Allotment plot ideas

Jan, your place sounds amazing!

This garden area is still doing things the same way they did 20 years ago when they first opened it.    Repeated tilling and renting the same plots, over and over.   No cover crops aside from "weeds" that get tilled in.    Something I guess.   It's sandy to begin with, but who knows what others have done or added over time.   Loads of plastic and bits of metal and glass come out of the ground.   Stewarding the plot over time should help restore/improve.  

Technically we are only allowed one per family unit, but my son in law rented the plot behind mine late in the season to let me start cleaning and improving.   That one I only had time to scrape up some quick rows and plant some cool weather veg,  but it did pretty well.   Mulched, cleaned, amended the same...  coffee grounds,  rabbit manure,  grass clippings, and some chop and drop!  

Just started pulling over the rows, but still have 3 going of kale, collards, and bok choy.  

I counted about 8-10 plots unrented this year.    I'm contemplating asking a friend to rent the one on my north side, but I'm conflicted between cleaning, restoring, and improving the soil and keeping my one plot protected, with "fair share" and grabbing up more plots than I technically need or should.  

Heather Staas wrote:I counted about 8-10 plots unrented this year.    I'm contemplating asking a friend to rent the one on my north side, but I'm conflicted between cleaning, restoring, and improving the soil and keeping my one plot protected, with "fair share" and grabbing up more plots than I technically need or should.

Have you considered getting an extra block just to grow for others? Put up a little "fresh veg stand" somewhere people who may not have ever experienced "home grown organic" might take some and discover just how much it would be worth a little effort on their own part to start gardening? There's a Church in my local city that feeds lunch to isolated seniors once a week. If someone brought them fresh veg on a regular basis they'd be thrilled!

Jay I'll have to think about that :)   My conscience needs to weight that rule breaking vs. people care vs. fair share vs. environmental need...   you may be on to something though!  

Maybe I'll wait a year and see if there are ALWAYS a dozen plots that go unrented/ unused.   In that case I won't even blink at snapping up one more.   I see many others that have been there a long time fencing in 3-4 plots altogether even though it's against the rules.   Actually,  of all the rules they list I only saw one that isn't routinely ignored lol.  

Heather, thank you for sharing, you have helped with ideas as well as some experience in the planning process of another gardener. I am taking a couple of ideas from you, as I develop our family garden. Your garden is beautiful.

Rufaro, that makes my day!

Heather Staas wrote:
Jan, your place sounds amazing!

This garden area is still doing things the same way they did 20 years ago when they first opened it.    Repeated tilling and renting the same plots, over and over.   No cover crops aside from "weeds" that get tilled in.    Something I guess.   It's sandy to begin with, but who knows what others have done or added over time.   Loads of plastic and bits of metal and glass come out of the ground.   Stewarding the plot over time should help restore/improve.  

Technically we are only allowed one per family unit, but my son in law rented the plot behind mine late in the season to let me start cleaning and improving.   That one I only had time to scrape up some quick rows and plant some cool weather veg,  but it did pretty well.   Mulched, cleaned, amended the same...  coffee grounds,  rabbit manure,  grass clippings, and some chop and drop!  

Just started pulling over the rows, but still have 3 going of kale, collards, and bok choy.  

I counted about 8-10 plots unrented this year.    I'm contemplating asking a friend to rent the one on my north side, but I'm conflicted between cleaning, restoring, and improving the soil and keeping my one plot protected, with "fair share" and grabbing up more plots than I technically need or should.  

Oh dear, its such a fine line!

All the collards look yummy, I feel as if I could go along and happily graze right off the plants.

Boo to all the rubbish in the soil, but yes, it can improve each season, picking out bits. As my mother says "That time passes anyway". If we do these things now, at least there's something to show at the end, no matter how long it takes. Better than twiddling our thumbs and nothing acheived at the end of the years.

However, if your relatives and friends receive the produce from the plots, then I don't see that who tends it matters a lot? Especially when your 'payment' for said tending, is some of the produce? It's like paying someone to mow your lawn, I would say. Would this amount of rule skirting be accepted? I'd say likely yes, as I'm sure the committee will like the rent money more than empty plots. If they are against you to the fullest extent, I'd suggest not rocking the boat by trying to fence the plots together as they do. Keep them seperate (annoying.... but faultless), and then you can claim that all rules have been obeyed to the letter.

In this scenario, the soil and wildlife are the true winners, and to be honest, I think if you keep going you'll get more questions about what you do, as they see you pulling heaps of produce, for less effort and watering over the ensuing years. Especially as your soil turns darker, richer, and more productive with each passing season.

