Get Started with Your Allotment

Is this the right book for me? - Are you keen to get an allotment, but don't know where to start? - Would you like help to successfully grow your own produce? - Are you thinking about keeping livestock on your allotment? Get Started with Your Allotment is written by the UK's leading Allotment Society and designed specifically for all those new to allotments. It will take you step-by-step through the joys of allotment gardening, right from the very first stages of finding an allotment through to keeping livestock. It is designed for both beginners and those with some experience, and has plenty of information for those who wish to involve their children and family members in their new pursuit. With a complete guide to the tools needed, the ideal crops to grow, the soil conditions, troubleshooting and plenty of legal advice, it is the most complete guide available from the country's most experienced and trusted source of allotment wisdom. Get Started with your Allotment includes: Chapter 1: What is an allotment? Why have an allotment? How much produce can be grown on a plot? What costs are involved in running an allotment plot? How much time is required to manage a plot? Chapter 2: Obtaining plot Who provides allotment plots Costs Allotment tenancies Chapter 3: Getting started Clearing a neglected plot Check your soil type Organic and inorganic matter Planning your plot Working the soil Chapter 4: Tools, techniques and resources Tools Composing Bonfires Water Chapter 5: What to grow Which crops Seeds Vegetable varieties Herbs Fruit varieties Chapter 6: Allotment buildings and other structure Sheds Greenhouses and polytunnels Cold frames and cloches Propagating frames Fruit cages Site and plot security Chapter 7: Children and allotments Getting children involved Chapter 8: Livestock and wildlife on allotments Livestock Wildlife Organic or inorganic? Chapter 9: Allotment and gardening associations The benefits of forming an allotment association The essentials of forming an association The committee The first formal meeting Joint activities Self-management Chapter 10: The allotment gardening year Chapter 11: Recipes Learn effortlessly with an easy-to-read page design and new added features: - Personal insights, tips, and summaries throughout the book - Extension articles online - Every book gives you one, five and ten-minute bites of learning to get you started

Geoff Stokes was Secretary of the NSALG until 2010. Representing allotments and gardens nationwide, the NSALG provides membership to societies and gardeners. One of the most frequently cited organizations by the national media, it publishes a quarterly newsletter and provides advice and support to the public, and consultation/feedback to local/national government. It has close links with major gardening publications and retailers