University allotment society

[ChocolateOtter]

Hello, newbie here!

I'm part of an allotment society at university. We've got a plot, and we are quite interested in permaculture and sustainable gardening. We also have plans to plant an orchard, a herb garden, a wildlife area and make raised beds for vegetables. However as we are at university, we can't really plant anything that is ready to pick in the summer months (June, July, August) which limits what we can have. Any advice that you can give us on what do grow and any techniques to save money, space and encourage wildlife to our allotment would be good.

Cheers!

PS if any of you are interested in what we're doing, have a look at this website: http://www.studenteats.org.uk/

[GeorgeSalt]

The obvious ones that will stand a bit of summer neglect (lack of care/watering will be more limiting than lack of harvesting) and are harvested during term time are rhubarb, sweetcorn, autumn raspberries, blackberries (thornless), gooseberries, pumpkins and winter squash (if the soil will let them go without watering), a lot of herbs will be fine (rosemary, bay, coriander, sage, etc), maincrop potatoes, possibly onions (but lack of weeding over summer may be an issue), the spinach family (inc. chard), leeks, brassicas.

Is the plot out-of-bounds during summer, or is it just that you predict there will be noone about?

[safronsue]

hi from a brightonite living in Greece! It might be a shame to miss out on so many summer things...why not see if you can get local resident peeps involved and they could harvest the summer crop and keep up with the chores. just an idea. also my son is at plumpton college and i know what a helpful lot they are there so they might have some ideas or even be interested in helping you with permaculture issues.
As regards low or no maintenance setups have you thought about a hugelculture bed? we had one here in greece this year and whilst it wasn't an all out success in it's first year it will be better next, it is an interesting experiment and will sustain a crop through drought.....and flood which might be more the problem in bton!
good luck!
bton or sussex uni?