Top ten tips for a productive allotment
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.พ. 2020
- If you have questions, we have a FAQ document and video, which you can find here: steves.seasidelife.com/2020/0...
If you are new to my allotment videos you might find a bit of context useful. We live in the north west of England, in Lytham St Annes, which I believe is the equivalent of USA Zone 8. Fairly mild, but very windy.
For more details on the databases that I use to manage my allotment, check out these two blog posts steves.seasidelife.com/catego...
We have three allotments in my family, mine (Steve), my wife's (Debbie) and my middle daughter's (Jennie). We also have a small kitchen garden at home. They are all managed in an integrated fashion, so don't expect to see the usual mix of veg on each plot. I do most of the planning and seed starting. We each have our own plots, but we all help each other out.
Jennie's plot has been designed as a traditional allotment, but we put a lot of focus on minimising the work we do there. It's basically a plant and forget it plot, full of garlic, leeks, onions, beetroot, brassicas, squash, beans and fruit trees. It's heavily mulched to reduce weeds and to reduce the need water.
Debbie's plot is mostly full of perennials, it's an ornemental plot. Again we did a lot of work to keep the weeds down and Debbie's approach is inspired by the TV programme The Ornamental Kitchen garden.
My plot is all about experimental growing, maximum productivity and year round abundance. As with all of the other plots I did a lot of work to control the weeds, but it's a high maintenance plot. I'm always planting, harvesting, experimenting and generally having a great time.
Collectively the plots deliver an amazing abundance of fruit and veg all year round. Debbie, Jennie, Jon and I are effectively self sufficient in veg all year round and in fruit for much of the year. During winter we sometimes have enough surplus to feed our local family. During the rest of the year when the surplus from our house garden comes on stream we have surpluses in some crops for quite a few friends as well.
This video provides an overview:
• The big picture of our...
I do an update of the allotments, roughly twice a month, you can find the tours here:
• Full allotment tour as...
Our approach to allotment life is to: grow as much as we possibly can, to be self-sufficient in veg all year round and in fruit in season, to give away our surplus to friends and family, and to have as much fun as possible. For more on self sufficiency check out these videos:
• Super quick update on ...
We are not slaves to gardening though, I spend about 14 hours a week on the plots (on average) Debbie and Jennie a lot less. We keep nudging that down as we eliminate non-productive work: like grass cutting, weeding and watering as much as practical. We are both newbie gardeners, only starting the allotments in 2016.
I'm a bit obsessive about the nutrient density of the veg that we grow and making the plots easy to work because it's through this allotment lifestyle and food that I've overcome a debilitating auto-immune disease.
I'm always aware though that it might not last so I make sure that I don't work too hard, eat as much organic fruit and veg I can and design the plots so that I can still work them when I flare up.
Possibly the most useful gardening video I've ever seen, thank you so much for sharing what you've learned with us.
Thanks Karen : All the best - Steve
All the tips I could possible want! Comprehensive, motivating and wise! Thanks again Steve.
Thanks for the feedback Gillian! : All the best - Steve
I love the photos of your garden. It is so well organized. That is important to me.
Thanks Carolyn, lots of people call it OCD, but I call it efficiency, it's much quicker and easier to manage a well organised plot, it keeps me organised (because I'm not at all), I rely on systems to help me. I am on the autistic spectrum though, so I do feel more relaxed when in a simple environment, with not too many distractions : All the best - Steve
Brilliant tips Steve. Thank you ❤
Loads of great tip and smashing little video thanks Steve
Glad you enjoyed it Darren : All the best - Steve
Thanks Steve. As usual, good solid sense and a great help. Will have a go at your sealed container method. Cheers - Paul
A few people have tried it and are noticing an improvement, in theory a few pin prick sized holes in the lid make it even better, but we've not verified that : All the best - Steve
This TH-cam just popped up giving me so many ideas . Need to rewatch. Trying to condense my growing and get a better succession of salads . I liked a video I watched of Steve from green side up were he sows a few of veg into a nursery bed. I intend to use a similar method with containerwise 40 cell trays sewing just 20% more than what I would want each week in a tray at home in the greenhouse. Then each week when the seedlings of all the different sowings have matured push the matured plugs into a vacant 40 tray and take the one full up tray to plant in raised beds in the open / coldframe/ polytunnel / depending on season.
