Start a new Allotment Plot | Allotment Garden | Managing Expectations | Perfect bed sizes | Part 3
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ค. 2024
- Start a new Allotment Plot | Allotment Garden | Managing Expectations | Perfect bed sizes | Part 3
Todays video is about managing your expectations, the amount of time you spend on your plot and what you grow in your first year.
If you only visit your plot once a week, there is no point in growing for example Tomatoes as they need more watering than that, decide how much time you wish to spend on your plot and when, then make sure you stick to it as much as you can, its all too easy after missing a day, to miss another then you are on a slippery slope. Many new plot holders fail in their first 6-12 months!
Don't try to grow every seed in Christendom, stick to around a dozen the first year, discuss with your family at home at first and draw up a plan, then stick to it, you can increase year on year.
Use SunCalc www.suncalc.org/ to determine where the sun rises and sets in your area, it is a satellite map image so you can navigate to your plot view from above, it will then show where the sun rises and sets in your area for any time of the year (change the date on the program to see summer and winter rise and set). From this you can see where to place your beds and plan where to erect sheds or plant trees so they don't later shade your growing space.
Final tip will help you determine how wide your raised beds should be, and also the ideal width of pathways. There is much advice online about this and that width, but I have never seen anywhere saying to measure yourself, which is done in this video for perfect bed and pathways widths.
If you are enjoying my content, you can help me by buying me a packet of seeds. www.buymeacoffee.com/GreenSideUp
Contact me - steve.greensideup@gmail.com
Links to products I use, that I have bought and can recommend. If you click one of these links and buy the same thing as me, you pay EXACTLY the same as me, but I earn a small commision from Amazon. Amazon pays this, not you!
Road pins/Line pins.
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Swoe Hoe.
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Pressure Sprayer 5 Litre. www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
I’d just like to say I have stumbled across your videos after receiving a phone call yesterday to say I’ve been accepted to a local allotment I applied for 2.5 years ago and yes my idea was to go in all guns blazing and grow everything and anything just BECAUSE I CAN that really isn’t the attitude from what I can gather from your videos and I happy I’ve seen this before I did …. Thankyou for your information you really have put me in my place and I’ve taken onboard a lot of advice your videos are very understanding and educational look forward to watching more and taking on more advice 👍🏽
Happy growing 😊
Thanks, Steve for a very sensible series - decent wisdom for the beginner as well as the intermediate gardener. Amongst that wisdom was the implied counsel - grow what you actually want to eat - don't go mad and then have to eat (or discard) what you grow. I've been very guilty of that in the past.
As a pensioner I cannot now afford to faff about. In 2021 I will be growing far more of our 'staples' and far less of the 'exotics' or experiments. For me in my mid-70s, my plot gives me a lot of pleasure and challenge but its first requirement is provision - providing food for the table to give us spray-free veg and ease the cost of food. SWMBO and I have discussed what we like to eat that alone will will occupy my efforts in future (e.g,. my wife has arthritis and growing an excess of tomatoes will not help her condition). Your wisdom seems to resonate that - with your obvious experience and expertise adding to the menu.
Beds - mine are 4' 6" fairly standard (being constructed out of approx 13ft scaffold planks)- 2 x 23ft, 4 x 8ft, 1 x 6 x 8ft, 1 x 12ft. It seems to cover the ground well and suits me - others will other ideas. I've got plans for another 6 x 8ft bed next year solely for Kale plants.
Paths - my woodchip paths are a little narrower as I kneel 'along' the path rather than across it.
You've created a really useful resource in this series and thanks for that. Every good wish - Paul
Thank you Paul, it is good to know you have your plot sorted out and to your liking also, this really adds to the joy of attending your allotment. You have enough to keep you busy and a future project in your next new bed, I think it is important to always have something to do or a project in the planning stage as this keeps the mind active...Steve...👍😃
Well done Steve yet another top notch video, after reading and trying out differant gardening techniques over the last couple of years I’ve seemed to have learnt so much more with your relaxed style of garden telling and for that I thank you, it really is appreciated and also the time you take to answer viewers questions. It still makes me laugh whenever I’m planting anything to think of you saying makes sure it’s green side up 😂😂 stay safe mate and have a good weekend cheers David 👍👍
Many thanks David. I think with gardening it is an ever evolving and changing thing as you try new things then adapt them to a way that suits you. That is one thing I really love about it, nothing really set in stone and so many ways to achieve the same end result. 50 plots on our site..no two people grow potatoes the same way...😁
Very nice gardens. I agree with you that the proper garden bed width is that width which one can easily reach. There is no one standard. Thanks for showing us, Steve. Cheers!
