Building an allotment plot in 3 weeks

[@SteveRichards]

Be sure to check out my free newsletter here: steverichards.substack.com it's the best place to find out what to do each week, see what I've been up to and share in the ups and downs of the good life!

[@patjoyce7247]

Hi Steve. I’ve watched a few of your vids over the summer and been blown away by your skills and orderly gardening. I’m still a beginner at 66 but had a good ew things harvested this summer. I’ve gone back to to this beginning because I’ve just taken tenancy of an allotment. I start next Sunday 11/10/20. I’m quite excited but anxious too. I’m at the stage of thinking “What have I done!” So, just been inspired watching what you accomplished in such a short time! Thanks for sharing.

[@SteveRichards]

Thanks Pat, it helped that I just treated those three weeks like a holiday from my normal life and I took my holiday money for the summer and invested it in the plot, it was all paid back within 6 months : All the best - Steve

[@myhillsidegarden3998]

Steve, great video on the building of your plot. WOW! You did an amazing job in such little time. I love the photos of your cropped veg. It truly gives a good illustration of how much you got just from one harvest. Generally, since my garden is in my yard, I go out with a nice basket and either photo that when full or when I have everything washed and on the to of the stove before putting it away. Perhaps this season, I will try using some of your ideas for showcasing each vegetable separately. Happy Gardening! Catherine

[@SteveRichards]

Thanks Cathrine, most of the time my photo taking aligns with my general philosophy in life, do what’s easy, but that only works if I put in the hard work first. I do full harvest photos like this because I have everything laid out ready to sort for delivery to my friends and family. Looking back on last year also makes planning easier. : all the best - Steve

[@TheEnglishladyskitchengarden]

You did such a lot of work to turn it into the amazing garden that you have now. It must have been really hard work but very worthwhile.

[@SteveRichards]

It was great fun, better than the holiday I was planning to go on and the money I had ear-marked for the holiday, paid for the allotment :-) : All the best - Steve

[@combitz]

Amazing transformation and inspiring, I'm looking for land but having little success. council failing to respond to any of the allotments but don't currently have an option for visiting the council due to work. I'm amazed at just how quickly you transformed it, great work.

[@SteveRichards]

Thanks, it’s amazing how much you can grow with just a few raised beds even if you don’t find land, but hopefully you will get it sorted soon! : all the best - Steve

[@leevespa4564]

Inspirational mate, just got mine three weeks ago, that time rebuilt my shed, but seeing yours was amazing 😁👍

[@SteveRichards]

Thanks Lee, looks a lot different now! : All the best - Steve

[@ThevegGrowerpodcast]

Wow what a transformation and quick turn around. Very well done mate.

[@SteveRichards]

+The veg Grower podcast thanks, I was lucky to have my daughters boyfriend helping me for a couple of weeks, made a back breaking job much more fun!

[@SteveRichards]

+The veg Grower podcast thanks, I was impatient, got the plot start of March and wanted it ready for planting in April!

[@ThevegGrowerpodcast]

Seaside Allotment that's certainly motivation that paid off. I mentioned you in last nights podcast I was so impressed lol.

[@ZeNex74]

ty, just got my 1st plot, its huge but ideas forming and work to do

[@SteveRichards]

So exciting to be starting a new allotment, enjoy the process! : All the best - Steve

[@heididemesa414]

Absolutely wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing this with all of us!

[@SteveRichards]

Thanks for the feedback Heidi : All the best - Steve

[@sandrapedder8188]

Have just subscribed, what a wonderful job you've done. Plot looks great.

[@SteveRichards]

Thanks so much for the kind encouragement Sandra

[@lindawitherspoon446]

Wow! Beautiful. Great garden. Very impressed.

[@AnthonyHitmanFiore]

Looks really good, i like the raised bed/cold frame, may make something similar myself

[@SteveRichards]

+Plot 96 - Ant's Allotment thanks, if you take a look at any of the tour videos you will see how productive the cold frames have been this year kzbin.info/aero/PLFhKoRR-NiCJMBO5n8wY6pucSj7hCS07a

[@ThatBritishHomestead]

Wow the beds look amazing

[@SteveRichards]

Looks a bit different now!

