Starting An Allotment
Before you get started on your allotment plot, please read your tenancy agreement with Enable (Wandsworth Borough Council) and our RGS policies and agreements.
If you plan to plant a tree or put up a shed, please contact your site secretary before you plant.
Planning
Vegetables need light and space. Remember you will also need space for compost bins and you may want to put up a shed. A water butt can be a good addition. Plan for them to go where they will not overly shade part of your plot. Also decide where you want to put perennial plants (those that grow year after year in the same place), such as rhubarb and asparagus, and shrubs such as blackcurrants and raspberries.
Look around at other plots and decide whether you want separate beds, with permanent paths in between them, or single large areas where you can easily change the positions of the growing plants (and do not need to keep a number of paths under control). The ideal width of a bed is 4 feet (1.25 m) so that you can reach the whole bed from either side.
Tools
To start with you must have a strong fork or spade and hand tools - a rake and a hoe can come later.
Each site has shared wheelbarrows for your use. Always return them promptly.
At some point you will need smaller tools, such as trowels and a hand fork, as well as a watering can.
You can sometimes pick up second hand tools at our store.
Clearing the ground
It depends when you start your allotment. If it is autumn or winter, you can hope to clear the whole plot by the time you start planting in the spring; if it's spring or summer, clear a little at a time so that you can begin to plant. Nothing is more encouraging than eating your first successful crops.
Check if the plot has been a permaculture or 'no dig' plot as just digging it too vigorously may damage soil structure. See organic gardening on this site which has links to information you may need. Please do check in our site libraries for books on the different growing techniques.
If neglected, concentrate on removing all the weed tops that are flowering because they will soon be scattering weed seeds. Tops can be composted in a bin, a bag or a heap. You must then try to remove all the weed roots from the soil. Some plants are so vigorous that even small pieces left in the soil will grow again. But reappearing in bare ground they are easily seen and removed. As winter approaches many plotholders now use mulch and coverings to prevent weed growth over winter.
Of course, you must remove all rubbish, such as glass, metal and plastic. Remember that Wandsworth do not allow us to have bonfires. Non-compostable rubbish must be taken home with you.
Mulching
After you have cleared the ground, avoid large areas of bare soil which will quickly become covered again by weeds (from seeds if not from under the ground).
'Mulching' bare soil is recommended, ie covering the ground with either organic material, such as compost or manure, often topped with inorganic material, such as polythene sheets or cardboard.
Plants, such as clover or vetches, can also be sown as a mulch (to grow quickly and suppress the weeds).
The advantage of a 'green' mulch is that it can later be dug in as a green manure. We have a selection of recommended green manure seeds for sale in our store.
Planting
If the plot has previously been neglected, the first crop to grow could be potatoes. It is said that “potatoes clear the ground”. You have to cultivate the ground before you plant them (giving you a chance to remove weeds), earth them up after they have started to grow (disturbing weeds between them) and dig the ground again when you harvest them (another chance to remove weeds). Seed potatoes are available in our store from January to March.
A neglected plot will be full of slugs. Where possible, start seeds off in pots, trays and modules in sterile multipurpose compost and plant them out as sturdy transplants (you may try a beer trap for slug control or organic slug pellets are available in the store). When seeds are sown directly in the soil, damage is likely to be more severe. Water your transplants before you lift them and water them well when they are in. (Unfortunately, some vegetables cannot be transplanted).
Choose pest and disease-resistant varieties where possible. (Check out the popular seed selection in the store). Label the rows that you plant and make a written note of what you have planted and where. This will help in crop rotation (see below).
Improving the soil
Ideally you should add organic matter to your new plot to improve the soil but you may wish to get the plot back into production before undertaking the work of incorporating manure or compost.
At the store you can buy both inorganic or organic general-purpose fertilisers which you can simply scatter on the soil a couple of weeks before sowing and planting, in order to improve the soil and give the plants the nutrients they need for growth.
See our short guide to the use of fertilisers.
Use lime only in the autumn before planting brassicas, and then only if the soil is acid. (Simple soil-test kits can be bought at garden centres).
Do not dig in manure before sowing root crops (carrots, parsnips) because it encourages them to 'fork'. A soil texture test may help to decide if drainage needs improving.
Rotation of crops
Different groups of plants have different 'food' requirements and have different pests and diseases associated with them. Therefore never grow the same groups of plants year after year in the same place.
A simple three-year rotation is advised. In other words, legumes (beans and peas) should be planted where potatoes were last grown; brassicas (the cabbage family, sprouts, cauliflowers, etc) should follow legumes; potatoes should follow brassicas.
Root crops are grouped with potatoes; onions and other miscellaneous crops are grouped with legumes.
