Our Allotment
You can also follow our allotment blog 'Under the Owl Box' on the website here or at www.undertheowlbox.blogspot.com
In the beginning ...
We really did start with a blank canvas. This was taken back from a sea of brambles and nettles.
Why 'Under the Owl Box' ?
At one point there was an owl box in the farmer's field. Unfortunately no owls came to live in the box and it wasn't replaced when it fell down.
Resources
Websites
My go to resource has to be John Harrison's Allotment Garden it has how to articles, recipes, monthly jobs, books and an active and knowledgeable forum.
YouTube
There are lots of helpful videos if you learn that way, I'm a reader, but have found the following channels useful.
Library
If you have library membership (UK) you can access books and magazines online for free. You won't get the free seed packets but you can read magazines such as Kitchen Garden and Gardener's World.
Other People
If you have an allotment on shared land you'll find that some people have been working on their allotments for many years. They will have local knowledge of what plants work well in the soil and whether the area is prone to certain pests or diseases.
There will also be an Allotment Association or some form of governance that may have a newsletter or website.
Planning
If you are growing vegetables in the ground you will need to think about crop rotation to avoid problems with pests and disease. You will also need to consider the amount of food you need to produce and whether you have enough room for everything. Garden planning tools are useful for this although a plan on a piece of paper, if you can remember where you've put it, is just as good.
I have tried paid and free apps and have settled on VegPlotter. It's a bit clunky to use and doesn't have a great variety of plants but is a useful tool to avoid crop rotation problems.
GrowVeg have a comprehensive planner but I was frustrated at the inability to access it with a smart device. There is a significant rewrite underway which will have this integration but for me the yearly cost is too high.
Plants and Seeds
Real Seeds heirloom and heritage vegetable seeds specially chosen for home gardeners
Organic Plants Deftland Nurseries organic plants for gardens and allotments