HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU NEED FOR AN ALLOTMENT PLOT? / ALLOTMENT GARDENING FOR VERY BEGINNERS

Hello guys and welcome to my little allotment series, allotment gardening for very beginners. So if you've just taken on your first allotment plot or you're thinking of taking on an allotment plot, this is the series for you. I'm going to answer all the most commonly asked questions about an allotment plot. My name is Emma and I've had my allotment for five years now. I took on my brand new plot just last year and it's just about to have its first year anniversary. I have taken two plots that have been overgrown jungles to really productive, beautiful spaces. And now I want to share all the knowledge that I've learned with you guys. So in today's video, I'm going to answer one of my most commonly asked questions, which is how much time do I need to spend on an allotment plot? I know what you're thinking. You're sitting there hoping that there's just one universal answer, but unfortunately it is a little bit more complicated than that. So I'm going to get stuck in with my answer. I will start by saying that having an allotment plot is not an easy thing to look after. They are work and they do require you going down here quite a lot to take care of them. So if you can't dedicate any time to it at all, forget it, walk away now, just do a vegetable patch in your garden. It's a lot easier, but there are a few things that are going to determine how much time you need to spend on your plot. And the first thing is how big is it? Now I have two allotment plots here that are 135 squared meters each. That is actually quite a lot of space. And sometimes you don't realize quite how big it is. Obviously, the more space you've got, the longer it's going to take you to take care of the space. And the more time you're going to have to spend on your allotment plot. This is what a 135 square meter allotment plot looks like. Now they're not all measured in square meters, but ours are here. And there's my boundary on the fence. And it goes just past the shed and just up to these trees here. So this is the space that I have. And then if we come through the trees and the pathway that I've made connecting them, this is my second allotment plot, which is actually the same size. So this is my second allotment plot, which is right next door to my first. It is the same size. It's still a little bit of a work in progress. It's my first year on it. So we do have some areas that are still quite overgrown, like the front here. But you can see how my two plots are connected. This takes me quite a lot of time. Of course, having a huge allotment plot doesn't necessarily mean that you need to spend more time there. You will need more time than a smaller plot, but the crops that you choose to grow in your plot will determine how much time you need to spend there. For example, in the plot next to mine, which is exactly the same size as my one, my neighbor only grows potatoes, pumpkins and runner beans. Now, these three crops take quite a long time to grow. They don't require that much looking after once they get going. And so you kind of whack them in, you leave them to do their thing. You can come to the plot maybe once, twice a week just to check on them. I think he only comes on a Sunday afternoon, actually, for a few hours. But the more varieties of crops that you grow, the more time you will need to spend on your allotment plot, especially if you're going to grow things like salad crops or things that are going to get eaten like brassicas. You're going to have to be here more to protect them and also to harvest them. Of course, you don't have to grow the same crops on your allotment plot year after year. So if you know one year that you're not going to have as much time to spend on your plot, why not whack in a load of potatoes and pumpkins and just longer growing crops? It's a really easy way of making sure that you're taking care of your plot, but you're still getting a crop out of it and looking after it. You could even think of adding things like fruit trees and fruit bushes, which are perennial, and they will give you a harvest year after year with very little maintenance. Now, one of the things that keeps me coming down to my allotment plot and having to work hard all the time on it is the maintenance of it. But this is something that you can help yourself with during the design process. When designing your allotment plot, think about the layout and how it can best serve you. Try creating some no-dig beds, which take a lot less time. They will require more natural material going on top of them, which can be expensive if you don't make your own compost. But in the long term, no-dig beds are really easy to maintain and don't take that much time. You see, the clever thing about no-dig beds is that they often start with a layer of cardboard. This smothers all of the weeds, stopping them from coming up, and it keeps the weeds down in your beds. The constant layering up of natural material also stops weeds from forming in your beds, and it just makes the whole thing a lot easier and quicker to maintain. Pathways are also a really important consideration. I use wood chip down for my pathways, which means it's really easy to top up and make them look and feel good all the time. But grass pathways will need a lot more maintenance. They will need strimming and cutting down. The problem you have with grass pathways is if you do let them get overgrown, they will get absolutely filled with slugs and snails, which will go and eat all of your crops. Also, it's just, it looks messy, it creates loads of weeds as well. So if you have grass pathways, it's going to take a lot more time. Wood chip, a lot easier, keeps all the weeds down and very, very easy to top up. How much time you need to dedicate on your allotment plot also very much depends on what season it is. I'm here a lot more in the spring and summer months than I am the autumn winter. In fact, during the spring time, when I started to put seeds down directly, I'm here almost every single day. And in the summer months, if we have a heat wave again, almost every single day watering. The truth is your allotment plot will require you to go down there quite regularly. They do need a lot of work and they do need a lot of time spent on them. To put that into context, it is now September and I am at my allotment plot at least three times a week for about an hour and a half at a time. At the moment, I am just topping up pathways, replenishing beds with new nutrients, harvesting crops, sowing a few new crops, feeding the birds. In the springtime, that could be every single day for at least an hour. But again, it all depends on how much time you have to spend on your plot. You can design your plot to be easier to maintain by using wood chip pathways or even paving slabs. You can create no-dig beds, which again will take less time, and you can grow crops that are longer growing varieties that won't require you to be there all the time to look after them. Even if you do all that, you will still need to go to your plot at least once or twice a week, check up on things, keep the weeds down. Remember that your allotment doesn't have to be perfect. It's okay to be a little bit messy around the edges, as long as it's generally under control and that you're enjoying it and that you're growing crops and enjoying being here. There's so much more to allotment plots than just growing your own food and veg. The wildlife is incredible and the community is so supportive. So I don't want to put you off, but I do want to be realistic. They take time, they do take hard work. If you found this video helpful, then have a look through the playlist. I've got lots of other videos up for the very beginner allotmenter. Feel free to share them with a friend if a friend is thinking about getting an allotment plot and subscribe to my YouTube channel and I will see you in the next one, next Sunday at 9am. Thanks for watching guys.