I've already had questions about my additions of scoria, kelp, alfalfa pellets, epsom salts etc. We have very poor soils in Australia, particularly deficient in some minerals. But our lot are very mixed - some with lots of knowledge, some with none, but everybody wanting to learn from everyone else.

Do they actually till in the waste that comes out? Dry plant husks and green waste? Or do they require bare soil?
If you were to leave alfalfa straw all over the plot, will they till it in for you to benefit from next season? How far down do they till? If you did a quick green manure crop before hand, are they happy to turn that in? At least the tilling could be forced to have a silver lining, perhaps.

Hi Heather!

Wanting to check in on the allotment saga! Any news?

I'm in negotiations with the community gardens committee here for a place to put in a Dwarf Red Dacca banana! So that's exciting for me. I have it in a pot and it's unfurling leaves like mad, so I need to get it in the ground, lol.

A large part of the negotiations was offering the suckers of the said banana to paid up members for free, that seemed to sway things in my favour!

I hope you'll be able to rent again, and improve that plot further if it's what you want to do.

Good luck with it all!

Well,   I just went on the website yesterday to see if renewals are open yet and the parks department has a new website and there is no page at all about the rental allotments.  I am hoping it's not a sign that they've decided to stop doing it!    That would be a huge bummer.   I'm looking up the email contact I had to send a note and see what's up.  Maybe they just haven't gotten to that page on the new website yet!

Heather, I do hope the rental allotments haven't been discontinued as your work was both breathtaking and eye-opening.  Even if you just influenced one person...

I'm rural but have thought of inquiring about unclaimed beds at the community garden in town.   My main objective was a place to grow a few bean varieties in isolation but realized that would be futile if the surrounding beds were also growing beans.  Also there is a stipulation that each gardener must take two beds, with one being used to grow crops for the local food pantry.  Maybe I could grow some main crop bush beans in those beds and use my beds at home to isolate certain varieties.  Of course there's many unknowns at this point including how good are the fellow gardeners about not helping themselves to crops.  Since I'd only be able to visit every other week I do have to wonder how feasible the idea is.  

I was wondering if the increase in theft complaints last year may have contributed to the park deciding to discontinue.  There was quite a bit of it,  especially in the front plots closest to the parking lot.   Some of it I'm sure was animal damage getting blamed on theft, but not all of it.    Haven't heard back yet.  

That’s a real shame, your work was marvelous, thank you for recording & sharing it with us 🙏

Heather, thank you so much for documenting your experience and inspiring me to inquire about a bed at a community garden.  I am to meet with a lady at the garden next week to go over the rules and requirements.   Also plan to see what crops the food pantry uses the most as I can plan that bed out.  Of course there's the possibility that I may not be able to obtain a bed because I already have a garden space but having extra space in town would be beneficial as I'm likely not going to be able to add more beds this spring.  I also intend to heavily mulch as I'm only going to be visiting every 7-10 days and this will be a true experiment in what thrives without daily tending.

Well this is excellent news:

"Hi Heather,
We haven't released information for the gardens as of yet. Typically we do this in mid-March. Because you had a plot last year, we will email you all of the information first thing once it is created.
Thank you, "

Heather, so glad the plots will still be available to you again this year and I'm eager to see your approach this season  and hope you've managed to inspire a few people.

I ended up with two beds at a community garden and managed to get one cleared off and mulched with a thick layer of shredded leaves.  When I contacted the coordinator about where I should leave the buckets of weeds, she asked if I was able to get the tiller started.  She seemed a bit surprised if not doubtful when I told her I didn't intend to till.  The soil isn't that bad and it was full of worms.  Will be interesting to document the reactions of my gardening neighbors this year.  

Here we are coming into season two, I can officially start working on it 4/17!

My daughter's partner rented the spot next to me again so I've been thinking about plans and layouts.   Now that I know the space better,  there is a slight slope and water runs from South to North over the plot.   My sunk paths last year caught and soaked much of it,  but not evenly.  The north end of the plot was wetter.   THIS year I'm considering a layout more like this picture, with each plot a mirror image and paths that run diagonally (why was I having such a hard time spelling that word??!).   With a raised woodchip path between the two plots with a shared gate.

I had a walk around the site so I can see how/when they do the tilling.  Looks like they drive straight across all the plots with larger machinery.   So doubtful they'd be open to leaving some plots untilled (if they used a hand tiller it would probably benefit them to not have to do some, but no).  

