Allotment Growing

Vegetable, Fruit & Herb Gardening

Planning the Allotment or Vegetable Plot

This five part series on planning my allotment plot, written in 2004, will give you some idea of the process.

Deciding what to grow and where taking into account the previous crops, lime and manure etc.

Like all plans, things changed as the year went along. Especially when starting off vegetables in modules or pots, you end up with more than intended and so space requirements change.

The plan needs to be flexible so that you can react to changes in the weather conditions and even for failures. A late frost can wipe out your runner beans, for example so they end up later than planned.

You should never let these changes get you down - vegetable growing is both a science and an art. Being tied too firmly to a plan is counter productive.

It's interesting to look back and see how things have changed. When I took on plot 29 to discover it was more than half covered with horsetail, I was told I would never get rid of it. Well I proved that idea wrong and, apart from the odd shoot, horsetail is no problem at all now.

The compressed hard and lifeless clay where the previous occupant had his sheds and greenhouse is now good soil. Deep digging and masses of organic matter have transformed it.

Planning the Plot (for 2005)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5