Let me know how it goes, I’m not sure how well it will work for flowering brassicas, they tend to flower based on time from sowing, not maturity. As it happens I did see that video of Steve’s but I never saw a video showing how well it worked : all the best - Steve
I missed that you were planning to do this with salads, that would work, but you need to water your parent tray really well once the lettuce gets big and not feed it
Witaj, jestem w trakcie tworzenia zimowego ogrodu przyznam, że jestem pełna podziwu dla Ciebie.
Mój ogród jest nad Morzem Bałtyckim i ufam, że też będą ładnie rosnąc sałaty, jarmuże....
pozdrawiam serdecznie
Aleksandra
Cześć Aleksander, tak, nie ma problemu z uprawą sałaty i jarmużu, masz wiele świetnych opcji! Wszystko, co uprawiam pod przykryciem, prawdopodobnie możesz uprawiać na zewnątrz : Wszystkiego najlepszego - Steve
Bonjour Steve et Merci pour ce petit rappel. Bonne continuation.
Merci, heureux que vous l'ayez apprécié: tout le meilleur - Steve
Going to listen again and take notes. Had my best garden in 20 years in 2020, planning to improve in 2021. Retired now so should do better. Thanks for the inspiration, you and Charles Dowding are great sources of information.
Thanks Doug, Charles is a great complement to myself. He's a mini-market gardener so he's focused on growing a few dozen crops for sale with maximum yields, mainly in spring and summer, whereas I'm focused on feeding my fiends and family 250+ varieties all year round : All the best - Steve
That was an excellent comprehensive video Steve. Loads of tips there. I’ve been gardening for years and hadn’t considered what you suggested about planting along the edges of beds...great idea and just shows that every day is a school day!..atb mate, Mark
Thanks Mark, I'm 4 years into gardening and there's so much to learn! : All the best - Steve
As always, great advice and insight Steve 😊👍🏼
Thanks for the feedback Hugo! : All the best - Steve
That cold water tip is new to me! Good list!
Definitely worth a try, really makes a big difference for us Anne : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards Thanks! I've done it the past 3 days, it really helps. It's been strangely warm here in CA this week, had to pull in lots of Mache, arugula, lettuce, parsley, etc. and this technique has been great. That said, I just watched a video of my favorite mortician, and she's using your music. Maybe it's time for a change? She's hilarious, but it was weird to watch her and think about gardening in England: th-cam.com/video/wM6HeLp2ywg/w-d-xo.html
These are some awesome tips, especially for someone like me who just started his 1st year of gardening. Gotta admit I went on a shopping spree with the seeds, like 40 varieties, including herbs, but we'll see how it will go. Obviously I'm planning for next year to double-down on what's going best this year and what we enjoy growing and eating
Sounds like you are going to have a great time experimenting : All the best - Steve
Hi Steve grate tip on putting Spring onions in between the lettuce I am going to try that this year please keep giving tips I enjoy them.Thanks again
Thanks Christopher, I hope it works out for you, just remember that your onions needs to be a quite a bit older than your lettuce when you plant them : All the best - Steve
This is real sound advice as usual Steve and needs to be shared, especially, but not only for, new allotment holders / gardeners. I've found a lot of this myself, just like saying grow what you want, it sounds strange, but an example on allotments is when people give you their over spill of seedlings, but its stuff you don't eat, but end up growing it, taking space of something you do want to eat :) All the best Steve.
Gardening with John great example John! : all the best - Steve
Thank you for sharing.
Hi Steve, Great video full of good ideas, I adopted only growing what we eat a lot of for this season, No peppers, no chilis, Keep up the good work Steve and Take care.
Thanks Ronald : All the best - Steve
Great tips thank you.. just taken on my first allotment 😊
Lots more in my ebook and newsletter steverichards.notion.site/Outgrow-6f57489ae10a4721b48b421826203814?pvs=4 both free if you are getting started : All the best - Steve
Really great tips, thanks. Elizabeth
Thanks for the feedback Elizabeth! : All the best - Steve
Great video thank you for taking the time to do it.
