Tips from a top allotment holder

Terry’s plot is refreshingly normal, no-nonsense and uncomplicated. No paths, no raised beds, no clever contraptions (a few hand tools are all Terry needs).
Just veg, soil, compost bins (or Daleks as Terry calls them) a few posts and wires and the all important shed and greenhouse.
His shed is something that every allotment holder can relate to. It is an Aladdin’s cave, filled to the brim with trays, tools, labels, compost bags and all those things that might come in handy one day.
Every plant for the allotment is started off in Terry’s small 6ft by 6ft greenhouse in his back garden. Inside, a plastic mini-greenhouse and a small heater are used to give a bit of extra warmth.
Apart from using the odd slug pellet, Terry is an organic gardener
and shares his veg growing techniques and experiences with Garden News readers.

Terry's ultimate value-for-money vegetable to grow
It has to be runner beans. For the cost of a packet of seeds, they feed me all through summer and winter as well. They are also excellent value because they grow upwards, taking up a tiny amount of space for the size of the crop they produce. My runner beans also make a good windbreak for my other crops.

Vegetables he's never had success with
There are two I can’t seem to grow – cauliflowers and celery. I’ve tried cauliflowers many times but I’ve had problems with them bolting and they only seem to set small heads. And no-one on these allotments seems to be able to grow celery! I don’t know what it is, but the stalks all go brown.

The varieties of potato he grows
I’m growing ‘Condor’ and ‘Javelin’ as my first earlies, then ‘Kestrel’ and ‘Charlotte’ as second earlies. ‘Sarpo’ will be my main crop this year because it is fairly resistant to blight, although unfortunately the slugs still like them!

The latest trend for taking up allotments
I don’t think it’s a new trend really. Interest in allotments really started to pick up again in the 90s when I think people just decided they were sick of supermarket fruit and veg. Sure, it looks good but it doesn’t taste the same.

Will the interest in allotments will keep gathering momentum?
I hope so. The difficult thing is when young families take on plots and want to grow 100 per cent  organic veg on a Welsh hillside, where slugs are rampant. It’s a difficult task to take on if you’ve never grown your own before!

Are you 100 per cent organic?
Everything I do on the allotment is organic apart from using a few slug pellets. We have a real slug problem on the hillside; I think they all gang up together! I’m trying to control them using nematodes as well.

Advice for fellow allotment holders
Slow and easy is the answer. You have to recognise that gardening is a hobby. Do it at the pace that suits you and just grow what you want to grow. Always take time to stand back and admire what you’ve done because the whole reason why we do it is because we want there to be a reward at the end.
Never use the words ‘hard work’ when talking about gardening. It should never be looked upon as hard work.

Terry's top tips

Broad beans
I’ve got my own way of germinating broad beans. The seed is mixed with damp compost, placed in a sealed, clear plastic bag and then I pop it in the airing cupboard for three days.
This makes the seeds sprout, so each seed you sow will have a head start and you know that it is alive.
Compost
My compost heap is known as the ‘MacWalton’ because it is made up of different layers like a beefburger! A five inch layer of green waste from the plot is sandwiched between a five inch layer of manure and so on and so on.
I cover the heap with polythene in winter to make it sweat, I never have to turn it, and it’s ready in about a year. My kitchen waste all goes into my wormery, which turns the waste into fine compost in about seven weeks.
Blast off the bugs
A good way of clearing up blackfly and greenfly is to blast them off plants with a jet of water from a sprayer. This will reach all the awkward parts of the plant that they might be lurking in and get rid of them. People see me using a sprayer and say, ‘What are you doing? You’re supposed to be organic!’
Sheep manure
Sheep manure is great for growing a good
crop of beans. The manure is put in a hessian sack, then I put it in a bin and regularly top it up with water. This produces a wonderful feed for the beans.
It looks like tomato feed, but it’s actually very high in nitrogen. When I was a lad, my father would send me up the mountain to collect sheep manure while all the other kids were there collecting bilberries!
Salad leaves
I have salad leaves on the windowsill at home all year to try and beat the hunger gap. Sow them together thinly in one pot in the greenhouse. Keep them in the greenhouse until they reach a good size. If you take them indoors early on they’ll become very leggy.
Have a plan
I have a simple plan of what’s going where on the allotment pinned up in my shed. I’ve kept every plan since time immemorial so I can refer back to them and see what has worked over the years and what hasn’t. That way I know the best places for each crop.
Pea sticks
I’m getting ready for this year’s crop of peas now by collecting privet hedge prunings. They make great pea sticks.