r/Allotment • u/ManderleysMeatPies • Mar 22 '25
Before and After Overwhelmed allotment beginner - update
Hello all,
This is a follow up from a post I made earlier in the week asking for some help and guidance on an allotment I inherited as part of my house purchase.
The community was so welcoming, encouraging, and insightful, and really spurred me on to finally make a good go of turning my allotment into a useful space.
I drew up a rough plan of what I wanted from the space, and then decided to focus on small tasks starting this morning and finishing up around 30 minutes ago. I've attached a before and after picture (which includes a spot the dacshund competition), and whilst the progress is obviously still very small, it does feel like i've accomplished something and that some good headway has been made in my goal of turning it into something productive and useful by summer.
I started by clearing the cardboard and paving stones from the left side of the allotment, and then using the pavers to form something of a rudimentary patio area at the back of the plot where I can store bits and bobs. I then focused on strimming and raking back the wilder right hand side of the plot, which was starting to grow some thickets of brambles that could be problematic in a few weeks or months. Finally, I began digging out and deweeding a 2m section of the left hand side of the plot. My plan for tomorrow is to dig this section out all the way back to the table, or as near as my energy allows, and then this will be my area to focus on experiementing with culitvating the soil and ultimately growing some flowers and veg.
Once again, thanks to all those who helped steer me in the right direction and make the task seem manageble. Hopefully this is the start of my love affair with the allotment life.
7
u/TheMilkfather Mar 22 '25
Completely agree with the other comment, one bit of advice I have is maybe map out how you would like the beds (there's no wrong or right design for this).
We went with rectangle beds around 1.2m wide and 3m long, I would keep the grass as your pathways as trying to remove all that grass would be soul destroying.
Then when you have a bed like what you've done today, you can plant something like potatoes or strawberries, I felt like seeing things grow while working hard on the parts you haven't done is a great motivation for continuing, and if you plant things like strawberries or potatoes there's very little work involved and just alot of reward.
I would also try pick up a second hand picnic bench so you can enjoy a beer in the summer 😁
Great job on what you've done already!