Allotments

kylith

I applied for one of the new allotments down on Bridgefoot St in Dublin recently. I'd love to get it and am already planning my first year's non-crops to assess and correct soil problems. Does anyone know how long it usually takes them to decide who gets them? I'd rather have my hopes dashed sooner than later.

gk5000

kylith wrote: »

I applied for one of the new allotments down on Bridgefoot St in Dublin recently. I'd love to get it and am already planning my first year's non-crops to assess and correct soil problems. Does anyone know how long it usually takes them to decide who gets them? I'd rather have my hopes dashed sooner than later.

Don't know, guess they have a list so you could see where you are on it.
But why waste a year with "non-crops". Split it into sections for permament and 3 or 4 rotations, and start with the real thing.

kylith

gk5000 wrote: »

Don't know, guess they have a list so you could see where you are on it.
But why waste a year with "non-crops". Split it into sections for permament and 3 or 4 rotations, and start with the real thing.

I'm going by what was recommended by a family member, to plant spuds the first year to break up the soil as it's a new allotment, then to plant a green manure to dig in. Other than that I'm planning tomatoes in a wee greenhouse. You reckon to get stuck in straight away?

vienne86

I share an allotment with a friend in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown. He waited three years, but once we moved in, we quickly learned that people who rang and enquired regularly got them much sooner. So it might be worth hassleing.

gk5000

kylith wrote: »

I'm going by what was recommended by a family member, to plant spuds the first year to break up the soil as it's a new allotment, then to plant a green manure to dig in. Other than that I'm planning tomatoes in a wee greenhouse. You reckon to get stuck in straight away?

Definitly imho.
And split it up to do a crop rotatation of say Potatoes -> Brasicas/Cabbage -> Roots -> Peas/Beans (look it up, lots of choices and pros/cons of different rotations)

If you plant all in potatoes this year, where shall you plant them next year without planting the same ground twice, which to me is not ideal.

Edit to add: You break up the soil - fork/spade ;-)

gk5000

So split it in 6 sections
Two permament sections with say Rhubarb and strawberries, raspberries etc.

1. Section of Potatoes - Do earlies, 2'nd earlies and main crop
2. Section of Brasicas - Cabbage, Turnips, Cauliflowers, Sprouts etc.
3. Roots - Carrots, Onions, Parsnips, Scallions, Leeks
4. Peas, Beans, Mangetout

And plant herbs, salad, runnerbeans & climbing beens, sweetcorn etc... whereever

Look up on the web/books for suggestions - and pick at least one or two things out of every group; and expand as you get experienced.

And try to figure out a schedule of what is planted early or late so you can plan your time in the season - Google "vegetable planner"

lazybones32

Definitely give a phone call, if only to remind them of your name and to show you are genuinely interested in the plot.

If they are new allotments, the soil will have recently been turned or it will be 'new' soil added to the plot so it shouldn't need too much amendments. I reckon you could start with your veg patch straight away and don't be worried about mistakes or if things fail. Plots aren't cheap so make full use of it.

kylith

I got onto them yesterday and was told I was unsuccessful

Then I got a phonecall today telling me that someone had pulled out and I got one

I should be getting an official acceptance email today and one clarifying the details in the next week or so. Time to come up with a short-list of what I want to grow, I suppose. I can get some stuff started on windowsills around the house to plant on when I get the allotment ready.

vienne86

kylith wrote: »

I got onto them yesterday and was told I was unsuccessful

Then I got a phonecall today telling me that someone had pulled out and I got one

I should be getting an official acceptance email today and one clarifying the details in the next week or so. Time to come up with a short-list of what I want to grow, I suppose. I can get some stuff started on windowsills around the house to plant on when I get the allotment ready.

Congratulations! You'll have great fun! We got ours at the end of July 2013, a really stupid time, too late to start things. But we still got salads and bits and pieces in the first year. We did our plot out in raised beds - council turned it over with a JCB - we got a builder to give us old scaffolding planks and we made our beds. Weed block covered with mulch makes up our paths between the beds. Well worth the effort - soil doesn't get compacted - we dug the whole lot over in a few hours a couple of weeks ago. We only have a bed of purple sprouting brocalli growing right now, but plans are under way for the season.

Best of luck!

Francie Barrett

kylith wrote: »

I got onto them yesterday and was told I was unsuccessful

Then I got a phonecall today telling me that someone had pulled out and I got one

I should be getting an official acceptance email today and one clarifying the details in the next week or so. Time to come up with a short-list of what I want to grow, I suppose. I can get some stuff started on windowsills around the house to plant on when I get the allotment ready.

My advice would be not to be too ambitious. I have a plot in an allotment, I'd say 80% of people give up after a year. I think they try to do far too much in the first year, inevitably fail, then get cheesed off and give up. I would suggest you grow things you like (that are also easy). Spuds (make sure to buy blight resistant), spring onions, broad beans, lettuce, beans, peas, kale, etc. - all this stuff I generally found easy to grow.

Also, try to stagger your planting so you don't get an over abundance of things at once. When I first started, I ended up with about 20 heads of lettuce all at once, so much great stuff just ended up rotting in the ground or getting eaten by caterpillars.

Raised beds are definitely the way to go. Unless you're retired and can afford to spend every day at your allotment, then weeds will quickly over power your plot. Raised beds mean you have much less ground to week and manage, and won't hurt yield at all.

Unless you already have a supplier, get look for manure. If you can't get this, then fish/bone/blood meal is a decent (although not as good) alternative.

Oh, and check Youtube. The American allotment/gardening videos are generally rubbish (and very often bogus). UK based videos are good though - I find the allotmentdiary channel to be excellent, really great hands on tips there.

kylith

Thanks for all the advice. I'm holding off making any plans until I get the key and can go have a look at the plot, measure it up and have a look at how it's oriented. I was definitely thinking of going for raised beds, they look more manageable than growing directly in the ground. I should be able to get untreated pallets without too much hassle other than lugging them home, then to the site.

I was thinking of starting with some basic stuff I know I'll use; lettuce, carrots, spuds, strawberries, and some tomatoes if I can get a greenhouse in there. Once I find my feet I'd like to expand into cabbages and cauliflowers, peas and beans, rhubarb, and a bush fruit like gooseberrys.

gk5000

Walked past them today.
The first lot at the top/south end seem to be about 5 x 8 metres. The next batch are not split up yet.

Curious if raised beds are really less work, when you consider the work in making them etc.

Many people launch into the architectural end of allotments, and have no energy left for the gardening part.
I use either drills for spuds and lazy beds for the rest, and no wood or paving.

gnf_ireland

Hi all - just wondering in relation to the DLR allotments if you are allowed to have items like storage boxes, cold frames, small green houses on the plot and also If soft fruit trees are allowed ?

Thanks