The tools I'd actually buy first for a new allotment

My favourites — light, close-fitting and grippy, so you can still feel what you're doing. Cheap enough to own a couple of pairs, which you'll want, because one is always drying.

A thick memory-foam kneeler that saves your knees through a long planting or weeding session. Unglamorous, and you'll bless it within a week.

A big roll of jute twine is the most-used thing in my bag — tying in, marking out rows, supporting, and the hundred other jobs a length of string is for. Compostable at the end of it all.

A proper carbon-steel dibber for making neat, even holes for seedlings and seeds. Solid in the hand and lovely to use — the small luxury that makes planting feel considered rather than rushed.

A long watering lance that reaches the back of the bed and in under the leaves, where the roots actually want it. It's turned the evening water from a chore into the part of the day I look forward to.

A sturdy stainless bulb planter with depth marks down the side — brilliant for popping in potatoes and bulbs at an even depth, even when the soil is firm. Takes the guesswork out of spacing.