Organisation

Ignore all those garden instant makeover shows that you may have seen on television!! An allotment requires hard work at least several times a week from March to November, and once a week during the Winter.
Ask for advice from experienced plotters on the Allotments and note how they usually organise their plots into several large beds, not small ones!!
Crop Rotation, on a 3 or 4 year cycle is required to reduce the number of pests and diseases. I use Potatoes + manure or fertiliser >> brassicas ( cabbages, cauliflowers etc) + lime every third year or as required after soil test >> legumes(peas and beans) >> onion family (incl. Leeks). Fit in where possible, other root vegetables(carrots, parsnips, beetroot etc) . Never apply manure and lime together. Add your own well rotted compost when available.
Therefore divide your plot into 3 or 4 large beds for crop rotation. Keep paths to a minimum and get the maximum productive area. Grass paths are only a reservoir for invasive perennial weeds growing back into your crop beds. Make temporary paths, if required, over the beds with old discarded scaffolding boards, and reposition as necessary.
Size beds to make best use of the standard size of weed control fabric, 1.5m x 4m. (8m length/2) or multiples thereof. This also suits the standard size of white fleece fabric 2.1m x 5m (10m/2) which when draped over plastic hoops cut from plastic piping, protects plants from frost or pest damage. It also suits the plastic cloche kits from Lidle.
Clear any weeds and vegetation by hard graft, spraying with Glycosate, or covering with old carpets, weighted down cardboard or weighted heavy duty plastic to exclude light for a few months, until most weeds are dead. The longer the better to kill the perennial weeds.
Using porous ground control fabric and planting through it, cuts out almost all annual weeds. Slugs do not hide under the fabric, as too warm and not dark enough. The black fabric warms the soil and keeps the soil moist. For potatoes, make a hole with a dibber, and push the seed potato to the bottom. As you cannot make a ridge, a few potatoes that grow near the surface may get affected by light. For vegetables like parsnips, fennel, cut 50 mm (2 in) circular holes and sow the seed. For the likes of carrots and beetroot, peas and beans, cut out strips 50 mm x 250 mm long, and sow in the gaps. For planting out brassicas, sweet corn, courgettes, squashes, marrows, leeks, onions, shallots and garlic sets, cut X’s and plant through the fabric. Obviously, you need to have added any fertilizer or lime before you put down the fabric. As you do not need to keep walking over the soil, it does not become so compacted. You should be able to reuse the fabric for several years. See the photographs of sweet corn and winter squash grown through fabric. Note no weeds! Fabric needs to be weighted down with timber, bricks, etc.
Reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides by using fine mesh netting or fleece barriers. Fine mesh will prevent cabbage butterfly and bird damage on brassicas, bird damage on peas, while fleece prevents carrot root fly.
Prevent bird & squirrel damage on soft fruit and cherries by using mesh netting.
Keep a lookout for reusable materials in skips or dumped. E.g. Timber for posts or building greenhouses, huts, cold frames, fences; plastic sheeting for weed suppression; concrete slabs for paths; fencing; green protection mesh from building sites; plastic bottles to protect plants; old polystyrene fish boxes for seed trays.
Protect plants from wind by building windbreaks from timber, plastic mesh etc. Some wind should be allowed to pass through the windbreak to prevent turbulence.
Consider using rock dust to renew trace elements in depleted soils.