[@ThatBritishHomestead]

@@SteveRichards I have to check it our

[@josephmcnulty2287]

Hi Steve, you have done great job and you are an inspiration to all newcomers to allotments, truly great work, But can I suggest that any excess veg that you grow and not required for your own use , would be better to give to frail elderly local people living around you , Imagine how good it would make you feel when you see their delight at receiving a small selection of fresh veg from you, your fellow allotment holders are capable of growing their own. All the best and I have subscribed . JOE

[@SteveRichards]

Hi Joseph, we give plenty away to our elderly neighbours too as well as our local family and a few friends. Fellow allotment holders are a very small proportion of our gift giving. The problem is that our allotment site rules prohibit us from giving produce to anyone but family, we are only able to gift things we grow in our garden to others : All the best - Steve

[@wheelnut64]

Note the lack of weeds and how tidy it is. Very productive as well. i have had an allotment for thirty years, the same one in fact, and its never been that tidy!

[@SteveRichards]

Hi Andrew, I’m a big believer in a tidyish plot, definitely cuts down the work overall but on my plot there’s terrible Marestail and bindweed, so there’s always some weeds : all the best - Steve

[@wheelnut64]

Steve's Seaside Allotment yeah I suffer from bindweed too

[@rawmotionfitness]

What a fantastic video! I will certainly check out your e-book. I am looking to do some growing in my garden and wondered what you thought would be the best vegetables to start growing?

[@SteveRichards]

Hi Brendan, I have a chapter in my ebook on that topic steverichards.notion.site/Choosing-what-to-grow-8a4a229841b142d481c76e785a68c6e1 : All the best - Steve

[@TheJunkyardgenius]

Steve love your ideas, how do you find the cold frames? are they high enough? I'd maybe want to make it a steeper angle. your grow light gave me an idea. although that one is probably quite powerful, if you put a solar panel on the cold frame and used low powered leds to grow, you could control light levels better. perhaps a battery also. so say 150 watt panel then inside about 40 watts of light, any extra power, stored in the battery and used to extend the light hours.

[@SteveRichards]

The cold-frames work really well, they are high enough for lettuce, radish and the early growth of salads. The hoop tunnels are better for bush beans, mature chard, spinach etc. I take the lids off in April/may time. I don’t think it’s worth the expense of LEDs and batteries personally as the cold-frames already get plenty of light and are easy to vent when the sun’s out. Basically there’s a lot more natural light that falls on the coldframe than you could ever capture using a panel, at best you’d maybe capture 25%. Plants dont mind the odd cloudy day. : all the best - Steve

[@TheRPBishop]

Another interesting video. Questions ... 1. What’s a hot bed? 2. What was the name of what appeared to be an ultra violet light?? Thanks Paul

[@SteveRichards]

Hi Paul, the lights were 'grow lights' see this playlist kzbin.info/aero/PLFhKoRR-NiCLNJxMixPuYKGuGqejYuO-u. see this video for hot beds kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4nYemmrjpaUgZo. We don't do hot beds now, I've found that by using grow lights and starting in modules I can achieve the same results, with a lot less effort : All the best - Steve

[@keithhilton8869]

Great video Steve

[@SteveRichards]

Thanks Keith, one of those I feel like remaking, now that I'm a bit better at making videos and at gardening! : All the best - Steve

[@thelittlefarmersfarm5706]

Superb Progression Here Steve... Good work fella!!

[@lewismeadows9364]

Hi Steve. Great video and good effort. When you laid the Landsape fabric. Did you cover the entire plot and cut holes in it for the beds or did you lay the beds on top and fill them leaving the fabric intact? Cheers

[@SteveRichards]

I just laid the fabric under the paths and I only did that because of the marestail, I wouldn't do it unless you had very deep rooted weeds to deal with : All the best - Steve

[@richardfromcornwall5492]

Hey Steve, thanks for prompt reply and, yes, not too bad now, ta! There's a few more ideas there than I imagined which is great; one additional question is, would you sow direct or in a propagator (I don't, unfortunately, have a greenhouse!) and then plant out?

[@SteveRichards]

+Richard from Cornwall i start a lot of my seeds on a little bench on my patio in summer and a propagater in winter as it's too warm in summer. I have a little greenhouse on the allotment, but it's more convenient at home. instagram.com/p/BXsdFRbBoh0/

[@richardfromcornwall5492]

Hi Steve - many thanks for the advice, much appreciated. I'll keep watching your channel and try not to hound you too much!

[@bartvanboterdael5275]

Hello, do you have a video how you make the netting tunnels over your raise beds ?

