Does anyone know anything about gardening?

Hopefully finally getting onto our allotment plot for the first time over the weekend. Exciting times.
I thought I’d post here instead of the allotment thread as it’s the advice of the broad-shouldered, mattock-jockeying slabbers like @ColinTheBald I need right now for some landscaping advice.

My plot is pretty sloped, to what extent I won’t really know until I’ve gone at it with the brushcutter for a few hours and can actually see the whole area.
It’s def slanted to the point I’ll need to build up and/or level off in a few spots if I want to put in a shed or greenhouse in the near future. What I’m wondering though is is it worth terracing the whole plot to create level beds?
I’m used to throwing labourers and plant at tasks like this in my previous life as a tree climber but I’ve never had to get my knees muddy before as not in my remit!

If I do end up terracing to some extent do I need to go in hard with sleepers and posts or can I get away with treating some scaff boards for retaining? I’ll be digging the whole top layer off the site anyway so could potentially stack and tamp the old turf to change levels...
The fact that my plot is the complete opposite end of the site to the gates and only accessed by barrow-width paths kinda limits any mechanised approach to the job.

Any links or advice welcome. I’m not afraid of the hard work but I’m tight as hell right now so want to avoid splashing out on sleepers or other materials if I can avoid it.

Sloped beds can be used to make the most of rain water by adding a tench/mound at the higher point and allowing any run off from above to feed the bed.

Interesting. I thought there was a good chance it could be used to my advantage as well. The soil is a bit of a mix of loam and clay from the feel of it so doubt there’s much risk of it washing away(and the slope isn’t that extreme) so any way of using it to my advantage has got to be a good thing.

If it's only slight I'd run with it. You could semi level off beds as you dig. Sleeper walled terraces would look ace though. Depends on your attitude to allotmenteering. If you want it for good food as cheap as possible then spend as little as possible. If it's an addition to your outside space and somewhere to enjoy aesthetically and leisurely then splash.

It’s a bit of both, it’s mostly to feed ourselves but we currently have zero outside space so do want it to be a bit nice. Have just spaffed all our money on tools and saving a little for the waste collection we’ll need after clearing the plot so there’s currently no budget for anything beyond the essentials.
Will prob just level a seating area and wherever we decide to put the shed eventually.

Exciting times!
When I first got mine I only had a spade and a pair of gloves. Used to hide the spade in some bushes.
Every now and then I think about buying some fancy tools but then decide it's not worth it.
Hopefully next summer you'll be BBQing and admiring your handy work.

As someone used to the finer tools in life I’m going in with a brush cutter and long arm hedge cutter

If you decide to go for sleepers use proper creosoted railway ones if you want them to last 5 minutes. Retain with posts 18"+ into the ground with dry mix 4:1 concrete whacked in hard around each post. Scaffold boards will only last a couple of years, but if you concrete the posts in as above are easily replaced. New sleepers are a bit crap but easily slung on your shoulder, railway sleepers can be handled by one person if one end is strapped to a sack barrow.

Not all allotments allow the use of concrete

None that I know of. Concreting anything is a big no-no on the vast majority of allotments.

I've never worked on one, chestnut posts whacked in with a sledge would be adequate.

Isn't creosote a bad idea where you're growing food?
I agree that if it's not much of a slope, just go with it. See how it looks after you've cleared it.

First proper tomatoes of the season. Come on sun, sort the rest out!
These are Cherokee Purple

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The amount leaching out of a sleeper would be tiny, spraying it neat on plants is inadvisable as they would die, hence the ban.

Slope is way less pronounced than it was in my mind! The only levelling I’ll need to do is for a shed base. Cheers for the advice all but hopefully pissing around with sleepers etc can be avoided...

Couple of hours of bramble bashing done and reduced the cherry tree on the left at the back
Prob about 1/4 of the ground is visible now.
Despite years of power tool use I completely failed to get my brand new Hyundai brushcutter to start so its a trip to the mower shop tomorrow morning with my tail between my legs ready to get laughed at.
Troubleshooted it every way I know and nothing. Grrr...

Filled a whole ton bag with litter slung over from the neighbouring gardens, found a nice mattock, a stack of pots and it looks like there’s an allotment kitty. Seemed very comfortable on the plot and happily watched me work.

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These are Cherokee Purple

They look amazing 🥰

Sweetcorn didn't fill out - seems like it wasn't fully pollinated? Still delicious though. Definitely growing again next year. Those green chillies are murder.
Yellow toms were ok but not much flavour. I think the variety was "Lemon Plum"

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My sweetcorn is really empty. Disappointing. Wondering whether I just didn't water enough in the hot spell.

I can't get ackee in Oz, I've found a place in North Queensland that sells the trees... The guy's gonna try and get one down to me somehow, he's 1,400km away!

This is gonna be fun, ackee is quite poisonous and will fuck you up if you don't know what you're doing... 🙃

Looking at my wild flower test patch I've realised I'd like it to be a bit more curated.

Does anyone have any recommendations for poppy varieties that would look good?

Wish list:

• red
  
• delicate
  
• not too tall
  
• self seeding
  
  

Also any short corn flowers, any colour.

I'm really pleased with my composting this year. It's gone from this overloaded stack in March/April to harvesting 7 or 8 barrows of lovely brown stuff last weekend just from the open left hand side and distributing it around the various beds.

No turning at all and I didn't even bother using my compost aerator on this one either as it was always overflowing and I couldn't really get sufficient access to it.

Restacked all the semi-composted stuff I cleared off the top and this should be ready soon as well as the right hand side.

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Lawn repair for the extremely time poor - anyone got any tips / products? I have some extreme patches which need seeing to and very little time to deal with them.

Miracle Grow Patch Magic works as it retains moisture so needs less watering.
Just make sure you rake / fork the ground before you apply it.

Fantastic!

Harvest still happening on the south coast.
These are the first 3 carrots from the new veg bed.

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