You are very welcome, many thanks for viewing this video...Steve...👍
Good useful advice Steve,, 👍🏾,, Don’t forget a place for flowers too and for permanent plants such as asparagus, rhubarb fruit bushes and strawberries ,, I see lots of people on our plots give up after a few years, work and kids seem to get in the way,, I started out with a tiny quarter plot and now I have two half plots , I’m so greedy 😁,, is too much a good thing bad for you ? it’s a little a bit of paradise for me ,, no telly, bad news, no phone ,, just total enjoyment in the fresh air, can’t beat it ,, made some lovely friends too, I sound like the allotment tourist board ,, best wishes, Lisa
All in hand Lisa but thank you, next video is all about the extras...of which there are a lot. It is good to get out and feel the weather on your face and potter about on your plot or speak to friends..all just as important as each other...Steve...👍
great videos steve /I like what you do/what a great talk of how you done your plot
Thank you very much Barry...Steve...😃
Great advice as always Steve, thank you. If I follow your guidelines I should have a cracking garden in a couple of years 😂✅
Thank you Wendy..I am certain it will happen for you!...Steve...😃
Hi Steve ..I found you after hearing about your channel from Tony Smith .searching through your videos I found this one ..after a back injury and a bit of angina in 2019 ..then this pandemic and then losing my 15 year old dog this year my plot has been the last thing on my mind ..it's a mess .i had decided on no dig raised beds to get it up and running again but this week after after getting a notice to tidy up or clear out I was going to hand the keys back ... after listening to you I'm going to give myself 12 months and start from scratch ..I'm going to strim and cover half the plot for a year and concentrate on the other half ....so thank you
Evening Steve I was the ohhh grow everything lol at first but then we downsized to grow what we and that’s my advice only grow what you eat but grow one funky thing to make it fun. I try to KISS it and grown beans peas potatoes carrots tomatoes squash and the brassicas it sounds like a lot but we grow various vegetables in small quantities. As always stay safe and stay gardening ☮️🥕🥬🇨🇦🙏🍆🌶✌️
The KIS method really is the best, but I love trying new things and there is so much to try yet...I'll even grow things I do not like...Steve...😃
Thanks Steve for the great advice. I've just got a new allotment that is very overgrown and it's a bit overwhelming. However I love it and I am determined to make it a success. I was actually aiming for 4 beds this year so hopefully I am on the right track 🙂
Thank you so much for all of this valuable information. I'm just about to take on my first allotment. I'm super excited to get started. I love how you're breaking down everything I need to think about so that I can go at this in a manageable and methodical way. Thanks. 👍
I’m sure you’ve had a camera in my garden 🤣😂 I seem to have done most of what you said not to doo. Next spring will be different!
The camera is still there Karen...mind you its a long wire back to here...Steve...😁😁
👍👍👍 thanks Steve
Your welcome CW...Steve...👍
Thank you Steve for the suncalc.org advice. Just got my first plot. 🖒🖒amazing informative channel.
great set of videos Steve. I got my plot in June and was looking for videos like this but didn't find any. lots of good advise. thank you for taking the time to do them.
Hi Aba and thank you, I have not finished this series yet, another video will be joining them soon...Steve...👍
Hi Steve. Quite new to the allotment game. Helped out a neighbour last year on their plot and have got the bug after the friendly and helpful people at allotment and also produce grown and eaten. Getting my own plot soon (next on the list) and already making lists of tools etc needed and what to grow. Liking your videos, new subscriber. Cheers 👍
Nice one Steve another well explained video on starting an Allotment.
Stay Safe,
Barry (Wirral)
Many thanks Barry, I hope all is well with you and yours right now...👍
I'm just laying out raised beds for next year. That idea of measuring for path width and bed width is genius, thank you
I'm glad you like it Martin, it is good to get these things right from the start...👍
@@GreenSideUp haha yeah. If I got that path width wrong in the 1st place it's not like I can move the bed after, really helps so thanks
My Beds are 2.4m wide by 1.2m it's the length of a decking plank and the width, I can reach to the middle! My paths are a slab wide and it fits my milk crate that I sit on to do the work with ease, so I never stand on the soil of my raised beds! I find it works for me, but it might not be right for someone else.
There is a gardener in Liverpool who made a whole allotment around those measurements and materials, DR George Cook...have a look at his facebook page..he won best plot in Liverpool a few years back..facebook.com/Allaboutallotments-140595012660360 ...Steve...👍😃
@@GreenSideUp just looked him up, his plot is great!
Hi steve...im new to your channel...great content, advice and tips...im learning alot from you..much appreciated ..thank you
Thank you very much Pam, I hope that continues...Steve...👍
Fab advice, I''ve been growing at home for a long time and have had an allotment in the past but there is always new stuff to learn and also it's re-assuring to have what I've done on my plot validated.
That is good to know, do you miss your allotment now that you no longer have one?...Steve...👍
@@GreenSideUp we’ve recently taken on a ½ plot and started again from scratch, it was just grass and plantain, nothing else, so it’s been a lot of work over the summer. . Last time I had a full plot was 15 years ago!
Great advice, watched you on the big telly earlier but can’t like and comment on there
Thank you Mrs Bowes, I hope I did not break your telly, must be scary that big and in HD...makes me shudder...Steve...😁👍
Brilliant advice. Liked how u measured your self for the beds very clever. Stay safe
Thank you Mark, it seemed to be the sensible way to me...Steve...👍
@@GreenSideUp does make sense. Also then helps as your not over stretching
Think about the width of a barrow too, would you need to accommodate that. I know my limits and am not a very able 72 year old, so I do10-15 minutes at a time in my little garden, nothing in winter really, just a few spuds in bags in Feb,,, Just know your limits ;) But I try to grow some bits in my heated porch in winter.
Hi Kath, I have a two foot "gap" between where my flower bed is outside of the tunnel and the first no dig bed where I grew sweetcorn this year. My standard wheelbarrow fits through that okay, so the barrow must be 20-21 inches or so wide. It is good to hear that you can still garden in short bursts, you can still get all the benefits from doing that and also a harvest which is a bonus in my book...Steve...👍😃
Great video Steve. Are there any herbs i could sow this time of year or is it best to wait till spring? Thanks
Dill and Parsley would grow under cover, but you would have to germinate them inside, perhaps on a windowsill and they would grow quite slowly now. But you could grow those two and basil on your windowsill...Steve...👍
I've been waiting for 6 yrs for a plot and nowhere on the list still :( , just trying to grow in my garden now
That is a long time Lee, is there no movement at all? Small site and big list?...Steve...👍
@@GreenSideUp looking around but nothing, so bought some wood and going to do vegi beds in the garden, it may be small beds but at least i will learn for the big plot :) hopefully
@@leewozzashomeveggiegarden That is the spirit, learn small scale then go big when you can. At least you will start to get harvests...Steve...👍