damage in the process.

8. Try not to throw money at your allotment. I've seen quite a few folks taking on a new allotment and spending loads on greenhouses, fencing, shrubs etc, and then losing interest fairly rapidly as the weeds take over. To me part of the attraction of allotments is not spending any money on them, and making use of scrounged / recycled stuff. For example, plastic bottles can make good cloches, old net curtain can make good fleece/net etc. Be inventive rather than spending money at the garden centre.

9. Spuds are a good 'pioneer' crop, and if planted in rotation combine a lot of the hard work of digging with getting a good crop. If you try and double-dig the whole plot you will soon understand the phrase "back breaking"! Depending on your soil type and drainage I wouldn't do much or any double digging as such, but I would put in some spuds in trenches and bank them up as they grow (pretty much the traditional way of growing them). This, combined with lifting them, gives you a pretty well prepared bed ready for next years crop (probably beans if you rotate your crops)

10. Crop rotation is a good habit to get in to. The benefits are two-fold. Firstly, by not planting the same type of crop on the same area year after year you reduce the risks of disease taking hold. Secondly, you get to provide conditions which are best for the follow-on plot. A common rotation is: Year 1 - potatoes (generously manured - they like a rich soil); Year 2 - legumes (peas/beans) - they like a fairly rich soil and have the advantage of 'fixing' nitrogen in the soil; Year 3 - brassicas (cabbage family) - these benefit greatly from the nitrogen added previously; Year 4 - root crops such as carrots. These like a fairly poor soil. You are then ready to manure the bed again to repeat the rotation with spuds. The easiest way to do this rotation is to divide the plot into four beds and move each crop forward one bed each year.

11. If you are organically inclined, as I am, it's a good idea to invest in some reasonable netting to keep pests off your crops. I've found this especially beneficial for brassicas (cabbage) otherwise these are rapidly reduced to lace by the cabbage white or small white butterfly. You need quite a tight mesh to keep these off - I've seen them get through 1/2 inch mesh before - they sort of fold their wings up to do it! Debris netting (the stuff used on scaffolding) is extremely goo, especially if you can get it cheap or free second-hand. Likewise some very fine mesh (net curtain or organic fleece) is useful to protect your carrots from carrot fly. Depending on your particular plot rabbits might be a problem too, in which case some chicken wire or similar might be handy. You shouldn't need to fence your allotment, it's usually enough to cover rows with 'nissan hut' type coverings of chicken wire.

That's about all I can think of now. I would recommend one book, The Half Hour Allotment for it's general philosophy as much as anything.

I hope you have a long and happy relationship with your allotment.

Pete.