The Allotment Book. Andi Clevely

      Either fold back part of the side netting for access or add a hinged door, but make sure this fits tightly. The roof net can be removed after fruit crops are harvested to allow birds to clean up any pests, but leave it in place if finches tend to attack the fruit buds in winter. However, the roof should always be taken off if snow is forecast. Open the door or (where this is possible) roll up the sides while the fruit is flowering, to admit pollinating insects.

      

      Somewhere to sit As in any other garden, an allotment plot should have a place for you to recover from hard work, entertain friends and other plot-holders, or just plan and dream. It doesn’t matter whether you choose to sit on an upturned bucket or a cast-off chaise longue, although comfort is obviously important.

      Collapsible furniture such as picnic tables or deck chairs can be stored safely in a locked shed. Permanent structures like benches or café tables need to be secured by bolting them to the shed wall or anchoring them with metal straps to pegs or piles driven firmly into the ground. Treat your furniture to an annual spring clean: treat or paint metal with rust-proofing, and paint or oil timber pieces to keep rot and woodworm at bay.

      FAMILY AREAS

      Looking after a plot is often a family activity that can be made more appealing to children by creating one or two areas especially for them. While you might feel that a small lawn and its attendant mowing is a waste of space and effort, other places for play will often fit in unobtrusively.

      ▸ Perhaps the most popular piece of equipment is a swing, easily made from a strong board, old tyre or special rubber safety seat suspended on lengths of rope from a tree branch. Ropes on their own or a rope ladder may be suitable, but check for wear once or twice a year.

      ▸ Younger children might prefer a sand pit, made from a sunken rigid pond liner filled with clean silver sand; when no longer used, the sand can be incorporated into potting compost, and the pit transformed into a pond.

      ▸ If fires are allowed on site, construct a simple fire pit for those end-of-day family gatherings. Excavate a circular hole a spit or so deep and line it with 3–4 courses of bricks to form a neat ring wall. A fire of wood offcuts and dry prunings will make a safe fire, where you can bake some of your own foil-wrapped potatoes.

      Watering equipment

      Changing environmental conditions mean that conserving water is becoming a priority for many, and if you need to walk any distance with a full can of mains water, making the most of what is available can be imperative.

      

      COLLECTING & STORING Rain is the obvious source of water, apart from the site tap, and you need to arrange ways to collect it for use during dry periods. Fit guttering and downpipes to all roofs and collect the water in a butt. If possible, attach an overflow to a second container, or direct surplus water to a nearby wildlife pond. To supplement the supply, run sloping lengths of guttering along fences and walls, and leave out buckets in rainy weather. Bring from home containers of ‘grey’ water (domestic waste from washing and bathing) and keep in a separate tank for watering permanent crops. Feed a pond with water from gullies, drains and overflows from water butts, and make sure it is deep enough for submerging a watering can. If the ground lies wet or waterlogged, lay drains leading to a pond or buried tank.

      Water butts are often available from local authorities or discounted from the allotment site office. Substitutes include plastic dustbins, fruit barrels, old baths, discarded water tanks and cisterns and oil drums. Make sure you cover them with lids in dry weather to reduce evaporation.

      SEE ALSO ▸ Making your own compost pages 116–17 Managing water pages 148–9 Fertilizers & feeding pages 150–1

      COMPOST BINS

      The tidiest and most efficient way to make compost (see pages 116–17) is to assemble all the ingredients in a bin. (Having two bins is preferable, though: after you have filled one bin, leave the contents to decompose while you fill the second.) There are various kinds, from simple folding corrugated plastic squares to sophisticated models with liquid reservoirs, insulating jackets and integral top blankets. Many local authorities offer discounted bins.

      Building your own compost bin is an easy and inexpensive alternative, using a simple style and waste materials. Possibilities include:

      ▸ wire mesh arranged round four corner stakes to make a square container, lined with cardboard for insulation.

      ▸ a large sturdy cardboard box with holes cut in the base and sides; this rots down with the contents.

      ▸ complete builder’s pallets set on edge and tied or wired together; pack the cavities with newspapers or straw.

      ▸ a clean oil drum or plastic barrel, perforated with 2.5cm (1in) holes in the base and about halfway up the sides of the drum.

      ▸ a plastic dustbin raised on concrete blocks: drill holes in the base and catch the liquid in a tin.

      MAKING A HOT BED

      Fresh manure or green waste heats up as it decays. A hot bed can use this warmth to help raise early crops and provide extra growing space later in the season. If you can get a load of fresh farmyard manure or make a new compost heap in late winter, pack the material inside a timber container (old pallet boards are ideal). Adding moist tree leaves to the manure helps to moderate the initial surge of heat and the subsequent cooling. Cover and leave to warm up for two weeks.

      Spread a 10–15cm (4–6in) layer of sieved soil over the heap, and top with a portable cold frame. Sow this with early radishes and carrots or turnips in rows, interplanted with young lettuces started in early winter. Pull the radishes 3–4 weeks later, leaving the lettuces to finish bulking up. When these are cleared, replace with summer cauliflower plants, and finally thin the carrots or turnips. All should be harvested in time to plant courgettes, marrows or cucumbers for summer. In the autumn, clear the plants and empty the entire contents of the hot bed for digging in.

      Tools Good tools help to make light work of the allotment routine. Buy the best, use them sensitively and maintain them well, and they could give a lifetime’s service; regular use will condition them until they are comfortable and familiar, like an old gardening jacket or pair of boots.

      

      CHOOSING TOOLS Buying cheap tools is a false economy, as they rarely perform well or last long, and the experience could disillusion you. Go for top quality, and be prepared to spend money; handle the tool before buying (never buy unseen), and ask advice if you are in doubt. Test it for size, weight and balance: you need to be confident about possibly using it for long periods without tiring. Consider the materials the tool is made from. An expensive stainless steel spade is easier to use and to clean when digging clay, for example, but might be unjustifiably costly if your soil is light and sandy; a round-tined rake is more durable in stony soil than one with flat pressed tines; a trowel with a brightly painted handle is easier to find in undergrowth.

      TOOL CARE

      ▸ Clean your tools regularly and particularly thoroughly before storing them for any length of time.

      ▸ Pay special attention to soil on the blades and handles, where it can set hard and cause discomfort, and sap or resin deposits on pruning tools, which can be hard to clean once dry.

      ▸ Collect up all tools and equipment at the end of each day: rain does them no good, and overlooked tools are easily lost or stolen.

      ▸ Lock them safely in your shed, in their usual places to save time searching.

      ▸ Give them a thorough service at the end of the season: clean, sharpen and oil parts as appropriate (see page 210).

      BASIC NECESSITIES