The allotment experience

This is a really handy book* which I've borrowed from the library.  'The Allotment Experience' has been written using the experience of over 40 alotmenteers and contains many useful tips, mostly given in bite-sized portions, so very handy for dipping into.  I started jotting them in a notebook, then thought it would be more useful to write them here, more accessible and less likely to get lost.

The book starts right at the beginning with making the decision whether to have an allotment, how to start, growing vegetables, salads, flowers and fruit, through to harvesting, via plant protection, weeding and feeding: so pretty comprehensive.  


Some really useful advice includes the following for controlling pests:

• Aphids - soapy water or garlic water
• Casterpillars - derris/natural pyrethrins, bacillus thuring...
• Slugs - ferrus phosphate, ground coffee, nematode worms
• Birds - sticks and string
• Mice - fleece, netting
• nasturtums - couch grass
• marigolds - ground elder and bindweed
• fine weeding - knitting needle
• cloche - bring on brassicas - tunnel or drinks bottles

Fertiliser:
general all-purpose: 18N:8P:8K plus trace elements such as Mg.


N = green leaves
P = roots,general health, flowers
K = resistance to pests and diseases, flowers, fruits.
Mg = green
not yet finished ....


* The Allotment Experience by  Ruth Binney (ISBN: 978-1-905862-26-9.