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Top gardeners share 22 time-saving tips for perfecting your allotment | The Telegraph
“There are a lot – a lot – of no-dig plots now and a real movement away from the traditional style of growing in long rows. More people are into perennial growing and a wildlife focus.”
I asked fellow plotters how they combine a productive plot with a full-time job – these are their time-saving tips.
Use every inch
Phil Gomershall points out that demand for land has squashed most allotments to half or quarter size – but this keeps things manageable. Size needn’t restrict produce; grow plants with a small footprint that crop for months for high yields, e.g. French beans, tomatoes and cut-and-come-again lettuce.
Try intercropping too, where small, speedy crops such as radish and lettuce are grown among slower crops, like broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Grow trailing squash or gherkins through the base of tall plants such as sweetcorn, but keep roots 60cm apart.
Ditch the digging
Stephanie Hafferty, the no-dig author of allotment cookbook The Creative Kitchen, has had a plot in Somerset for 16 years and gardened for twice as long. “The most obvious way to save time is to go no-dig,” she says. “You save time not digging and reduce weeds with the annual mulch, usually added in autumn.” Worms and other organisms draw the mulch into the soil, while you do something else.
Take it slowly
“If you’re new, don’t rotovate your plot,” says veteran grower Gomershall. “I’ve seen so many people make this mistake, chopping up perennial weed roots and making things 10 times worse. And take your time; too many people go guns blazing at the start, wear themselves out, come back six weeks later to an overgrown plot and give up. Slow and steady is the trick, regular visits and a little at a time.”
Go perennial
Tophill has a long-term time-saving plan:
“I’d like to grow more perennial vegetables. I’ve got some perennial kale and I want perennial leeks, I only heard of them this year. Perennial veg are amazing, as they reduce time spent on seed sowing.”
Try these:
Daubenton kale
Babington leeks
Wild garlic
Jerusalem artichoke
Society garlic
Store & freeze crops
When a crop ripens all at once, it’s negatively referred to as a glut – but this can be an advantage. Freezing or storing veg saves time on harvesting:
Raspberry, strawberry and blackberry gluts can become jams or be frozen for smoothies and desserts.
Cole & Mason’s Frozen Herb Mill set (£27.99, coleandmason.com) is brilliant because you pop fresh herbs into pots, store in the freezer all year then grind as needed while still frozen.
Store potatoes in strong paper bags in a cool, dry, dark place; carrots and beetroot can be stored in sand.
Timesaver toolkit
Like Batman, have your main tools to hand: a hoe, secateurs, twine for tying in, a strong pair of scissors for cutting it and for deadheading. The secateurs of choice among professionals are either
Felco or
Niwaki, they’ll last a lifetime if looked after.
Consider a
Hori Hori curved blade, too, used for digging and chopping, it helpfully has correct depth measurements for fast sowing and bulb planting. For speed, keep the smaller tools handy, either leaving them on site in a secure shed or in a rucksack to take with you.
Cover bare ground
Cut out weeding by covering unused bare soil with weed membrane, cardboard or green manures. know your soil A device like the Fosman 3-in-1 tester (£9.99, Amazon) tells you a lot about soil just by sticking it into the ground around the plot. It reads light levels, moisture content and the pH of the soil. The latter is useful to prevent wasted time and money growing the wrong plants, such as acid-loving blueberries in alkaline soils.
Hoe pre-emptively
“Hoeing regularly – regardless of method – is key,” says Stephanie Hafferty. “‘Hoe when you have no weeds and you will have no weeds’ is an old West Country saying that
I live by; it means you catch weeds as they sprout.”
Have a system
Although Tophill feels she is “really chaotic, not organised at all”, treating her seeds like a filing system helps her to keep track of sowing dates. “I have a huge box of seed packets that I go through whenever I think of it and just look on the back and think, ‘oh yeah, I can do this one now.’ ”
Plot your time
Hayley Moisley: ‘I draw the plot and its raised beds, then label where I want crops to go. It helps for planning where the light falls’
“I have a basic hand drawing of the plot and its raised beds,” says Instagram plotter Hayley Moisley
(@hayleys_lottie_haven). “I then spend half an hour labelling where I want crops to go. It’s not pretty, but it’s functional in terms of me rotating crops and planning where the light falls for shady or sun-loving crops.”
