To allotment or not to allotment! How very rock n roll.

spacecadet · August 2013

So this being my first thread on the new forum, why not make it a really hard hitting, spiritual discussion. I want to grow some veg. Do I make some planters for the back garden or get myself an allotment patch? What do you gardeners do?

not_the_dj · August 2013

We have a couple of veg beds in the garden. Raised up using railway sleepers. It's nice but can be hard work. We're busy people with young kids, but luckily the kids enjoy digging/watering.

Our garden's long and thin so we're lucky we can do that, however if it was just me I wouldn't bother, it's my wife's project really (and I'm lazy)

I can recommend the book 'vegetables from small gardens' by Joy Larkcom (I think I've got the name right).

My in-laws had an allotment, even more hard work and they seemed to over-produce all the time, so they'd end up giving away certain things to anyone that's have them!

Home grown carrots are a thing of wonder compared to supermarket ones.

Mick · August 2013

Suppose it depends on how much spare room you have in your garden. If you have the space build some raised beds, and grow the veg in those. Or just convert some space into a small vegy plot. It's surprising just how much you can grow in a small space tbh.

monquixote · August 2013

We grew spuds in bags and strawbs in hanging baskets at my old place, was ace.

If you think you might want an allotment get on the waiting list they can take ages to come through.

spacecadet · August 2013

All good stuff. Bearing in mind I do manage to kill most things I might try some of those grow your own packs to see if I can make something edible before I shell out on big stuff. Thanks for the heads up on the book.

Mick · August 2013

There's loads of info on the web,. Let me google that for you

spacecadet · August 2013

Mick said:

There's loads of info on the web,. Let me google that for you

That would have been far too easy and much less time consuming now wouldn't it?

Mick · August 2013

True. ;;)

Fretwired · August 2013

I have a veg patch in my garden and grow stuff in tubs/planters. Vim's the expert round here - it's becoming seriously popular where I live. Growing stuff is seriously rock n' roll.

strumjoughlamps · August 2013

We had an allotment where we used to live as it was a mid terraced witn a small yard but now we have huge garden, too big for my liking so the misses and kids took a third of it and made a huge veggie patch and I built a big chicken area so now we have a sizeable patch at home and 6 chooks..have had decent crop this year, spud, beet, onions and purple sprouting broc all been awesome.

VimFuego · August 2013

I had an allotment where we used to live (well, at one point I had two plots) and we now have a 1 acre small holding where the vege patch is approx. 100 ft by 40 (where I'm losing an ongoing war with the local bambi population). If you want to grow a lot of stuff then bottom line you need space to do it. However, having an allotment is a huge time sink. Over the season it will eat up most weekends and many a summers evening after work. Most sites are run by people who could teach the gestapo a thing or two on small mindedness, petty bureaucracy and outright fascist bullying. That said, you will learn a huge amount from some people there who will really know their onions.

And for the record, allotmenteering is both extremely rock and totally roll. It doesn't get much cooler, fact.

wordy · August 2013

me and the missus have one and think its great. The worst thing is the weeds, the best thing is seeing things grow, and then harvesting sometimes some pretty unusual veg. The pumpkins and squash are growing nicely at the moment including something called vegetable spaghetti which apparently you can scoop out and use as a pasta substitute. We've also got about fifteen different types of tomato - its ace really I love it. I like moreveg.co.uk for seeds - check that out.

ESBlonde · August 2013

We have a small garden but grow a number of veg in small quantities. It can be addictive, there is no comparison between supermarket veg and fresh out of your garden, Plant to pot in minuets retains all the goodness and sweetness.

Some things take a lot of space for little 'financial' reward like courgets and potatoes which you can bulk buy economically. Other things like onions we all use all year and you ca get a years supply and store them easily. But digging your own new potatoes and a sprig of mint is very satisfying. A small greenhouse or cold frame extends the season at each end with a bit of planning. I'm in awe of the old boys that seem to get loads of fruit and veg without spending more that a few quid on seeds, they retain the previous years seed or take cuttings etc.

chillidoggy · August 2013

My allotment is called Tesco.

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To allotment or not to allotment! How very rock n roll.

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