Best basics planting to start with?

[NewUser]

Hi all

I am quite new to this site and VERY new to allotments.  All we have done before is salad leaves and tomatoes, spring onion and peas in the back garden! With mixed success but mostly due to over zealous planting by young child helpers!

Are there any basic things I can start with that will yield good rewards!

Is there anywhere (on this site or elsewhere) I can find an idiots guide to what to plant when and where?
Many thanks for all advice! Am very excited but a complete novice!
Cheers!

[NewUser]

[Barnowl]

We started last year and I reckon runner beans were the most satisfying - provided you like them, that is :)

Also, since they're vertical, you can get quite a crop from a restricted space.

[okra]

potatoes are a good starting point, as the soil does not have to be too clear of weeds to get a decent crop

[Tee Gee]

Most salad crops, lettuce, radish, spring onions to name but a few and there is also dwarf french beans!

Let the kids have a look at these pictures http://tinyurl.com/y72ret it might save a lot of explaining as to what to expect.

Plus if you look at the seed sowing and pricking out links this might help as well.


Seed sowing link; http://tinyurl.com/yy5xkl

Pricking out link; http://tinyurl.com/2z32f8

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

I just love it when the kids show an interest.

[Barnowl]

'Cut and come' again crops - leaf lettuces and spinach, are handy.

Also I grew Cavolo Nero - a sort of kale and cropped from it from July onwards. Picked some last weekend actually.

[OliveOil]

I reckon beetroot is a great starter - sooo easy, quick to grow and tasty!

Sweetcorn too is easy and you just plant it and leave it!

courgettes, pumpkins/squashes - v easy but take up a lot of room and courgettes can become boring as you will have them coming out your ears.

[jennym]

Can't beat fruit - buy some autumn fruiting raspberries, plant them in early spring and you may be enjoying them late August/September.
I reckon climbing french beans such as Cobra or Blue Lake are a certain cropper too.
But, grow the things you like to eat !

[emmy1978]

Hi, I'm like you- bit of veggie growing but new to lottie life! The best tip I saw here was grow what you and your family like to eat! Sounds simple but the seeds I've looked at of stuff I never buy!
I'm going to start with spuds, beetroot, broccoli, sprouts, runner beans, peas, radish, lettuce, toms, strawbs, rasps,courgettes-yellow as kids love 'em, redcurrants, blueberries,got blackberries and rhubarb and figs already there (jammy I know but you want to see the rest of it!)
Not sure yet what else but I think that's o.k for starters, especially as plot was left a real mess by last tenant so I've had to make just one bed for this year and covered the rest with black sheety stuff (technical name) while I'm a diggin' and a clearin'.
Best of luck and I hope your tiny titchmarshes enjoy it as much as my girls do!
Emmy x

[Growbe]

I think the key thing here is how much time you have.

Some crops are great because they give good yields and need little attention.
For example Rhubarb, Berries, Sweetcorn, Pumpkins,Courgettes/Marrows, Beans. Also they have very few pests.

However things such as root crops need constant weeding and maintenance and many have long growing seasons such as Parsnips and Leeks.
That said Root Crops take so many nutrients from the soil it is nice to know there are no chemicals.

Then you have the brassicas loved by grubs, snails, pigeons etc. Lots of work with weeding, netting, de-slugging and preparation at home but the taste makes it all worth while.

The great thing about forums such as this and having an allotment is you will learn so much and you will find that every year on your plot is different.   

[tinker]

Good advice from growbe, also talk to the people on the plots near to yours I found them a great help when I first started, they Know what the ground is like and can tell what grows well in your area and what does not they will also know if clubroot is present on your land.

[NewUser]

WOW Thank you all SO much, I have now chosen my plot, its great, already has early rhubarb on it, a fair bed of strawberries and is on an edge  bordering a cemetery so really peaceful.

The guy that runs the allotment society and does the showing round of the plots, has his just a few *doors* away and already I have met a few other allotment keepers with lots of advice!

Most excitiing is I can finally get my chickens too, although my husband has vetoed that idea til NEXT year. Good idea I think.

have to go pay my rent tomorrow and fill in the forms, but nobosy else has shown an interest in that plot yet so I have to be quick as its JUST come up this wek!

SO excited, some fabulous advice from you people already!

[Blue Bird]

Hi and welcome  NewUser - i have also not long got my plat which like yours is next to the cemetery and really tranquil
I cannot wait for the spring to start planting as I have no goodies on my plat.

have so far built the compost bins and manure bin and 2 raised beds from odd bits of wood and pallets
Good luck withyour plot
BB :D ;D :D

[cornykev]

Mine's also next to a cemetery, spooky a. ;D ;D ;D

[sutton girl]

Mine is also next to a cemetery scary dont you think sutton girl

[sea chelles]

hello congrats on the plot, i got my first plot late last year and am a complete novice Ive never even had a garden before! my plot is only one of two so i have only one neighbour and although he has been very helpful he doesn't plant much just the staples really and he says he just bungs in the seeds and sees what happens so this site has been fab for me everyone is great and I'm sure you will get all the advice you will need. good luck for the season  ;D
chelles x