December Tour Of Jennie’s Allotment

This is a quick tour of Jennie’s plot in December. The work on the landscaping is essentially complete now and we’ve planted the new trees – Braeburn, Pear and Plum.

All of the alliums are up, as are the broad beans and the brassicas are fantastic. Especially the Kalletes (a cross of sprouts and kale) which are the big success of the year, we eat everything – leaves and all.

We’ve also removed one bed of raspberries and moved another one to the berry area at the front of the plot – near the patio – we will have strawberries, raspberries and black/pink/white/red currants there next year.

We are also moving the beans to the north end of the plot, which along with moving the raspberries, creates much larger un-interrupted planting areas with fewer paths.

If you are new to my allotment videos you might find a bit of context useful. We have three allotments in my family, mine (Steve), my wife’s (Debbie) and one of our daughter’s (Jennie). We also have a small kitchen garden at home. They are all managed in an integrated fashion, so don’t expect to see the usual mix of veg on each plot.

If you want to see more about the changes we made to the design of Jennie’s plot, including putting in the edging boards and the wood chip paths, take a look at this video.

On Jennie’s plot for example we focus on potatoes, squash, alliums and brassicas. This video provides an overview https://youtu.be/q1k-2vIoSQ8. I do a monthly tour of each allotment, roughly one a week, you can find the tours here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFhKoRR-NiCJn5Y6rZf0RCCqycu3xvofX.

Our approach to allotment life is to: grow as much as we possibly can, to be self sufficient in veg all year round and in fruit in summer, to give away our huge surplus to friends and family, and to have as much fun as possible.

My wife and I spend about 4 hours a day, 4 days a week on the plots (on average) and we keep nudging that down as we eliminate non-productive work: like grass cutting, weeding and watering as much as practical. We are both newbie gardeners, only starting the allotments in 2016.

I’m a bit obsessive about the nutrient density of the veg that we grow and making the plots easy to work because it’s through this allotment lifestyle and food that I’ve overcome a debilitating auto-immune disease. I’m always aware though that it might not last so I make sure that I don’t work too hard, eat the most organic fruit and veg I can and design the plots so that I can still work them if I flare up again.