Yay Heather! I’m kind of a fan of yours. I didn’t follow your journey last year as I just found Permies in the end of last year, but when I found your thread I binge read it all, it was such a joy to see what you did!

Good luck with your plot!

Wow, thank you!   I'll post more updates about it as I go then if folks are interested <3  

Heather Staas wrote:Wow, thank you!   I'll post more updates about it as I go then if folks are interested <3  

Yes please!  

Well,  here we go!   My daughter spent an afternoon helping me get my fencing and gate up, and I started some beds.   I'll be bringing in some rabbit manure this weekend and continuing the bed work.   My greenhouse is FULL of seedlings getting ready to bring over in a few weeks!

So I've decided on "horseshoe" shaped  sunken paths.    We had a big rain event that I tried to photo but no memory card in my canera, doh.  

Still,  things are humming along:  

At this point,  I'm about 1/4 planted out,  and about 1/3 through first layer of mulching.   So far I'm using a mix of grass clippings from home,  my half-finished compost from home (I have loads extra this year), and then some free town "leaf mold" compost they put out.    It has a lot of trash in it though that I have to pick out.  Jewelry often!

It's gonna need loads more.   My business landlord just hired someone to mow, so I'm gonna catch him next week and find out if there are any chemical applications scheduled.  If not,  I'll see if I put out a couple barrels if he'll dump the grass clippings there instead of behind the shed,  would be a win for me.  

Onward!  I'm also making an effort to get there all different times of day instead of my typical early morning before the sun hits my plot.   Intentionally trying to connect with community and meet people more.  

Awesome allotment morning!   It jumped from 60 to 85F here this week, so things are really starting to get going.

I've got radish, turnip greens, bok choy, parsley all going, and now about 60% mulched!

I'm enjoying my "pollinators welcome" sign again at my insect watering hole,  and I think I'm going to make another cute sign for my plot.  

I want one that says "those aren't weeds,  they're biomass"  

Updates!   Photo heavy so I may do a few posts here.   First, a row by row!   I'm leaving 1/5 of the plot "fallow" but purchased a ryobi weed wacker to make the authorities happy.  But I'll just let the "biomass" fall where it lays and get tilled in.   Hopefully I'll keep it from much blooming.  I'll talk about GOOD weeds and judicious weeding in a following post too.

I'm still planting every week;  so many plot neighbors are NOT aware you can succession or rotation plant in the same year!   A few "helpful" people told me mid-June it was "too late" to plant anything else.   The idea that you plant in May and harvest in fall and that's IT is so pervasive.    I see quizzical looks as well when I walk out with an armload every week,  when they are KNOW I was putting in tiny seedlings when they were planting big greenhouse transplants.   I told them mine would catch up, but they didn't  believe it.  

going by memory,  my edible plant list to date:   radish, turnip greens, collard greens, leeks, tomatoes, pumpkin, zucchini, parsley, spring onion, globe turnips, bok choy, tat soi, mustard greens, eggplant, cowpeas, lima beans, lemon basil, canary melon, bush cucumbers,  peppers (variety, may be too small, time will tell), runner beans, arugula, swiss chard.

Plus loads of annual flowers of all sorts.  

Weed success!    Last year,  I judiciously weeded AROUND the lambs quarter and purslane,  harvesting and letting it go to seed.   THIS year that is paying off as I've had a noticeable increase in both, and fewer of the other things that I pull out.   I'm pretty happy about this.

ALSO,  I put in several moss rose/ portulaca flowers last year, and left them to be tilled in.  HAPPILY they seem to have actually had several pieces survive tilled into the sandy soil and are GROWING in many places throughout my plot.  They seem too big to me to just have reseeded, but that is a possiblity also, they do grow fast when it gets warm.  I love them so I'm really happy about this, next year I won't buy any I think.  

Mulch is an ongoing creativity venture.

So far I've used grass clippings,  non-flowering weeds collected,  catalpa blossoms, and home compost.  

It would be faster to sycthe and use that, but with the tilling every year I'm really battling a heavy weed seedbed and I'm trying to avoid bringing in even MORE flowing/seeding things.  Plus, there are loads of poison ivy and thorny patches in the unmowed areas of the park.  

My home yard and compost are suffering a bit from me constantly "stealing" the grass clippings.   I've not had luck finding anyone with clippings that does NOT spray or treat :(

Regarding pests - especially slugs- has anyone heard of mixing the dead slugs back into the soil as a stacked function of feed and deterant? Might also produce some slug devouring microbes/fungi?