Ann Perrin (The Weald – for love of my allotment) posted this on her blog http://annperrin.wordpress.com/for-love-of-my-allotment-2/ and I was thrilled to bits with her advice so copied it and posted it here. Thanks so much allotment pal!
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Congratulations Lindy Joy who sent in a reply to this page and my three, or it it four best tips!
Congratulations Lindy on getting a lovely allotment plot! This was the last spoonful of veg on mine a couple of weeks ago!
I don’t think we can get whole plots anymore they are all divided into smaller units and ponds are not allowed unless inherited. As reader’s may have gathereI got my first allotment for my mother and she was 72 at the time. She wanted a ‘non dig one’ and and she knew about land as she had had a cottage in a third of an acre in a ‘frost pocket’, so –
1. We covered several beds with black plastic, pegged down with tent pegs to prevent weeds while we thought about what to plant (on my new one down here more recently we have invested in the black weed prevention sheets). Right from the start we also made paths and covered them with bark. Brilliant!
2. The rule was only to grow what we actually liked to eat and still do. We avoid potatoes however much we like them as too much digging We quickly established a strawberry bed, grew tall gracful globe artichokes because they spread and we love eating them (boil for 10 mins if big, cool, peel off leaves and dip in oil and vinegar) they also look truly dramatic nearly all year round
Rhubarb (I lie because we don’t actually like it much), but always grew it from a plant an ancient aunt had passed on. We call it Aunt Con’s rhubarb and those leaves are amazing and you can always give the newly grown stems away,
My mother and I ordered summer and autumn raspberries, then there was always a mouthful of lovely ruby red fruits to cheer us along. My partner and I did it again when we moved down here on our new one, now of course they remind me of her!
3. A shed is essential in my view. The family bought and put up a tiny a shed on my mother’s allotment. The saga of buying a second hand one on mine is here somewhere. Best to get yours sorted as soon as possible. Saves lugging tools, somewhere to sit and sort out seeds and things.
On reflection the time I spent helping my mother with hers was some of the happiest times of my life. We had always been friends and had often worked together with our marionettes. But our lives also inevitably went their separate ways.
When she moved up to live near me and only had a small garden, her allotment became her salvation. She absolutely loved it. Soon after she died, I moved down here and one of the first things I did was to put my name on the waiting list. Three years later eureka! we got ours.
Oh and by the way one of my grandson’s gave me a subscription to ‘Grow Your Own’ magazine last year. This comes with loads of free seeds, sometimes a few too many, but the mag is down to earth and one can always share the seeds with others.
By the way I had three discs collapse in my back many moons ago and even had to have a ‘disability disc’ for several years It’s a long story but I really do have to ‘pace myself’ or I am in bed for a day or two! So go for as easy maintenance if you have any joint problems and be wary of actually relying on friends however dear!
Whatever you do, and however you do have fun, just keep it under control every which way and you won’t be crying into soggy onions, it will be a total joy! Ann
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Lindy's Lot 
There’s lots to see on Ann’s blog, this time next year there will be lots on yours too 🙂