Topic: How near your home is your allotment? Advice please

[purplesmiley]

I've just received a list of allotments from the council and need to get back to them with which one(s) I wish to go on the waiting list for.

The nearest one is a 5 min drive or 15-20min walk away (I think) and all the others on the list are 15-20min drive away and too far to walk - they all have 10-15 plots except for one which has 70 plots.

How do I decide which allotments to put my name down for?  How many should I put my name down for? (don't want to look greedy LOL)

How close is your allotment to your home?  Would distance put you off?  I just presumed that most people lived a few minutes walk away from their allotments  :-[

Also - why are they so hard to find?  I drove around to try and see where they were but had great difficulty spotting the allotments (except for the largest one)and even more trouble seeing where the entrance is.   ???

thanks from a gardening newbie  ;D

[Svea]

i am one of the few very lucky people who live within one minute from the lottie ;D
i think i would put my name down for the nearest one, unless the waiting list there is awfully long. because you will be more motivated if it's only round the corner. i am on my plot every day - not necessarily doing anything, but just checking all is well, and pick whatever veg i fancy that night (i call it 'shopping at the allotment'). sometimes i even water the odd plant ;D

good luck.

[beejay]

Our plot is a few minutes drive away - it is walkable ( probably 15 mins) but I'm afraid we don't. There would be OK but back less so! Sites are often tricky to find because they are tucked away on odd bits of land. In princple I would agree nearest is best, but visit them because the sites vary tremendously. I wish ours was nearer, like at the bottom of the garden!

[busy_lizzie]

We can get to our plot, on foot, in about 7 minutes.  It was a consideration when I applied for an allotment as we don't have a car.  The plot we have now is ideal as it is just beside the lottie gate and it is easy for us to use a wheelbarrow to transport anything from home. If you have a car then it might not be so important unless the Site doesn't have good parking facilities. 

If you have a look at the localities that interest you and you pick a few that would be suitable, I would put my name down on all that you are interested in.  It will give you a better chance and you can always turn down any that you have a change of heart about.  Some allotment societies put your name back to the bottom if you turn down a particular plot however, so that is something to bear in mind.  :) busy_lizzie

[suzylou]

Mine is about 5 mins drive from the house but what is most important to me is that (if I choose a certain route!) I drive past it on the way home so there's no excuse not to go in and do 10 minutes of admin of an evening.

I suspect I could walk it in 15 mins but thus far I haven't - I don't have a shed yet so I need the car just to shift tools and stuff around.  However, I AM thinking of long light evenings next summer with a bottle of wine amidst the runner beans, and then staggering home :>

It's not the very closest site to me, but I chose this one as it's larger and more secure, and had vacancies.  I wouldn't have chosen one further away though.  HOWEVER, my lottie-owning friend at work has a 25 minute drive to get to his, so I think I'm quite lucky!

[daisymay]

our lottie is at the end of our street - will be a 3 min walk.

BUT, we currently drive as when we go there we are fully laden with tools etc... been laying slabs to put the shed on, putting planks down to make walkways!

We have just bought a shed for the lottie and will be getting doubles of tools we need at both the garden and the lottie and then we will be able to walk/ cycle there.

I think unless you have tools etc. stored at the lottie it doesn't matter how close it is to your house, as you will need to drive to transport stuff, like Suzylou said. Mine is also on my drive too/ from work so will eventually pop in in my lunch hour/ after work, once we have some thing growing!

[caz 406]

Mine is a 20 minute drive away  :-\ There are some nearer but I took the plot next to my Dad's when it became available. It's nice to both be there together and he's got a greenhouse which is handy when it rains!
I would definitey spend more time there if it was nearer though.
Go for one close to home.  :)

[bupster]

I don't drive, so am having to think of creative ways of transporting stuff (eg how much weed suppressant fabric can you get in a rucksack). I would have loved a lottie at the end of the street, but all the sites in the city are at least ten minutes bike ride away. I chose the one that has no hills/steep bridges in between and it's a very pleasant journey, though I may think differently in February :). If you have a car then your considerations are different; if you don't, or want to avoid driving, then I'd say ten minutes on a bike is about the limit before you start thinking 'oh, I can't be arsed'. I have nearly a shed and my entire equipment right now is a second hand spade and the rusty stuff the previous owner left behind, so all I carry with me is a pair of gardening gloves and some secateurs for the evil brambles, and I can get up for an hour most evenings. If you can only get up there at the weekends, or you don't have a shed and you're tool-heavy, then make it as close to home as possible. If you have a shed and a car then go for the site with the best facilities and security.

[TEL]

I'm lucky to mine is about a half minute away plus i have to go past  the local club on the way."thats the hard work"
But think the nearer the better as Svea said you will be more motivated to go.

[ellkebe]

I think it also depends on your personality!  I knew that I'm too lazy to hike for miles or even undertake a  drive of more  than a few minutes - it would just allow me to think 'Oh it's too difficult right now; I'll go later.'!  So mine's only a five minute-ish drive (and I still manage to put it off sometimes!)

[Mrs Ava]

Being out in the sticks, we weren't spoilt for choice, so our nearest and local site is in the next village, about a 10 minute drive along tree crammed country lanes.

[amphibian]

My allotment is 1 1/2 miles from my home. I walk each day with my three year old and carrying tools. It hasn't put me off.

[beejay]

Well I'm impressed at you both!

[return of the mac]

I went for the only one with sites available- try asking for the sizes of lists- you may be able to take 1 now and go on the list for some others. Incidentally my allotment is a 20-30 minute walk away, so i cycle (without tools) and im there in no time. Also check if there are main bus routes that pass by the sites, and as for being hard to find- it makes less of a target for vandals

[ellkebe]

Amphibian, my hat is off to you.  My son objects to the walk to the car  ;D

[redimp]

Mine is a ten minute cycle ride there, and a five minute cycle ride home.  I live at the bottom of the valley and the lottie is up on the heath.  It is the closest one to home and a couple of fellow lottiers drink in the same pub that I do - including the lottie secretary.

[amphibian]

Amphibian, my hat is off to you.  My son objects to the walk to the car  ;D

It's probably the absense of a car in her life that means she is willing to walk (most of the time)

[adam04]

15 minute drive! unless im at my uncles when its at the bottom of his garden.

[the_snail]

Mine is about 15 mins walk 20 mins on a warm summers day. I dont drive so I have to walk which I do not mind. The best thing about walking is you can have a few tipples whilst weeding or harvesting. I bring most of my stuff back in my dads car, and any major stuff like my rotavator also goes down in my dads car :D. If I was just digging or weeding then a walk is great.

The_Snail

[the_snail]

lol I like that 1  ;D