With 2023 and 2024 being pretty unsuccessful years for me at the allotment, I decided in late 2024 that a different approach is needed if I’m going to have success here. This post covers the decisions I made for my Devon allotment from Spring to early Summer 2025.
Key decisions
The first thing that I needed to do was take ownership of the plot. I know that might seem weird, since I’ve been paying for it for a while now, but I inherited a few plants and a layout that I figured I’d just move forwards with – this proved to be the source of a lot of my frustration with the setup.
Lose the blackberries!
The blackberry bush, while fruitful, wasn’t producing exceptional berries, was taking over at least a third of the allotment, was obstructive, and was difficult to keep under control. It took a few days of hard work to dig it all out, but I’ve done it now. I did leave a small plant next to a fence and am training it along there, since I do like blackberries and it can help to reinforce the border there. With it being out of the way, it’s now not obstructing my access across the plot.
Extend the boundary
About a third of my plot was sitting outside of my anti-rabbit fence, which in some ways was fine – the only things growing there were nettles and currant bushes. It was another awkward area to access, and maintaining it was annoying. I decided to install fencing around the whole perimeter of my plot so that I could start to get this area under more control.
Add raised beds
I bought a couple of raised beds from B&Q – I wanted clean, easy to maintain areas to grow some strawberries and squash.
Plant a plum tree
I bought a plum tree from Roots plants – I like plums and am hopeful that this will give me some nice ones over the coming years!
Add a greenhouse
I was donated a perfectly good plastic greenhouse, which I installed on the plot in a couple of places. Initially it was positioned between the currant bushes and where the old pear tree was, but it wasn’t well secured and blew away! I repositioned it a few days later and have tied it to the fence. It’s growing tomatoes and peppers, but doesn’t yet have an automatic watering system, so things tend to get a bit dry in there!
Train the loganberries
I was gifted a loganberry plant a year or so ago, planted it and forgot all about it. I assumed it had died along with most of my other plants last year. I was wrong – it’s really started to grow this year, and I plan to train it to take over a corner of my plot, between some of the beds. They’re delicious!
Sadly I don’t have many photos of the activity from this period – suffice to say it was hot and sweaty work.
The photo to the left shows the currant patch before I extended the boundary and pulled down the pear tree.
Early July 2025
So I’ve made a lot of changes to the plot, and am having more success than ever! I planted more flowers this year to brighten up areas where I’m not growing produce, and the produce that I am growing…is growing! Here are some photos from late June/early July showing some of the life on the allotment.
There’s still a lot of work to do at the plot this season, and much more in terms of pumpkin progress to report on (it’s taken over a large area) – I’ll get some more photos together shortly!