Laying out allotment plots

[sue_s lost plot]

May I add a suggestion, based on {bitter} experience. If you are planning the layout of allotment plots, please think ‘orientation’. I like my beds to be on a north-south axis so that the plants get the sun over them from one side to the other. It therefore helps a new gardener if the plots are orientated east-west to divide up into north-south beds. Somewhat pedantic maybe, but having a narrow plot which is not in this orientation can be extremely frustrating! I agree totally with Charles, start small, get that plot going and move on as and when. I too am on heavy (Nottingham) clay which is next to the pond of a local nature reserve; the previous incumbent had spent his gardening hours digging trenches to bury rubbish – layers of bricks, glass, old records, oil cans, clothing, a tape recorder and masses of broken concrete! We took on the plot at the age of 60, and had to clear hawthorn and bramble before we got to the rubbish! The site is privately owned and no assistance was on offer, but after two years the plot was laid out and becoming productive. After five years I have all my rotational beds working, and now have the inspiration of converting to no-dig! P.S. I never tread on my soil; I work from a plank on the larger beds. P.P.S. When we have a cuppa I pour the residual boiling water down the top of cut-off docks, as recommended by one of the old school; not sure if it works yet, but it makes you feel better.