I’m not in the USA but I’ve had my allotment for nearly thirty years. Am I right in thinking you only get yours for a year and have to start again each year? If so, perennial crops are out. So I’d grow things which crop fast and taste best fresh. I don't know what those would be where you are. And things which don't take too much space, so presumably some squash are out. I wouldn’t use too much space for paths. Maybe just one two foot wide path down the middle length ways. That would give you two four foot wide beds twenty feet long. Or maybe you could get away with one foot if you’re quite spry. Or no path at all if you can stretch in from all round. It’s not a total disaster to occasionally tread on the soil.

I belonged to a community garden for a couple years many years ago. I would suggest you try plants that you have trouble growing in your own garden. You will learn to value the camaraderie of others with a similar interest.

I recently went to raised bed gardens and found a "baby bush zucchini" that won't take up half my bed.

My first year gardening I planted all sorts of herbs in a small raised bed. Big mistake! Here in CA a lot of the woody herbs are perennials! I'll bet some are still in that bed 20 years later! Also no mint!

Finally have a break. I have a lot of garden at home that I’m always trying to keep up with and the weather has been great this week to work outside. Thank you all for sharing your experiences.

Floral, thirty years with an allotment, wow, that is amazing! You must have a lot of friends from gardening there so long. Yes, you are right, you can only grow annuals at this community garden and you start over fresh the next season. That works for me, because I do have my own garden and more than enough shrubs etc. at home to take care of.

I also have raised vegetable beds at home, but I am having trouble with trees on a small lot, where not only is there too much shade for certain crops like tomatoes, peppers, squash, even beets struggle, but the tree roots keep growing up into the beds requiring annual digging and pulling roots before I can grow.

It seems like a great space. It is organic and they make their own compost and turn over the beds and keep the fertility up for the tenants. They also provide wood chips for pathways. The only thing I worry about is theft and vandalism. It has a 4ft high fence around it and cameras, but they had problems with that before. It is located near a school and abuts a neighborhood of single family homes. I believe I also have a metal fence at the back of my plot which will allow me to grow pole beans and cukes.

I like your idea of one path down the middle leaving everything very accessible from the pathways and I may be able to do with a foot wide path. I have 4ft wide beds at home that I’m used to.

Kate, They have installed a four ft high metal fence on what I believe is the north side of my plot which makes it perfect since I have a lot of bean seeds and cucumber seed. Good idea to remember herbs. Basil lots of it!

John, I was thinking that, what I have trouble growing at home are the full sun vegetables. I am looking forward to the camaraderie as you mention, but since Covid, that’s making it harder. It should be fascinating to see what others grow too and how they do it.

NancyJane - I haven’t grown mint in years since it is so invasive and I notice they have it listed on the ‘do not plant’ list. [g] Even in a pot, I discovered, it will grow right down into the ground, so you have to grow it on cement or a paver in a pot.

Just a small suggestion. When I did community gardening several decades ago, it worked well, but I learned pretty quickly that the best crops to grow are those that don't require frequent attention. My community garden was several miles away from where I was living, and I was only able to go there every few days. That may not be the case for you, though. Beans and tomatoes in particular are not that well suited to infrequent harvest opportunities.

Thanks Dan, I know it was a long time ago, but did you grow anything that you felt worked out better?

Well, squash, pepper, leaf, and root vegetables don't really care about infrequent harvest opportunities. Melons can be tricky, as many of them slip when they're ready, and you'd rather not leave those out in the open detached from the vine.

Hello Prairiemoon. I don't have experience with a community plot. I have a brand new 4x16' raised bed. I think with 4x20 you might want a simple narrow path to break it into a 10' section depending on what you are planting. I would get a copy of Square Foot Gardening since it recomends planting things a lot closer than a lot of seed packets say. I would give beans a try if you can't get different varieties at your supermarket or farm stand. I like filet types and certain pole bean varieties. Perhaps you can make quick visits during the harvest season. I also agree with peppers because there are so many wonderful varieties and they are easy to freeze. For me, growing melons is iffy. People give zucchini away so I would skip summer squash. Winter squash would be a good idea for easy winter storage but they can take up a lot of room. I like the new mini butternut variety which might be one to consider that doesn't take up a lot of room. I would think about what you can't get at the supermarket or farmstand very easily. You didn't mention beets but we like yellow beets and those aren't easy to find. I discovered Gilfeather turnips which are really a rutabaga and originally from Vermont. It's a white rutabaga that is sweeter than the regular kind. If you like salads, consider some unusual veggies such as harukei turnips (they look like big radishes). I swear my favorite farmer grows the best Swiss chard but the thing to know is that it becomes sweeter after the weater gets cold. You didn't mention garlic but you would have to have the same plot next year since garlic is planted in the fall. Johnny's Seeds website has a very good growers library. Think about succession planting to get the most out of your plot. I just planted some potatoes which might seem like a waste since they are readily available at the supermarket but fingerlings and early red potatoes taste wonderful. Around here they charge $4.50/quart for fingerlings!

