How to Keep Your Allotment Going When You're Busy
Busy life making it difficult to keep up with your allotment? Here are some practical ways to keep your plot productive without spending every spare hour gardening.
Latest
After the Summer Harvest — What To Do With Your Allotment Harvest
Got more tomatoes, courgettes, beans and berries than you know what to do with? Here's how to make the most of your allotment harvest — from freezing and preserving to storing, sharing and simply knowing when to stop.
The September Sowing Gamble — What I'm Actually Planting and What's Probably Too Late
September is a slightly strange month on the allotment. Summer crops are still producing, but I'm also looking at the gaps they're leaving behind and deciding what can squeeze in for the rest of this year — and what might give me an early harvest next year.
You’ve Just Taken On an Overgrown Allotment. Where Do You Start?
You’ve got the keys to the gate, a brand-new sense of optimism, and a plot of land that looks like a forgotten corner of the Amazon rainforest. When you stand at the edge of an overgrown allotment, the issue usually isn't a lack of gardening knowledge.
The Late-August Harvest Flood: Apple Crumble, Jam, and Realistic Scale Math
Harvesting is officially in full flow. The tomatoes are coming thick and fast, the French beans are producing daily, and my blackberry bush has been yielding punnet after punnet.
The 15-Minute Allotment Routine: What I Actually Prioritise on a Lunchtime Visit
Got 15 minutes on a lunch break? Trying to do it all is a recipe for plot burnout. Discover my strict midday routine: visual scan, harvest first to store in the shade, and targeted root watering. Plus, see how quick visits helped push our 100kg Plot Tracker to 32.8kg!
How to Safely Harvest and Cure Onions for Long-Term Winter Storage
Growing onions to size is only half the battle. If you want your home-grown bulbs to survive dark winter nights without turning to mush, turning your focus to harvesting and curing is where the real work begins.
The August Heatwave Grind: Late Harvests, 30kg Milestones, and an Outdoor Tap Win!
It’s been insanely hot, and while everything feels like it’s coming in slightly later than last year, the harvest floodgates have finally opened. A massive surge of tomatoes, blackberries, cucumbers, courgettes, and garden grapes has pushed our harvest tracker to 29.770kg.
The August Sowing List—5 Fast-Growing Crops I’m Sowing Right Now
If your plot is currently giving you a slight case of high-summer fatigue, you aren't alone. Between heatwave survival, deep-watering routines, and the wait for maincrop heavy-hitters to tip the scales, it’s easy to feel like the sowing season is over. Here is the secret: it isn't.
Cresting the High-Summer Wave: Garden CASUALTIES, Allotment Heatwave HACKS, and Planning for 2027
The tomatoes are heavily setting fruit, the pumpkins are sizing up nicely, and the blackberries are just ridiculous right now. But high summer isn't easy. While the allotment is verdant, it's a constant battle against the relentless heat grind.
Why do allotments have a harvest lull in early July?
The July Lull is real, and it is a test of patience. The early summer rush of beetroot and cauliflowers has been harvested and weighed, but the heavy autumn hitters—our maincrop potatoes, winter squash, and greenhouses full of green tomatoes—are stubbornly taking their sweet time.
The 100kg Strategy: 12 Tomato Varieties Selected for Pure Weight and Zero Drama
Balancing a demanding job, young kids, and an unruly allotment means tomato selection is a high-stakes strategy. Here is the honest breakdown of the 12 varieties fighting for greenhouse space this year—and exactly how they earn their keep on the scales.
Allotment Life
July meltdown. Codling Moth Chaos, The Great Weed Invasion, and Total Turnip Regret
Is your plot facing a July jungle takeover? Read our honest look at mid-summer allotment failures. From dealing with codling moth damage on netted apple trees and onions choked out by weeds, to total turnip growing regret and why weed membranes are a future lifesaver.
Beginner Tips
The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Composting: How to Turn Waste Into "Black Gold" Without the Chaos
Want to turn kitchen waste into "black gold"? Read our comprehensive, no-nonsense beginner's guide to composting. Learn the exact greens and browns formula, the cardboard Amazon packaging hack, how to use a compost aerator, and the critical mistakes to avoid.
Cauli-Crisis, Snail Sabotage, and the Courgette Threat
A massive cauliflower harvest and heavy beetroot pulls lift the tracker to 17.38kg! But mid-July brings pure allotment chaos: a sneaky snail saboteur unmasked, a windowsill seedling tragedy, and the ominous approach of the first summer courgettes.
The Spud Rescue, The 1kg Cauliflower, and a Hard Lesson in Drainage
A massive 1kg cauliflower and a heavy crop of Charlotte potatoes have pushed the harvest tracker to 13.71kg! But it's not all wins—a container drainage mistake and a lettuce mountain have provided some classic allotment lessons this week.
Breaking the 10kg Barrier: Beetroot Success, Plug Plant Pride & The Production Line
We have officially broken the 10kg barrier! Thanks to a massive beetroot harvest, the tracker is flying. Here is how I'm catching up on succession sowing, why you shouldn't be ashamed of £3 plug plants, and the ongoing game of tomato Tetris on the patio.
The Great Plant-Out: A Commandeered Paddling Pool, Greenhouse Flips & Pure Allotment Fear
A May heatwave followed by a wet June means the allotment is finally planted out! Here is how a kids' paddling pool saved my seedlings while I was on holiday, why the greenhouse flip was a success, and why the scale of my squash patch is currently terrifying me.
The Conservatory Eviction & The Weed Membrane Experiment
Night temperatures are finally over 10°C, meaning the conservatory eviction has happened! But with a chilly May causing slow growth, the weeds are currently winning. Enter: The weed membrane experiment. Plus, a 5.5kg harvest tracker milestone.
The May Tease: Leaf Scald, Conservatory Takeovers & Too Much Squash
May is the month of the great deception. After late 2°C nights and some tomato leaf scald, the seedlings have officially commandeered the conservatory again. Here is why I'm battling a potting-on bottleneck, hoarding too much squash, and waiting for the Bank Holiday.
Early May Update: The Calendula Takeover & A Parsley Problem
The dry weather has arrived! Here is a realistic early May update on managing the watering runs, the patch of self-sown calendula that has taken over the plot, and turning our homegrown leeks, chard, and turnips into some brilliant spring dinners.
End of April Update: Radio Silence, Rhubarb & An 82p Gooseberry Bush
April has been insane, proving exactly why it's called 'gardening in the margins.' But despite the radio silence, the rhubarb has pushed the 2026 harvest half a kilo ahead of last year! Plus: turnip casualties, plot-to-plate pasta, and an 82p gooseberry bush.
The 40-Minute Disasterclass: Wind 1, Brassica Cage 0
I only had 40 minutes on the plot this weekend, and I arrived to find my brand-new brassica cage completely destroyed by the wind. After previously losing a polytunnel and a greenhouse to the weather, it was incredibly disheartening. But you can't let the wind win.
Allotment Life
Plot Update: Speculative Cauliflowers & Dodging the Committee
March on the plot is 50% optimism and 50% mud. Between dodging the committee’s 'prowl' and unearthing a single 'volunteer' potato that’s pushed my harvest over the 1kg mark, it’s been a busy weekend. Here’s a look at brassica cages, saved seeds, and surviving the 9-5 gardening life.