"Fred" wrote
I would like to grow my own fruit and veg, so I enquired about
allotments. There are two sites locally both on hills. One has quite a
gradient and the other is less so. Would I be right to choose the
flatter of the two? Does the slope make a different to plants?

Both plots have been neglected and are very overgrown. The chap who
showed me around tried to reassure me that it wasn't as bad as it
looks. He suggested I hire a strimmer to cut back the growth and a
rotavator to dig the soil. Is this a good idea or should I check he
doesn't own the hire shop

I've only ever used an electric strimmer on grass on the lawn before;
never a petrol one and I've never used a rotavator. Are they worth
hiring or picking up second hand?

How big is a rotavator; will it fit in a standard car, else how will I
get it to the allotment?

The problem with a slope is which direction does it slope. If it's towards
the sun, south, then your ground will heat up quicker in the spring and
plants will get a good start. The down side is that in the summer you might
have to water more. If it has a serious slope you might find a thin poor
soil at the top and a quagmire at the bottom. If it slopes away from the sun
give it a miss.
Yes, strimming is what needs to be done, however the rotovating depends on
what weeds are there. If you rotovate with couch grass or bindweed roots in
the soil you will simply spread it all over. Personally I strimmed mine and
then used Glysophate weedkiller twice to kill all weeds including perennial
ones and then rotovated to get a crop the first year. I then hand dug the
space left every time a crop was harvested so after the first year all of
the plot had been hand dug and any bricks/stones/glass etc had been removed.
Unfortunately Glysophate only works on green leaves so it will not work this
time of the year.
A petrol strimmer is a completely different animal to an electric one,
ensure you wear steel toecap boots, strong trousers, gloves and essential is
a full face mask. Those stones hurt when they fly up into your face and
despite a full mask I have had a stone cut my ear. Make sure nobody else is
anywhere near too, and explain to anyone around that they must keep away.
In my experience second-hand strimmers are normally worn out, rotovators are
often little used so check condition and if possible buy a good make (e.g.
Honda) where spares are available.

Rotovators are big and heavy, few are small enough to fit in a car and few
are light enough to lift. I lift mine in and out of my Defender van but I'm
6ft and have been described as built like a brick ...... :-) As the years
go on I might have to resort to a trailer I can push it onto. If you only
have a car it might be worth considering a trailer anyway, muddy tools can
soon ruin a car's interior no matter how careful you are, I speak from
experience which is why I now have a proper allotment vehicle too.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK