Planning

So I had an allotment - now what?

I am expecting a lot of hard work so have had a good think about what I want to achieve, how much time I want to dedicate to the plot and what I will do with the things I grow.

	I would like to produce things that are interesting to grow - so maybe not your average carrots and sprouts then
	I would like to grow things I will enjoy eating and using in cooking
	I would like to spend about 5 hours a week e.g. either a morning or an afternoon each weekend, maybe with some maintenance and check up visits in between

Having had a serious think I have decided to go for a mix of permanent features and crops. Amongst the permanent features I am thinking of fruit bushes and herbs. For the crops I am imagining tidy rows of veg of various types.

So, approximately one third of the plot to be permanent features then.

At the current time my ideas centre around: * = I have not grown before

	* Cultivated thornless blackberries		Raspberries
	* Blackcurrants, Redcurrant & a White Current		* Asparagus - have abandoned the seeds I bought and plant to purchase crowns instead
	A herb wheel (thyme, parsley, chives and others)		Strawberries
	Rhubarb		to be continued.....

The rest of plot will go to crops which according to my book need to be rotated every year to keep the soil healthy and produce good quality and quantities.

So I went on an investigative shopping trip to the Thompson & Morgan and Crocus websites. Typically I ended up buying not just browsing. So as well as seeds I got some Raspberries bushes (10 for Ł8 which seemed value) and a thornless Blackberry.

Potatoes (low maintenance space filler as required)	* Leeks (one of the few veg Kyle eats)
Peas (yummy)	* Parsnips (gorgeous roasted)
Runner Beans - grown for 3 years now	* Mini Courgettes (my favourites)
* Mini Aubergines	* Spring Onions
Radish	Lettuce (sacrificial - to distract the slugs from my veg)
* Pop Corn	Beetroot

* = I have not grown before