Lessons from the Allotment

At the end of last year I gained an allotment which I’ve been using to grow food. So far this has been much more successful than my attempts to grow food indoors as, with the summer growing season in progress, I’m currently eating daily from self-grown food, albeit mostly lettuce. I thought it would be good to think about & document the lessons learnt so far while I remember, so I can build upon these learnings next year.

Plant Specific Lessons

Here are the things I’ve grown so far on my allotment, and the lessons I’ve been able to gain so far:

• Lettuce
  • Best producing crop so far, planted way too many though so having to remove some.
  • 6 established plants is more than enough for me right now.
  • Sowed a mix of types, “winter” lettuce done really well into summer but seems like it has trouble starting from seed in summer. Good to have some variety though. Testing sowing other types mid-summer.
  • Was slow to start, thought I put them out too early, but they quickly become productive a bit into spring.
  • Some starting to bolt after some warm June weather, haven’t noticed bad taste though.
  • Had no problem with pests on these, which seems lucky. Most kept uncovered.
• Garlic
  • Planted in late winter, from supermarket cloves.
  • Some early fails, some remained weak plants, ended up picking all out a bit early as they were either rusty or weak.
  • Got a few okay looking bulbs from about 12 plants, yet to taste.
  • Next year: Maybe plant more, and from better quality cloves meant for growing?
  • Might be good to split into two different beds, to help avoid aggressive rusting?
  • Never needed to cover these.
• Kale
  • Got savaged by pests (maybe birds or rabbits).
  • Still attempting to grow some, should have some to eat soon.
  • Needs to be well covered/netted.
• Parsnips
  • These are looking good so far based on bushy green leaves, but still a while to go before picking.
  • Don’t seem to need to be covered, although I did bird net for a while before getting too bushy.
• Spinach
  • Done really well late spring. Enjoyed both as salad and larger cooking leaves.
  • Bolted during dry June weather.
  • Re-attempting to sow and re-grow during summer.
  • Needed bird netting early on, always had covered after tricky start.
• Spring Onions
  • Easy grower, current continuous supply from 9 or so plants.
  • Started by pulling these out, but reverted to cutting above base to allow easy re-grow.
  • Have been under net for most time, but don’t think they need to be.
• Broccoli
  • Tricky growing so far. Originally decimated by pests (probably birds) uncovered.
  • Started some later under bird netting, where most succeeded but some weak.
  • Was confused about “loose” broccoli heads, but think that can depend on variety.
  • At end of June, have now had a couple of portions and it’s been really tasty.
  • Awaiting to see if the broccoli heads will re-grow after cutting.
• Brussels
  • Started growing these late (Sown start of June), still small.
  • Attacked by pests (probably birds). Needs protection.
• Carrots
  • Planted baby carrots early on. Been slow to grow but hard to judge progress.
  • Will start picking soon when needed, which’ll give a better idea of progress.
  • Recently sown more for late season picking.
• Sweetcorn
  • Sown late spring. Good progress. Still a while to go.
  • Doesn’t seem to need protection, but not sure if that’ll change with corn developments.
• Chilli Peppers
  • Growing slow but okay so far from early spring, in pots.
  • Just starting to develop flowers? now, will see how things go.
• Strawberries
  • Had some small berries across the 3 small plants I kept & transplanted from last year, hardly anything though.
  • Hoped they’d spread across the patch more, but have not seem much of that so far.

Other Lessons

Here are other things I’ve learnt in the process of growing the things above:

• The heat and dryness of the greenhouse can quickly ruin a batch of seedlings.
  • Need to be very on top of watering seedlings, can’t skip an extra day.
  • Removed a panel of glass to help moderate heat.
  • Also moved some shelves outside for seedlings to grow.
• Things will get inside the greenhouse.
  • My seed packets have clearly been chomped by some sort of rodent, and my indoor seedlings have also been eaten.
• Weeds are annoying.
  • In particular, I think I’ve got a lot of dock plants which can re-grow from small parts of broken roots. Still trying to find best method of proper removal since it just keeps popping up in specific areas.
  • Otherwise most beds haven’t been too bad and are quite easy to maintain.
  • Definitely get more weeds when using my own compost, but all fairly minor weeds from that.
• There’s a lot of watering, especially in very sunny dry spells.
  • Luckily I’m close to a tap.
  • Found it’s easier & more efficient to fill up a large bucket with water, then re-fill my watering can from that.
  • I could improve water capture, but not sure how effective it’d really be during when water is needed. Somewhat effective in spring/autumn.
• Keeping the greenhouse roof from being blown away can be a challenge.
• There’s a lot of plastic in the ground.
  • From old weed matting strings, to small shards, to what looks like small bits of plastic bag.
  • Trying to remove plastic as I go, including when sieving soil, but there’s a lot of very small parts.
• My planning is lacking.
  • Finding a lack of variety at times, or over-growing of heavy producers, or sowing too late.
  • Think experience and lessons above will be a big factor for this, and improve for next year.
• I think the forced outdoor mild exercise has been helpful.
  • Doesn’t cause extra pain/ache with my Arthritis, and keeps me moving for a purpose.
• Bird netting is important.