Thanks for the feedback Terry : All the best - Steve
I like the cold water tip. Going to use that this year. Also the containers I copied that of u last year it works so well. Great video
Hi Mark, cold water makes such a difference to leafy greens, cauliflower, broccoli etc : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards thanks always some think new to learn
That was a great discussion and lots of useful information, thanks. I still think growing potatoes is worth it, especially first earlies, even a single row just for the flavour and of course they're expensive to buy if you can find them in the shop. Also I grow a row of Globo onion about a hundred or so, I love the mild flavour and it's great fun growing kilo sized onions. You're right about the flavour difference between homegrown and shop bought, I always get asked why I bother to keep an allotment when food is so cheap by people who never grew anything. All the best, Ian.
Hi Ian, we grow loads of potatoes too, but we don't grow them to save money, we grow for the taste and to avoid the pesticides/herbicides. It is amazing how cheap food is, then when you dig into how it's so cheap, that's when you realise why it's important to grow it. Huge numbers of slug pellets, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, massive water wastage, environmental damage due to fertiliser run off, destruction of soil life, top soil loss, destruction of insect life .... makes home grown sound like a no-brainer to me, especially when you taste it! : All the best - Steve
Very helpful video, thank you.
Thanks for the feedback! : All the best - Steve
Great video as always Steve....you are so right with only grow what you actually want to eat....why did I buy that packet of broad beans (we never eat them and they get covered in black fly and they are probably only ready a month before green beans and runners which we much prefer). I grow most things in modules before planting out and actually chit virtually all of my seeds before even putting them into the modules as I don't want empty modules! The interplanting was also great information and explains why I struggle with interplanting my spring onions...they always get swamped and I think that is down to planting them at the wrong time...this year I will be growing them in troughs in my back garden on their own...they are already chitting in my airing cupboard (the smell is incredible)...and I'm doing the same with radish, that way I can judge my successions better. Any spares I will pop in the allotment wherever I have space.
Hi Steve, I'm not a big fan of broad beans either, but I do enjoy the young ones before they get starchy, Debbie and Jennie really like them though so I put mine in late autumn and that way they rarely get black fly, I harvest the whole lot in June, to make way for my main crop (beets or PSB, depending on the year) and freeze them (they freeze very well). I don't like empty modules either, so in about 20% of modules I sow two seeds, then I just prick the spares out to fill any modules that failed, it almost always works out : All the best - Steve
Great video,Steve
Would be great if you could do a video specifically on successions. Maybe with specific scenarios to include sowing and transplanting times - assuming uk zone 8 and undercover sowing space.
Cheers
I’m doing planting plans for my kitchen garden, polytunnel, winter plot and year round plot soon so that should cover it David. Too wet and windy for videos right now: all the best - Steve
I'm still going back to look at your other videos, and I gotta say that I've learned a lot from you, especially the importance of counting the days and using the time slots better. I'm out to pull 80% of the yellow turnips now that wintered OK in the polytunnel and are still growing, and plug in the sprouting broccoli starts so I can in turn get them out and the cukes in in May. My starts are pretty big but the weather is around the freezing point at night. I'll put the Romanesco and the purple Brussels sprouts out coz like you said they'll take it OK. I'm growing these for leaves this year, and they are in threes in 8" pots, ready to go out.
excellent, my sprouts are going out interplanted into a low tunnel that has lettuce in it. The sprouts won't overtake the lettuce for quite a few weeks, by then the lettuce has passed it's usefulness. I'm really looking forward to sprout leaves again, we finished most of our sprout tops last week, we only have sprouts left now : All the best - Steve
Thanks for that bit; I have a low tunnel over the elephant garlic patch over the winter that I was just going to move to warm up the soil for the early purple potatoes. I'll put purple brussels sprouts and some romanesco and sprouting broccoli in there too then; I just had a nightmare that my starts were all bolting and I could hardly recognize them. I will leave the tunnel loose around the edges so it doesn't get too hot in there... our weather is -2C to +7C right now. I will also try some under a couple of glass door panels just to keep the rain off. I lean the window glass for cover until I get those cold frames built.
I find it helps with seed loss. Better a gap in a tray, than have it in the beds
This is probably one of the most useful and interesting videos I have watched. I'll link to it on my blog if that's ok.
