If you are planning to grow organic fruit and vegetables, grow a mixture of plants alongside your edible crops in order to encourage predators to the bugs that will eat your produce.

Be prepared to put in three or four hours a week throughout the year on your plot.

The best time to take up an allotment is the autumn as you can dig it all over before the weeds really start to grow.

Good easy crops to grow when you are starting out include potatoes, broad beans, shallots and some types of cabbage.

Ones for beginners to avoid are cauliflowers and Brussels sprouts. Asparagus is not necessarily hard to grow but takes three years to establish.

Other tips Try to get something planted, to make you feel better and as though it's all worth it.

Take a chair to your allotment so that you have time to enjoy the plot as well as work at it.

Make sure you grow what you enjoy eating.

Try to use recycled materials on your plot, for example to make compost bins – it will keep the cost down and make your garden even greener!

Related feature: Taste of the 'Good Life' on the allotments
This year marks the 100th anniversary of a law which requires local authorities to provide allotments for their residents.
22 April 2008

More information:

To find out about allotments in the Peterborough area, call 01733 747474.

The National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners Limited helps protect, promote and preserve allotments for future generations and provides advice and information in respect of sites under threat. For more information, visit www.nsalg.org.uk