[@SteveRichards]

Take a look at ‘the basics’ section of my free book, it’s in the section on ‘making raised beds. Coldframes and tunnels’. Text, diagrams and videos : all the best - Steve

[@bartvanboterdael5275]

@@SteveRichards thank you very very much and for all the videos

[@LizzieDeanMakes]

What type of wood did you buy for your raised beds? I was going to go for used scaffolding boards but I wonder if there is a cheaper option? The scaffolding boards are £1 per foot Xx

[@SteveRichards]

Hi Lizzie, scaffolding boards seems to be a popular option. I just used pressure treated wood from the local wood shop. All the details are in this video kzbin.info?o=U&video_id=cskeYL3eD6Y and kzbin.info?o=U&video_id=3AWBCUG6XFk : All the best - Steve

[@bobsallotmentdiaries1061]

what size timber did you use on the raised beds? Great video given me some ideas

[@SteveRichards]

Hi Bob, 6"*1" all of the details are in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/maTOloyCaMp3bLs : All the best - Steve

[@philippayne8901]

Hi what is a hot bed not heard of that before?

[@SteveRichards]

It's the use of composting manure underneath soil to warm it up allowing you to grow earlier. To be honest it's not really worth the effort unless you are really keen to grow super early and even then there are easier alternatives : All the best - Steve

[@LizzieDeanMakes]

I love that you can still harvest on New Year’s Day! I have just been growing on my front garden in grow bags and containers, and in hanging baskets out the back - hoping I can get an allotment this year. We are going to build a cold frame and install a water butt this year on the front garden (we only have water out the back and we have no rear access so I was running the hose through the house last year) so I will be looking back at this video for ideas on building the cold frame. I had never heard of a hot bed either so will look that up! What is your advice for dealing with caterpillars? I lost all of my brassicas to them last year - kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages - and I swear they got the carrot tops too!

[@SteveRichards]

For caterpillars, the best thing is to cover the veg with a fine mesh, you can see plenty of examples on my channel. The alternative is to grow red things, they don't like the taste as much. My recommendation is Kalattes, you can eat the leaves while they grow and then the kalettes themselves like sprouts or kale www.amazon.co.uk/Johnsons-Vegetable-Kalettes-Mixed-Seeds/dp/B01N7DO7CD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518073833&sr=8-1&keywords=kalettes. Cover carrots with fleece www.amazon.co.uk/Nutleys-1-5-Heavyweight-Garden-Fleece/dp/B009W3E0IY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1518073905&sr=8-3&keywords=fleece+gardening. You might like Ronald Shaw's channel, he gardens a bit like you kzbin.info/door/ycGtFFmnIMFdRn86C9NFrg. : All the best - Steve

[@richardfromcornwall5492]

Hi Steve. I'm new to gardening as well as having an allotment so a little like you. My allotment started rather like Debbie's a year ago so am in my first growing summer and am quite pleased with what I'm harvesting. I did grow stuff (cabbage, curly kale, onions, garlic, purple sprouting broccoli) with varying degrees of success. Think I planted a little late as I really wanted to harvest a little earlier than now and in late march! An 8 week stay in hospital didn't help' However, what do you grow over winter (I've already planted sprouts, swede and cauliflower) and when do you plant? I notice that you have brassica beds netted but not a large, walk-in cage similar to Jim; is there a reason for this? Apologies for lengthy comment but look forward to hearing from you.

[@SteveRichards]

+Richard from Cornwall hi Richard, good to hear from you, hope you've recovered from your prolonged hospital stay! we don't really want a fixed area for growing brassicas, hence no cage, as to what to plant in addition to brassicas: Japanese onions, garlic, broad beans, radish, chard, spinach and all manner of lettuces. The lettuces need to go in right now and will need cloches later in the year. If you watch my kitchen garden tour and my next few plot tours in September you will see how I'm transitioning over to winter crops.

[@Maginnifix]

Brilliant 👏

[@carlfogarthy6508]

Hi Steve, very good job! Do you think it’s necessary to have also a poly tunnel (I mean a regular one such as 3 meters width, 2 meter height)? Here in Tuscany, Italy, winter is almost mild but my garden is in the shadow in wintertime and temperature sometimes goes around 0 / -2 Celsius degrees... Great appreciation and thankfulness Grazie!

[@SteveRichards]

Hi Carl, I don't think a polytunnel is necessary, everything I grow over winter would be quite happy at that temperature. However plants might well benefit from a bit of wind protection. The key issue won't be survival, it's growth, growth rates double with every 10c increase in temperature, so with a tunnel you can easily see 3-4 times the growth rate that you would get outside : All the best - Steve

[@carlfogarthy6508]

@@SteveRichards Many many thanks!!!

