Why not grow your own vegetables in a local allotment?

If your garden space is small, or you want more space to grow vegetables an allotment is the answer. There are plenty of reasons to grow your own. Taste, freshness and price and self satisfaction. Who hasn't enjoyed the taste of hand picked potatoes, carrots or tomatoes. Allotment gardening can be a very rewarding pastime and can make a valuable contribution to the quality of peoples lives. There is no travelling and it can be considered good exercise.

The Lyneham and Bradenstoke Parish Council has 25 full/half size plot allotments in the parish. They are located in Bradenstoke village between Church Park and the Recreation Field. The Parish Council is currently looking into providing water supplies on the allotment site.

There is currently a small waiting list for a sizable plot, some are whole plots for the concerning gardener and some are half plots, ideal for those who want to grow just a few vegetables. The plots are priced at a very reasonable rate, notably alot cheaper than other allotments in the surrounding area.

So do not delay contact the Parish Council and place your name on the waiting list. You will be surprised how quick the plots become available, then you can start to become the next Alan Titchmarsh and show of your prize vegetables.

Hints and Tips - Thinking about an Allotment?

• Go on - go for it! Enjoy fresh seasonal vegetables, all with a flavour hard to beat, and that special quality mark "I grew it myself".
• Find out about local allotment sites and plot availability from Lyneham and Bradenstoke Parish council - they have dedicated Allotment Councillors.
• Before you take on a plot, visit your chosen site one Sunday afternoon; look around and ask some of the allotment holders for their advice.
• Ask about problems with shade, waterlogging, or vandalism; ask about the kind of soil, access to water, and the history of the plot.
• Don’t be shy! The plot-holders around you have an interest in your success - if your plot doesn’t work, it will revert to weeds --- and everybody around you suffers. So do ask for advice, help and ideas! Don’t however feel constrained to follow all the advice you are given.

Hints and Tips - Getting a New Plot Started

• Your new plot is a weed and bramble infested jungle? Don’t worry, most new plots are! Trying to clear it all, in one super-human effort, can be pretty demoralising - better to clear a manageable “bit”, and get that working really well.
• Best time to start? Definitely autumn or early winter - give yourself plenty time to clear and prepare beds for the new growing season, and you'll have the time in spring to invest in sowing and tending your crops. If you start in spring, it's a bit harder to juggle the time you need to do both tasks well.
• Mark your plot out into beds - 4 foot wide by any suitable length; the idea is that you don't walk on your growing soil, but can easily reach everything in the bed from the path.

Decision time! Do you want to grow organically?

In which case, clearing is probably a digging job; lift as much of the weed cover as you can, and use it to start a compost heap; use the fork and your hands to remove as much of the weed root systems as you can.
Alternatives - a rotovator? But beware, it will chop every weed into hundreds of little pieces, each of which can become a new weed! Or try a light-proof covering, or mulch, of thick black plastic, old carpet (woollen with natural backing - NOT rubber backed artificial fibres), or thick layers of cardboard and/or newspaper). Or weedkiller?
Again - take it easy; don't overdo it, or be over-ambitious! Better to clear a small bed really well, and have good crops from it; cover the unused part of your plot with the plastic or carpet, and come back to clearing it later in the season.

Start your compost heap! Make it as simple or complicated as you wish, but do get one going - it's good for maintaining fertile and healthy soil. Look at the plots around you - plots with compost heaps are usually the ones with good deep beds bulging over the path edges; plots without compost heaps are often those where the soil has sunk below path level.