One thought: You might want to check if it's OK for you to grow vines on the fence. The caretakers might not want that since they can be hard to clear-off at the end of the season. I found a new zucchini sqash that is sort of round, supposedly for grilling. I'm hoping it is a bush-type. I like to try new varieties.

I also thought you could do Eggplants since they like heat. My new favorite is Shikou.

And, Dan's suggestion about being able to pick the crop when it's ready is a good tip for most vegetables.

Hello Defrost 😃 Nice to have a new raised bed and that’s a good size. Have you used the square foot garden method before? I read that book a long time ago and it did encourage me to plant closer, but I don’t plant as close as they recommend. I definitely don’t measure off all the one foot sections. I should refresh my memory though on how close they suggest you can do and make the most of that space.

I have a lot of bean seeds to use up. All kinds, pole/bush - some that are dry for storing, like kidney beans and heirloom soup beans. That should work based on some of the suggestions to grow something that doesn’t need to be picked every other day. Since I assume you leave them to dry and harvest once. I haven’t grown these before.

I also think I will be able to make quick visits when I need to. It’s in the same town and a short drive away.

We love peppers and use them all year. Not the hot varieties, unfortunately, which I would love but they wouldn't love me back. [g] They really do need very little attention. I have some seedlings started, but not as many as I would have liked due to a problem with my seed growing mix this year. I guess it’s too late to start more from seed.

We have never grown melons due to the lack of sun, and the few times I did, it was not rewarding. So that is low on my list of priorities. I suspect you have to have a lot of experience with melons to get it right.

Great idea about the mini butternut. I have a great mini cabbage we love, called Gonzales - which produces quickly a head that makes one big bowl of Cole slaw.

As for what I can’t get at the supermarket - fresh green beans are hard to come by organic. I’d love to grow organic jicama, since I can’t get it organic and when I do get it, it’s not always in good shape. I’ll have to look up how you grow that. Maybe for next year.

Beets - we love beets - I have new seed, I’m going to try that. I haven’t tried the yellow beet yet. Thanks for the idea.

My Mom used to be the only one in the family who ate turnips so that is off the list.

I was thinking of planting garlic, but you’re right, you have to plant in the fall. I can grow that at home. I planted some last Fall. I also am trying to plant bulbets off those I saved last year. They are very viable but I guess they take 2 years?

Thanks for suggesting Johnny’s grower’s library. I always forget how much information is on that site.

Potatoes…I love planting potatoes. I just started doing that 2 years ago and I bought more seed potato this year. I wanted to ask, I received whole potatoes, am I supposed to cut those in sections with eyes on them?

We also love the fingerlings but they were out this year because I ordered late.

Kate - I definitely will ask about the fencing, and I'll look up that Eggplant variety thanks.

Yes, I used the first version of Square Foot Gardening but now I just rely on faulty memory. Beans are three in hes apart in all directions but I found two rows close together were ok but three made picking the middle row difficult. I had one 3 foot square bed that worked with close plnting in all directions because it was small.

i never cut up my seed potato because I rarely have one big enough with enough eyes to do so. I just planted a large one that only had three eyes.

your mini cabbage sounds like a great choice for us.

Good luck!

Yes the mini cabbage was really suitable for us too, because you don't have a half a head of cabbage sitting around the fridge waiting to be used. And the plants are so small in the garden you can grow a lot and plant succession to have them when you want them.

Good luck to your growing season too!

Good idea on the spacing on the beans...and I probably have the same size potatoes too. Good to know. Have you grown potatoes for long? Any secrets to getting a good harvest?

Secret might be not to have voles. For about the three past years I have tried planting after June 1 because a neighbor said he never had colorado potato beetles if he planted late. I think there was a reduction in beetles but I still had some. I don't think it was worth the reduced growing time. I've had some great harvests in the past. So voles moved in about 2 years ago which is why the new raised bed has a hardware cloth bottom. I think they ate some of my potatoes plus something dug into the bed, probably a coyote, trying to get the voles. This year I am using Vole Scram which is a repellant and doesn't kill them (so they don't end up poisoning owls and hawks). The fingerlings went into the new raised bed. I will mulch heavily with straw.

Cheers!

LOL - Okay, no voles. I have one bed at home with hardware cloth on the bottom of it that is about 20x4. I guess that is where the potatoes are going to go. And I just bought 3 bales of Salt Marsh Hay that I'm picking up tomorrow.

Hope the Vole Scram does the trick, it's so frustrating when you put so much work into it only to have it compromised by critters.

Hope you have a great growing season!

Growing the potatoes at home might be a good idea so you can keep up with Colarado Potato beetle. I kept a container of soapy water in the garden. It got pretty disgusting but why use a clean container every day. I inspected plants and knocked beetle larvae into the container then covered it and tucked it in a good place so it was handy for the next inspection.

Cheers!

Since I've only grown 2 large pots of potatoes so far, I've never seen a potato beetle. I'm not sure what to expect since I'm growing 4x the amount of potatoes this year. But I will grow the majority of them at home since it is something I can grow in my raised beds but I may try a potato or two at the new community garden, just to compare how they do in each location. Good point. I always have to take care of pests in the same way, hand picking. It's the least toxic way of doing it.