[@sarahhudson-tyler4993]

Love your videos Steve, such great ideas. Did you put landscape fabric under your raised beds? I was planning on putting it around my beds under the pathways but wondering if putting under the beds too is a good idea?

[@SteveRichards]

I didn't put it under the beds, 6" isn't really deep enough for a lot of plants, so they are open to the soil at the base. That said I have some deep beds that I dug out 8" down - so a total soil depth of 14" - and I did line those with landscape fabric, they were the beds with the worst infestation of bind weed and mares tail. : All the best - Steve

[@sarahhudson-tyler4993]

@@SteveRichards Thanks Steve for your reply. I am fairly new to my allotment so your advice is very helpful 😊

[@SteveRichards]

I'm in my fourth year now Sarah, learned some good lessons! : All the best - Steve

[@themoorlandsallotment7159]

Just got my first plot and it has the dreaded marestail. I've noticed it growing up through the floor (straight on soil) of the compost bins. Is there anyway I can make them usable? I obviously don't want to be spreading marestailn on the beds amongst the compost. They sit empty at the moment.

[@SteveRichards]

Marestail will growth through anything permeable eventually, but you could try three layers of landscape fabric at the bottom of your bins, one layer is definitely not enough. You would need to lay the fabric down and then put the bins on top, otherwise it would just grow through the edges : All the best - Steve

[@eliev7844]

Awesome!

[@swift4062]

Hey steve what are using for netting is scaffold netting. How do you find it for keeping critters out? Do any get through? I notice that it has a row of open holes which runs doen it

[@SteveRichards]

I use all sorts of net, with scaffold netting I centre the holes on the centre of my tunnels and staple it to a wooden ridge support, that way the holes are closed. See my ebook chapter on nets for more: steverichards.notion.site/Growing-under-cover-a48de72c83064d07a945eeb111cf7027?pvs=4

[@katec9893]

This looks amazing. How did you level the plot?

[@SteveRichards]

With a rake

[@pilkyish]

Did you remove the landscape fabric from under the beds, or grow on top of it?

[@SteveRichards]

90% of the beds are open bottomed. However a few beds (added later) I dug down 12" and lined with landscape fabric, these are the beds that I use for carrots, because it's hard to weed carrots beds (under nets) that are full of marestail. After nearly 8 years of pulling out marestail, it's finally reducing to manageable levels. : All the best - Steve

[@pilkyish]

Thank you.

[@keep_digging]

what is the tapping noise?

[@SteveRichards]

No idea, this video was a very long time ago, my microphones are much better now

[@loisthompson6786]

Hi Steve will you be having an open day again this year

[@SteveRichards]

Yes, I need to make a video - thanks for the reminder - it's on Saturday 5th at 10am : All the best - Steve

[@loisthompson6786]

Thanks for that look forward to seeing your mail and postcode thanks again

[@joanjewellery7264]

hi Steve 🙂amazing work!!! you've mentioned that you covered the plot with the mesh, do you mean under the beds as well? kind regards, jo

[@SteveRichards]

Hi Joan, we have six beds with landscape fabric 6" down and with a raised bed 6" high, so the bed is 12" deep down to the fabric. We did this because these spots on the plot were totally infested with Marestail weed. The rest of the plot has it too, but not quite so bad. All the other beds are open at the bottom, because most plants need more than 12" to grow in. Unfortunately we've not noticed Marestail is breaking through the fabric, but it's 95% better than it was originally : All the best - Steve

[@joanjewellery7264]

I thought so, thanks a lot Steve

[@suecox2308]

I'm new to your videos--and to gardening. What do you mean by a "hot bed?"

[@SteveRichards]

Hi Sue, this video explains it: Making a Hotbed from Start to Finishkzbin.info/www/bejne/p4nYemmrjpaUgZo but basically it’s using the composting process to heat a cold frame.

[@suecox2308]

Got it--thank you.

[@spritecut]

Inspiring. Thanks for sharing.

[@peterbeston6511]

Hi I just wanted to ask. Did u cover the entire plot in landscape weeding material? I assume just cut out areas where you planted?