Of course, no need to ask, it's all free to use and re-use as you wish. Thanks for the feedback though :-) : All the best - Steve
That’s all the advice anyone would need to start on the right path. Great summary!
Thanks Francesco, I loved the comment on your home page "There's already too much noise in the gardening world on TH-cam", ironically this is one of very few "how to" videos I've done, I prefer to show what I do and why, rather than tell others what they should do. I like your tromboncino squash photo, we usually grow a lot of it, but this year we are favouring Centercut squash : All the best - Steve
Steve's Seaside Allotment you are one of the very few gardening channel I follow. Just the right amount of talking, no shouting, feels like stopping by a friend for a cup of tea and a chat about the garden. Very well done.
Would you be so kind to share your small medium and large sizes of standardized raised beds you adopted? So far I have been using collars for euro pallets which are 120x80, but have very thin sides, barely 2cm thick. I was considering upgrading to something thicker to be able to add some hinged accessories like cold frames and especially hinged hoops. I kind of like 120x80, but was contemplating going 200x100. What are your sizes?
Thanks for the feedback! For the sides I use 6"*1"*16' planks, so I get the wood shop to chop those in half for my small beds. My big beds are 16' and my small beds are 8' long. I subdivide these beds though with cross pieces cut from planks that are 6"*2"*14' long, so I have these chopped into 4 pieces that are 3' 6" long, that's about as far as I can stretch to reach the back. The very long beds are sub-optimal, but that's what I inherited, they are 30' long and 10' wide. The length is fine, but they are too wide, they would be better 3' 6" wide or maybe 4' wide. Sorry for the imperial measures! Look at the older videos in this playlist for details th-cam.com/play/PLFhKoRR-NiCKtxqWuvikOnCI3SE91rBiU.html : All the best - Steve
Steve's Seaside Allotment thanks! I love imperial, having lived in the US for over ten years I miss the simplicity of that system. Was that a typo or do you use thicker planks for the shorter sides?
@@OrtoInScatola yes, I use thicker 2" planks for the cross pieces, it makes it much more rigid, lasts longer, much better to screw into (without splitting) and it's thich enough to step on/lean on, which I do all the time. Doesn't add much to the cost as it's only cross pieces and adds so much utility : All the best - Steve
Some good tips here cheers ray
Thanks Ray : All the best - Steve
I agree with trying things that you don't like frozen or canned....cauliflower, broccoli and brussell sprouts are amazing fresh, only tolerable frozen. Also, carrots in the US are not sprayed as in England, so that varies from place to place. Rice grown in the south US often has arsenic, but not in California. (Arsenic was used on cotton crops and still is in many southern soils.)
Hi Anne, I was surprised to see so many carrots growing uncovered and organically in the US, with carrot fly here that would be a struggle in most areas. Carrots are one of the worst sprayed of all root veggies, up to 9 times a year : All the best - Steve
Some good points raised there Steve, as you know I am a fan of raised beds. After the wet weather of recent, my allotment paths are still pools of water, yet the soil in the raised beds have drained completely. Modules/root trainers, if you buy good quality ones, can last many years if used with care. I like the mechanical veg spinner.....includes a free workout 🤣All the best.....
🌻 Nigel .......MuddyBootz Allotment 🌻
I buy mine from Wilko Nigel, they last about 4 uses, I'd love to find a supplier that had affordable long lasting ones. I've seen a few but they are incredibly expensive and use a lot of plastic compared to the Wilco ones. We use a salad spinner at home and a mesh bag on the allotment. Debbie's plot sounds like yours, we call it little Venice, all of the paved paths are canals. Mine is all woodchip so I've yet to wear boots in all the hundreds of visits I've made to the plot, let alone muddy ones ;-) : All the best - Steve
Steve's Seaside Allotment Hi Steve , I have some 84 cell trays (7x12) made from fairly rigid plastic and they are well over 10 years old. I got 3 or 4 deep large root trainer cell trays last year and would expect these to last a similar time. I did use woodchip on my paths but have recently acquired quite a few heavy duty plastic industrial machine shop mats. They will outlast me and the next few Plotholders after me. I like the idea of being able to hose them down at the start of each season. Again standardised beds and path widths makes is so much easier. Cheers. Nigel
MuddyBootz I guess over the years I will gradually acquire some good stuff Nigel. My general rule is that everything has to payback within 12 months, but TH-cam revenues mean I can afford to relax that rule a bit. Machine shop mats bring back memories! : all the best - Steve
You are so right about liking, and taste of growing your own. I am a newby, this my second year, but the few things grown were so much better tasting than the bought items. Your latest video that I am watching is also very helpful to me in terms of soil preparation, but I am yet to be able to grasp the way of growing things more than once in a season.?. I would like to grow strawberries, can you give me any tips on when, how, and which to grow, plz.? Many Thanks for all the regular videos.
