Finding Allotment in London

[tallpastrydan]

Hi there, I'm all new here and I'm sure you get this question all the time, but i live pretty central in London and i dying to get an allotment. All the allotments around me are at least 5 years of waiting, really don't want to wait that long...imagine all i can grow in that time!!

If anyone has any tips, or sites i should visit or anything i be very grateful!

fingers crossed
Dan

[tallpastrydan]

[tricia]

Hello and welcome tpd  . Have you tried Googling? I've found:  nsalg.org.uk/allotments-info  - and depending where you are: hounslow.gov.uk/allotments have 28 available in various locations according to their website.

Good luck!

Tricia 

[Tee Gee]

This may seem rather morbid but it is how I started.

Like you I couldn't get an allotment and I happened to mention this to an eldely friend.

Some weeks later she advised me to contact a friend of hers whos husband had died and his garden was his pride and joy and she wanted to keep it well maintained like it was when her husband was alive.

I contacted the lady and we came to an arrangement which suited us both and I carried on for a few years maintaining the garden and eating most of what I grew.

When she died the family planned to sell up meaning I lost my garden/allotment but they told me to remove any plant or plants I would like to keep and any of the extensive tools their father had collected.

Some date back to the " Dig for Victory" campaign which I plan on giving to my local museum some day.

.......and would you believe it another elderly lady in the village heard that I was being evicted and she offered the same arrangement as I had before so this gave me growing space for another few years.

As I said this is a bit morbid but it does happen and it can help both you an others to enjoy the pleasures of gardening.

A good source for information is your local man of the cloth as both the people I worked with were church goers.

So I wish you the best of luck in your search...Tg

[ancellsfarmer]

If its all built-up, consider container growing on a flat paved area.Take up walking around your home area, or cycling, you will find hidden, neglected plots.  Look out for rear gardens (possibly currently grown as jungle) behind shops with flats over. Do a deal with the occupants. Consider growing different crops in each pocket you can find, splitting with the resident. This prevents you feeding his family extensively, because each will only share one crop. Its not quite guerilla gardening but could work. Good luck, let us know of your progress, and be assured of , varied, good advice to all enquiries.

[BarriedaleNick]

Don't forget private sites also exist (like ours in SE London!) but you need to contact them direct.  However demand is still high in London and supply is short so waiting 5 years is not out of the ordinary.

[gazza1960]

welcome dan,i wish you good luck in your quest,,,,when we lived near heathrow we faced the same 2 to 3 year dilemma so I decided to drive around the local existing sites and using a bit of cheek and boldness I managed to talk the residents of the plots to let me come in to have a nag as to ......how to......use your plot to good effect,,,,,it didn't take long to get loads of ideas as its no different to what we are doing on here sharing successes and failures.....a few ...you've done well there ....always makes a happy gesture win the plot holders over and even offer to bring them a cuppa T in a flask or a sarnie as I did as after all you will find a good mix of ages but plenty of elderly folk who enjoy just sitting looking at their crops squeeking through muther earth to sun ripen and grow ...so why not
sit with one or two and befriend them as I did....it wont be long before you can offer to dig a bit here and there and find out who MAY BE considering letting a plot go or either sharing one with you.....as we are all knocking on and from time to time its nice to have fresh legs willing to do a bit ...as its obvious from what you say you have the enthusiasm to get going.......

the other idea I did for years .......not that I suggest ....good heavens no....but you will be surprised how much land we all walk over day in day out that does not see a foot print for years as its sort of private land or bordering public rights of way.......I fished the London canal circuit for 10 years around Alperton,perivale,through west London to uxbridge .........so...got to see loads of surrounding meadows that remained fallow or just gone back to nature .....I made the most of these bounty by taking packets of seeds of all varieties with me and when I was alone I would scatter them here and there and see what resulted,sometimes I wouldn't get back to some spots and missed what muther nature had grown,some times animals munched on the salads,but it was my secret ....until today
that is.......to go back and snip or dig up resulting crops.....I have always enjoyed foraging and this was just an extension really....I say again im not saying enter anywhere you should not......I make that clear ....but having moved to Dorset 2 years ago.....I have already walked miles of river bank here that does not see a another footprint all year and of course we have the Ringwood Forest and New forest on our doorstep that now have little bits of Gazzers handy work......so if your ever down here for a day out and stumble over a windfall of something tasty ......help yourself......share and share alike is my motto.

Good luck in your quest.

Gazza

[Crystalmoon]

Welcome Dan, I had to wait nearly 13 years for my first allotment in Ashford Kent as I couldn't drive so was very restricted to which plots I could apply for. I grew at home in large pots very successfully courgettes, beetroot, Leeks, salad crops, potatoes in sacks etc so you can have decent crops from very small spaces. When I moved home in Ashford I had to give up my allotment & had to wait 4 years for my new one so waiting for plots is the norm. I hope you manage to get a plot very soon   

[sparrow]

It's worth doing a bit of research in the boroughs you'd be willing to travel to if you want an allotment. Some of the sites restrict tenancies to borough residents, others don't. I know there are plots free in my borough, but that's zone 6 and would be a bit of a trek most likely.

Central London sites seem to have huge waiting lists because of the population density and the sites are often fairly small relative to that. Trying your luck further out might be more fruitful.

Or look on the Lend & Tend website for people with large gardens who'd be willing to share.