Bless this rented plot Print E-mail
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Tip 5

Can't spot an allotment in your area?  Remember, then, that councils have a statutory duty to provide allotments if there is a demand for them. That means that if six council-tax payers apply in writing to the council they are bound to provide plots.

Tip 6

Try companion planting... garlic and carrots, tomatoes and marigolds. Why? The powerful scents of the garlic and marigolds baffle the bugs.

Tip 7

Carrot flies get altitude sickness at about two feet, so put a fence of fleece around your carrot beds.

Tip 8

Traditionally allotments measure 30 yards by 10 yards (or you can get started with a half plot). The size goes back times when life was on a human scale, like strip farming, and measured in rods, poles and perches.

Tip 9

A lot of people enjoy entering shows. They can be very competitive and you have to worry even more than the rest of us about the weather and the bugs. But if you'd rather 'compete'em than eat'em' there's the National Vegetable Society (www.nvsuk.org.uk) to advise you.

Plan it first

Draw a garden plan and decide on rotation of crops. Keep a journal of dates and varieties, your likes and dislikes, successes and failures.

As for tools, to start you will need a spade, a small digging fork, a rake, a hoe, a trowel and a watering can with a rose spray. Finally, invest in a hammock. You may never use it, but it's a nice thought!

Useful Reading

Grow Your Own VEG by Carol Klein and the RHS (Mitchell Beazley, £16.99 ISBN: 978 1 84533 293 8). This step-by-step guide adds to the information covered in the TV series and provides all the practical know-how to get you growing your own vegetables. Combining Carol Klein's no-nonsense and enthusiastic approach to gardening, much loved by viewers of Gardeners' World on BBC TV, with the horticultural best practice from the Royal Horticultural Society.

The New Vegetable & Herb Expert by Dr DG Hessayon (Transworld, £4.99 ISBN: 13 978-0-00-720759-6). One of the very useful series of 'Expert' gardening books: full of terse advice, pictures and drawings.

The Allotment Book by Andi Clevely (Collins, £12.00 ISBN 10 09 08 07 06 65). A practical guide with all you need to know about creating and enjoying your own plot. Lots of photos of cheerful diggers! The author is a practical gardener who has written some 20 books.

Allotment Gardening - an organic guide for beginners by Susan Berger (Green Books, £9.95 ISBN 1 903998 54 9). Aimed at novices, with plenty of recipes for cooking your produce, too.

Allotment Days by Matthew Biggs (New Holland, £9.99. IBSN 978 1 84537 684 0). Full of useful info, enthusiasm, great pictures and an assortment of allotment characters.

The Allotment Specialist by A & G Bridgewater. (New Holland, £4.99 ISBN 978 1 84537 482 2). Clear, accessible, essential information with lots of useful coloured drawings.

Delia's Kitchen Garden by Gay Search, the garden expert, with seasonal recipes by everyone's favourite TV cook, Delia Smith. (BBC Books/Ebury, £15.00 ISBN 978 0 563 49373 0). Takes the ache from your back by transferring it to your stomach.

The Garden Handbook by Ian Cooke (New Holland, £12.99 ISBN 1 84537 283 2). Detailed illustrations of basic stuff for new gardeners, plus a section on ornamental gardening.

Dig for Victory is a DVD with inspiring archive footage and recollections of wartime and allotment gardening from members of the Women's Land Army and many of those who helped to dig for victory. Running time 58 mins approx. Price £16.99 from the RHS - www.rhs.org.uk.

Listeners to Radio2's Jeremy Vine programme will know the voice of Terry Walton whose allotment was 'adopted' by the programme. Terry's broadcasts from the 'coalface' of his allotment through the seasons has endeared him to all. His book My Life on a Hillside Allotment (Transworld, £12.99) is full of advice and passion for allotment gardening.

Magazines:
Grow Your Own magazine, full of kitchen garden tips, with a useful website - www.growfruitandveg.co.uk

Gardening Which? is Which?'s sister magazine, full of useful tips, tests, trials and comparisons to help you pick the best plants, products and services - www.which.co.uk

Seed Producers

Lowly parsnip tops the list
The parsnip sold more seeds than any other veg last spring [2007], according to seedsman DT Brown. Their top 10 varieties by number of packets sold were:

  1. Parsnip Countess F1
  2. Broad Bean Super Aquadulce
  3. Carrot Flyaway F1
  4. Leek Musselburgh
  5. Tomato Shirley F1
  6. Sweet Corn Swift F1
  7. Beetroot Boltardy
  8. Pea Hurst Greenshaft
  9. Spring Onion White Lisbon
  10. Broad Bean Masterpiece Green Longpod

Why not try the Master Class day school - Versatile Vegetables Saturday 21 June 2008 or Vegetarian Cooking 6-9 March 2007, both at Denman College. All that healthy grub for a cost of only £10 a year rent for the plot. Don't work so hard at first that you get tired and eventually give up.


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