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Hi Michael, what I mean is that we always like to have something growing in the soil, all year round. So right now a bed might have lettuce, which will be replaced by spinach next month, which is replaced by winter cabbage in summer, that's three successions in a year. In addition we might interplant spring onions with the lettuce and radish with the cabbage, so that's five. Finally we might plant carrots around the edge of the cabbage bed, under the same nets, to be harvested in winter (at the same time as the cabbage) which is six different harvests from the same ground. For strawberries I really like Elsanta. The RHS has a good guide www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/fruit/strawberries. We like to interplant our strawberries with onions in the first year, in later years there's probably not enough space. : All the best - Steve
Steve's Seaside Allotment . Thank you Steve, So at what time of the year are the later being grown if under netting, and any info on the strawberry growing.?
Great tips. I just need to add cucumbsrs
Perfect timing I just got my plot, have you got a recommendation for module trays?
I buy mine from Wilco, bottom trays without holes for germinating at home, and with holes for the polytunnel : All the best - Steve
You mention at the 12 minute mark you use hessian of germinating carrots? I would like to see how you go about it! Cheers
Hi Dean, I just lay the cloth over the surface of the compost and water through it. It keeps the soil surface moist on windy summer days and that helps germination. I cover it in my book www.notion.so/Growing-carrots-all-year-round-5a2ef7fe0fec4734b5a7b8474cc61f60 : All the best - Steve
Some great tips in there Steve. You're so right about the difference in taste and liking things you thought you never liked. I have always detested Runner Beans, until I grew my own, now I love them, especially raw when just picked. Someone I knew never liked sweetcorn, until I got them to pick some of mine and try it fresh, they loved it! For years I never really ate toms or strawberries from supermarkets because they tasted of nothing, I had convinced myself it must be my taste buds...until I grew my own! I have always had problems trying to keep leafy greens fresh for long, I will try and get some of those containers from B&M if they still have any. I am looking to buy a salad spinner, I have youtubed and googled them but I am still none the wiser which to buy. Would you recommend a certain one or decent brand to go for? Thanks :o)
The containers were from Home Bargains, not B&M. This is the spinner we have, it's nearly 4 years old and still going strong OXO Salad Spinner, Crystal, Transparent/White, Large OXO www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009KCFHAW/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_1-9sEb7ZK5MJW. I've never tried runner beans raw, I remember once seeing my mum eating them that way too, must give it a try! : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards Thanks for the reply, that's why I didn't find those containers in B&M then haha. Thanks for the suggestion on the salad spinner, I have just purchased it from your link :o)
Thanks for the gre\at tips. What is the cheapest way to make raised beds please and what size would you suggest please? Thank you
The cheapest way is probably to use old pallets, but they soon rot. Here's a link to the basics section of my ebook, scroll down to the chapter on making raised beds for all the sizes and instructions steverichards.notion.site/The-basics-fabeb9d9ba5d4227a63226824a29ac82?pvs=4 : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards thank you so much Steve
Hi Steve how do you grow purslane is it a cut and come again or a head oflettuce
It’s cut and come again and it’s not a lettuce, it’s more like shoots with small leaves, very crisp and succulent and full of omega 3 oil. You eat the whole stems and it soon regrows. Plant it out in late May : all the best - Steve
Also golden purselane is superiour to green
@@SteveRichards thanks Steve I will give it a go
At 3:42 is named at vegetable i think is named okkar, but i cant find it anywhere, can any help pls.
It’s called Oca, it’s a small colourful tuber : all the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards Thx, got to try it...