Few thoughts ref allotments Evening all,
Well i was just thinking about a few pointers ref the first time allotment people,
Before coming to live in france full time i had my allotment for many years and i can say with honesty it was hard to say goodbye to it,
An allotment is'nt just a place for growing food/flowers ect it's a meeting place for all sorts of people from the ones who want to be friendly to those who like their own company and those who live in flats and simply want a place to get away from the concrete jungle.
After a few years doing my allotment i found a few points that seem to come up time & time again,
ie the new to gardening "very very keen" and wanted to see results "yesterday"
This sort of person didnt last more than one year, and if they took over an over run with weeds plot? it didnt last even a year.
One point i found was that no thought was given to how much time was available to spend on the allotment?
If the person was in full time employment and they had summer evenings and weekends to attend the allotment "not allowing for bad weather etc"
would this be enough time to see what they wanted to see ref the growing of veg ect?
Planning is a very important fact when it comes to dealing with a live plot of land because while your not there unless you know what your doing this plot is growing and until the new comer understands how to control his land and whats growing on it It can be the start of the end for both the keen new comer and the dream of growing your own.
One of the points im talking about when i say know what your doing is a common problem of not understanding what plants need to live,
Light/water/air are three of the things im talking about,
when we talk about plants on the allotment or garden for that matter you have to understand that the biggest problem' with allotments or gardens is that plants such as weeds need tobe controled, after all weeds are plants its just that they're not wanted plants "But " weeds need the same three things light/water/air as the plants we want to grow need.
Weeds grow at an alarming rate due to the fact that they are living in their own happy space and they can stand the weather changes with no problems So if we really want to controle such plants as weeds we need to take away or reduce the three things they cant live without, light/water/air.
This is a very simple task and its not rocket science It's a simple black sheeting large enough to cover the area you dont want the weeds to grow in.
Once you controle both your time you have to spend on the allotment and the speed the weeds grow then your on your way to getting further each visit you make to your allotment rather than due to the likes of a delay caused via bad weather ect you find the work you did during your last visit a waste of time thanks to new weeds growing again in the space you'd cleared once.
raised beds are a god send to the gardener who needs results quickly as they are a smaller area to control and they produce food from day one of planting thanks to them being easy to keep weed free.
Mulching is another way of keeping the weeds down, all you need do is look at natures way of mulching ie a forest or woods, you wont find a lot of weed there due to the trees dropping leaves every year these stop the weeds getting light "hence" except the leaves the birds deliver via them being dropped as seeds,
the area's are for the size of the woods ect mostly free of weeds.
Starting to garden for the first time is'nt going to be easy, you really need to unstand a little more befor you start planting or sowing anything and i say this to help rather than put anyone off gardening,
Once you get going and get the results that are good! then you'll soon want more, but once you feel its all hard work with no or little results?
Well this is when the plot becomes over grown again just waiting for the next new comer.
Well i was just thinking about a few pointers ref the first time allotment people,
Before coming to live in france full time i had my allotment for many years and i can say with honesty it was hard to say goodbye to it,
An allotment is'nt just a place for growing food/flowers ect it's a meeting place for all sorts of people from the ones who want to be friendly to those who like their own company and those who live in flats and simply want a place to get away from the concrete jungle.
After a few years doing my allotment i found a few points that seem to come up time & time again,
ie the new to gardening "very very keen" and wanted to see results "yesterday"
This sort of person didnt last more than one year, and if they took over an over run with weeds plot? it didnt last even a year.
One point i found was that no thought was given to how much time was available to spend on the allotment?
If the person was in full time employment and they had summer evenings and weekends to attend the allotment "not allowing for bad weather etc"
would this be enough time to see what they wanted to see ref the growing of veg ect?
Planning is a very important fact when it comes to dealing with a live plot of land because while your not there unless you know what your doing this plot is growing and until the new comer understands how to control his land and whats growing on it It can be the start of the end for both the keen new comer and the dream of growing your own.
One of the points im talking about when i say know what your doing is a common problem of not understanding what plants need to live,
Light/water/air are three of the things im talking about,
when we talk about plants on the allotment or garden for that matter you have to understand that the biggest problem' with allotments or gardens is that plants such as weeds need tobe controled, after all weeds are plants its just that they're not wanted plants "But " weeds need the same three things light/water/air as the plants we want to grow need.
Weeds grow at an alarming rate due to the fact that they are living in their own happy space and they can stand the weather changes with no problems So if we really want to controle such plants as weeds we need to take away or reduce the three things they cant live without, light/water/air.
This is a very simple task and its not rocket science It's a simple black sheeting large enough to cover the area you dont want the weeds to grow in.
Once you controle both your time you have to spend on the allotment and the speed the weeds grow then your on your way to getting further each visit you make to your allotment rather than due to the likes of a delay caused via bad weather ect you find the work you did during your last visit a waste of time thanks to new weeds growing again in the space you'd cleared once.
raised beds are a god send to the gardener who needs results quickly as they are a smaller area to control and they produce food from day one of planting thanks to them being easy to keep weed free.
Mulching is another way of keeping the weeds down, all you need do is look at natures way of mulching ie a forest or woods, you wont find a lot of weed there due to the trees dropping leaves every year these stop the weeds getting light "hence" except the leaves the birds deliver via them being dropped as seeds,
the area's are for the size of the woods ect mostly free of weeds.
Starting to garden for the first time is'nt going to be easy, you really need to unstand a little more befor you start planting or sowing anything and i say this to help rather than put anyone off gardening,
Once you get going and get the results that are good! then you'll soon want more, but once you feel its all hard work with no or little results?
Well this is when the plot becomes over grown again just waiting for the next new comer.
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