Allotment - Getting Started

We had been thinking about growing some veggies at home for a while and we finally decided to take on a plot in an allotment. We considered growing some on our balcony but

While living in Navan waiting to close the sale of our new apartment in Stepaside, we began looking at options but eventually decided to take on an 80m2 plot in Glencullen, very near Johnnie Fox's pub. It is a private allotment so there are no waiting lists unlike the council plots where you could be waiting years for a plot. The only downside is the cost, €305 euro per year is steep but we view it also as a pastime and not a money saving exercise.

Before we actually took on the allotment we went a little crazy in Garden centres, spent a small fortune on seeds, pots, trays, compost, propagators, tools and even a garden shed (we did get a really good deal on it however). The allotment site itself comes rotivated which is great, means you can start sowing straight away and it cuts out a lot of weeding, hoeing and shovelling that would otherwise have to be done.

We had a fairly grand plan in mind for the plot which involved building raised beds from used scaffolding planks, a mini polytunnel, erecting a shed and getting it to be the best looking plot in the allotment (all cosmetic of course but once all that is right from the start, in the long term it will make for less maintenance and a better sense of achievement)

The shed was the first item to be constructed, the first thing I did was to dig down to subsoil level where the soil is a little more solid than topsoil, then I placed 6 concrete paving slabs on a level base before topping them off with a layer of hardcore for added drainage and increasing the level of the shed off the ground. It took some help from Laura's Dad to hold the sides together while I screwed it all together but we eventually got it standing and assembled. I wasn’t impressed with the number of screws supplied with the shed so I went ahead and used about the same amount again to be sure it was well connected. It still feels a little lightweight though so I will have to look at something else in the near future to try and improve the overall strength.

I sourced used scaffolding planks from a scaffolding company who were looking to offload some, I got 30 x 6' planks at €2.50 each and 6 x 4' planks at €2 each. It was a little expensive but having read all the benefits for having raised beds I think it will pay off in the long run. The beds themselves took the best part of a full day to firstly paint with a non toxic wood preservative, secondly to connect together and lastly to fill with soil to the required level. The paths in between the beds will be covered with a black anti weed layer and topped off with a thick layer of bark mulch once we get around to it. I got some metal brackets in Woodies which did the job of connecting each plank together brilliantly and was definitely a cheaper option than getting timber stakes for each join. The added benefit of course being we can if we want to in the future simply unscrew the planks from one another and make a bed bigger, smaller of split them.

The next job was to construct a frame for a covered hoop house (I don't like calling it a polytunnel as it is a little on the small side but will hopefully have the desired effect) The intention of this is to grow vegetable that like the warmth and protection from the elements such as Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Butternut Squash, Broccoli and Strawberries. It comes from reading info online and hopefully will work out; this year is very much about experimentation.

I got some 1/2" household PVC pipe to form the hoops, there will be 9 hoops covering one of the beds and strengthened using bamboo canes as the support frame, over this I will place the plastic and hopefully it will be able to stand up to some strong winds given that the location of the allotment is on the side of a mountain. I fixed the PVC piping using some bendable steel bracketing to the scaffolding planks of the bed itself, I also used timber support columns at every second hoop. The bamboo canes were tied using gardening string covered in duct tape and lastly will be tied with cable ties. It feels pretty strong at the moment but we will just have to wait and see over the next few weeks and months. I have yet to put up the plastic covering but will be doing so in the next couple of days.

Keeping an eye on the spiralling costs we bought a cheap compost bin in LIDL, it will do for the short term. Looking at it all at the moment we have spent a small fortune but hopefully it will be an investment into the future and next years costs will not be as high. As I mentioned above it is more of a pastime than a money saving exercise, we could have just got the plot and planted some seeds but we wanted it to be somewhere to come, spend a few hours working, relaxing and just enjoying the outdoors. Let’s hope for a nice summer