[@SteveRichards]

Just the paths peter and we only did that because the plot is infested with bind weed marestail which will otherwise push through wood chip : All the best - Steve

[@peterbeston6511]

@@SteveRichards cheers Steve, appreciate that

[@Tmlps2]

Brillant! Hope you don't mind if I take a couple of your ideas, do you? :) Oh, and I subscribed so I don't miss your future vids. Happy gardening to you both, from the west coast of Canada

[@SteveRichards]

steal as many ideas as possible, let me know which ones you liked - if you have time

[@Tmlps2]

Seaside Allotment...will do...I'm looking for my drill now, & start building frames :) So much to do this time of year. Fingers crossed for reaching your 100th subscriber soon! May I ask what type of green netting that is? I don't believe I've seen it used here. Cheers

[@SteveRichards]

It's really cheap netting, that over here is called scaffold or debris netting. This year I'm going to try Bacillus Thuringiensis spray (organic) this year on some of my brassica beds, instead of netting to see how it compares.

[@Tmlps2]

Thanks for the info. I'll call around to see where to get it. As for the BT...I've used it before. Switched to a homemade spray w/ neem oil & natural dish soap. They both work. I have the same pests here as you do. The downside is having to reapply after it rains...and here in my temperate climate...it rains :) All the best!

[@brianbatten6403]

Hi Steve can I ask how many beds do you have on your allotment. We are planning to do our 2nd allotment like this.

[@SteveRichards]

I have 96 beds in total of various sizes, across the front and back garden and the two allotments, they average 2m2. On my plot - featured in this video - I have 51 excluding the polytunnel (not shown in this video as it's changed a lot over time). Including the polytunnel I have 55 beds : All the best - Steve

[@SteveRichards]

I do also have a lot of containers, for potatoes, chili peppers, oca and various other odds and ends, about 70 in total : All the best - Steve

[@brianbatten6403]

Thanks we will have about 25 also 2 polytunnels 4x3m should be enough for 5 of us.

[@SteveRichards]

I have a chapter in my ebook on sizing your growing space, it's free to read online here www.notion.so/steverichards/How-much-space-do-you-need-97c72254b81242728b3c7f1aba62a834

[@lanier1747]

WOW 🤩!

[@kayedal-haddad]

How much did it cost all in to build an allotment?

[@SteveRichards]

Mine was an expensive build, this is the way I did it. I cancelled my spring holiday and took the £400 and the 2 weeks I was going to spend away working on the allotment instead. It was the best holiday I ever had. After 6 months I'd saved enough money off our food bills to pay that back and fund the next phase. In total this plot cost about £2,500 including the big polytunnel that I have now. We've had the plot nearly 5 years and have harvested about £25,000 worth of food so far, so it's been an amazing financial decision for the family : All the best - Steve

[@kayedal-haddad]

@@SteveRichards what size is the plot?

[@SteveRichards]

It's a standard UK allotment, 250m2 check out the FAQ linked in the description for details : All the best - Steve

[@ceili]

Hey steve, how did you level the ground?

[@SteveRichards]

2 people for a day with two shovels, rakes and a lot of sweat! : All the best - Steve

[@ceili]

Steve's Seaside Allotment thanks Steve

[@tomcalder410]

What size is this plot?

[@SteveRichards]

250m2

[@tomcalder410]

Ok kl I’ve been told I might have a half plot available to me do you no how big that might be in metres?

[@SteveRichards]

Half a plot is 125m2 : All the best - Steve

[@Sagaofsr]

Play at 1.5x

[@mrtambourineman6107]

You think that's a lot of weeds and mess?! Ha are you kidding me! Ha. My allotment is in July for a start and I just got it with my misses and there was actually 8foot high of brambles and bindwweed all theeay across actually so I think we win some how or other! Ha

[@SteveRichards]

Unlucky you getting your plot in July, I got mine in March and it would have been 8ft tall with weeds by July too as it was full of mares tail, bind weed and all of the usual docks, nettles, brambles etc. At least you have plenty of time to get it ready for next year now. If it was me I'd hack it all down with a scythe, treat what was left with weed killer, make raised beds and fill with 6" of compost, mulch the paths with 4" of wood chip. For a plot my size that would cost about £300 in total, including the wood and you would pay that back in a month of harvests in spring. If you worry about weed killer you could try digging, but that's likely to take forever and probably won't work : All the best - Steve

[@lydiabrindley5117]

just need loads of money

[@SteveRichards]

The harvests from the first six months easily paid for the cost of doing this work on my plot. In fact we don't spend anything on our plots that isn't paid for several times over by the value of the harvests in the same year : All the best - Steve

[@HighVoltageKits]

Even growing indoors hydroponically as I do in Canada it still pays off the outlay in about six months as the veg is 4 times cheaper than from the store. Really like the modular design allowing the cold frames to be moved to any bed.