Course description

You've got the keys to an allotment, or you're on a waiting list and want to be ready. Then you see the plot: brambles, couch grass, bindweed and somebody's old carpet. This course takes you through your first year step by step, from that first walk round to your first harvests and a plan for year two, without weedkillers, and without trying to do everything in one weekend.

It's a full course, not a quick tour. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons. You follow a first-time plot holder with a weedy half plot. She clears it in stages, builds nine no-dig beds over the winter, and grows 16 crops in her first season. Her records are your model: costs, hours, sowing dates and harvests. Every section has a worksheet, answers, a cheat sheet and ready-made templates, diagrams and workbooks.

What you'll learn

• How allotments work: plots and half plots, waiting lists, rent, tenancy agreements, site rules and inspections.
• Reading your plot: sun, slope, drainage, soil and the weeds you'll meet.
• Clearing safely: working in zones, perennial weeds without chemicals, covers, and getting rid of rubbish properly.
• No-dig beds: cardboard, compost and manure, paths, and keeping beds going year after year.
• Planning and growing: easy first-year crops, a four-group rotation, a UK growing calendar, sowing, hardening off, planting out and watering.
• Looking after crops: weeding, supports, slugs, nets, and common diseases such as potato blight.
• Harvests and beyond: harvesting, storing, freezing, sharing gluts, compost, wildlife and being part of the site.

Who it's for

New allotment holders, people on waiting lists, people sharing a plot and anyone with little time who wants a realistic plan. It ends with a final project: your own plot plan and rotation, a growing calendar, a budget and a first-year review.

What will I learn?

• Understand how allotments work: plots, rents, tenancies, site rules and inspections
• Survey a new plot, read your soil and identify the weeds you'll face
• Clear an overgrown plot safely and in stages, without chemicals
• Build and look after no-dig beds with cardboard and compost
• Plan a first year of easy crops with a simple four-group rotation
• Sow, plant out and water well, from potatoes and onions to beans and courgettes
• Protect crops from pests and diseases with nets, barriers and good habits
• Harvest, store and share your crops, and review your first year to plan the next

Frequently asked questions