Tech can help, too. Growveg.co.uk’s garden planner app has timely reminders; plus you can plan on a spreadsheet or on your computer’s calendar. Checking “things to grow” monthly tips online is a nice refresher.
Sow later
“As our winters are longer here, we tend to sow much later than down south,” says Jacki Graham, who has overcome harsh coastal weather in northern Scotland with careful timing. “Where you might sow carrot seeds in April, ours would rot from too much rain and not enough sun, so I hold back until June. Everyone is champing at the bit by March, but once summer comes, the plots look great.”
Invest in a
soaker hose
These rubber hoses allow water to seep out slowly and leave you to carry on weeding and harvesting while the hose does the watering. Just remember to turn it off!
Grow backups
Sow salad seeds every three to four weeks into module seed trays to use as easy space-fillers when gaps emerge. Anything you don’t use can be eaten as micro-leaves or put on the compost heap. In summer, salad can be grown outside or in a polytunnel, greenhouse or on a sunny windowsill. Or construct a home-made cold frame using a four planks of wood nailed together to make sides with a piece of glass or PVC as a cover, propping it open slightly or removing on hot days.
Take seed with you
Always have a bundle of seed packets with you that can be sown direct, such as carrots, peas and lettuce. This way you can always sow a new row of something useful.
Work as a team
“Self-management is the way forward. It has pitfalls but is so much quicker than working with councils,” says Gomershall, who believes a well-run committee can help plot-holders get more from their land. “The National Allotment Society has models for dealing with any dispute and recently published a code of practice. Follow that and you’ll have no problem.”
Make compost
“Build big compost heaps: at this time of year get as much material as you can into the heap because you want to build as much before winter, especially if you don’t want to use animal manures,” advises Matthew Appleby, an allotmenteer with 10 years’ experience. “Also make your own fertilisers, put comfrey leaves into a bucket and let it stew for a few weeks, it’s brilliant.”
Visit gardenorganic.org.uk for
full instructions.
Avoid disputes
“Make sure committees know what you’re doing,” advises Appleby, if you plan to try anything unusual, such as growing wild flowers. “Have tidy bits around the edge, too, otherwise you may get letters warning that you’ve got an untidy plot.”
Seeds for speed
Moisley has had her plot on the south coast for six years and recommends crops that don’t take ages to grow. “There are lots of easy, quick plants to get you started, like ‘Cobra’ French beans and ‘Kalibos’ red cabbage.
“I find beetroot one of the easiest, as you can multisow the seeds with no need to thin out – I’ve found ‘Chioggia’ in particular to be really quick growing.”
Other crops to multisow include spring onions, leeks, Florence fennel and turnips.
Polytunnel tricks
Jacki Graham has an allotment in Nairn, Scotland. She shares a secret for exposed spots: “Many of us have polytunnels – greenhouses usually get damaged by the wind – because growing tomatoes, cucumber or sweetcorn outdoors is virtually impossible here.” They also use the tunnel for some outdoor crops, like carrots and courgettes.
Permitted polytunnel size is often 186cm x 237cm but ask if you can go slightly larger (see northernpolytunnels.co.uk and firsttunnels.co.uk).
Weed less
(and help wildlife)
Although weeds must be controlled in veg beds, many people keep some for wildlife. Graham’s allotments have introduced The Bee Line: “Communal areas such as verges, paths and areas around lavatories are maintained to encourage native wild flowers, and we’ll be planting more flowers and shrubs specifically for pollinators.” However, paranoia can set in: “I hope no one is cross with me for having flowering weeds, but I see them as wild flowers,” says Frances Tophill.
Help each other
It’s not all rules and regulations, much can be learnt from other plot holders – and who knows, perhaps they’ll also help with the watering…
“I have made some wonderful friends on the site,” reflects Instagram allotmenteer Hayley Moisley. “One plot neighbour I have grown really close to is Maureen, who is nearly 50 years older than me. Friendships were not something I had envisaged when I applied for an allotment but I’m so glad I’ve met some amazing people.”
Phil Gomershall feels the same way: “It’s like another family.”
