Hi all,
Had an absolutely great time at the allotment site! I'm really eager to get going now. The site gets full sun all day, is on top of a hill so a little breezy, but no worries! It's a very big site, and is split in 2 halves. Here are my notes I made;
1. Security - few/no problems with vandals, fencing most of the way around, padlocks on the gates and water taps
2. Annual rent would be around 20 pounds for a 20ft x 40ft plot
3. On our half of the site, there are 3 water taps, although the nearest one is around 100 yards away. Water is 5 pounds 60 a year, and hosepipes are only allowed to fill up water butts
4. Normally, as our area is overgrown, there would be a 50 pound rotivation fee, but the manager will get it done for free as a large area is being done in one go, and she would like to get it sorted - she said something about getting it done next week
5. Greenhouses and sheds ARE allowed on the allotment
6. Soil is mainly clay, but after having it rotivated and manure added, most other plots look like they have excellent soil
7. Soil, manure etc. can be delivered, as long as the delivery vehicle can get to the plot
8. There is an allotment shop which sells seed potatoes, onion sets etc. and it is open on Wednesdays and Sundays
9. Parking is available just outside the site, but if it is full, you can always drive your car up to your allotment
10. You get a key to open the gate and water taps once you've payed the rent
11. There is a committee, but the chairman died on Sunday, so it's a bit manic
Here are some of the pics I took
This is a picture of the site on which our allotment is going to be based...we'll be sorting out borderlines shortly with the manager, so I can't really draw on the picture where it is, or how big it's going to be!
Another picture of the site...if you look at the background, you can see Redditch Town Centre, and St. Stephens Church
I like taking pictures of grass! Our allotment isn't all of that land, about a third I reckon
This is a picture of another persons allotment. This allotment was taken over in Winter, and as you can see, it has a very nice soil structure! If you look to the right of it, you can see a strip of grass, which leads up to our 'to-be' plot, just over the hill
As I said earlier, the site is split in two halves (by a public pathway, although this is fenced off. This side is full, so our plot is on the other side. However, the key we would get opens both gated, and the shop is on this side.
This is a picture overlooking our side of the allotments - it's very panoramic!
Again, another picture of our 'to-be' allotment, and again, not all of it!
Annnnnd one last picture of our 'to-be' allotment - and to think....you're supposed to leave the allotment in the state you found it!
I am really excited about this! I will definitely be getting an allotment, no matter what dad says! Just one query, dad estimates that the size of our plot would be around 20ft x 40ft...personally, I think this is a tad to small, so I might write to the manager as she said we could change the size! There are 9 rotational beds I would like to include, plus at least 5 permanent ones, and a sitting area, and a compost area, and a flower bed an a shed/greenhouse! I was just wondering, how big is everyone elses allotment, and how many good sized beds would you get on it? I'll let you know any further progress on this, and I'll try and keep you updated with pics! Hope you enjoyed reading this, I certainly enjoyed visiting! Thanks :)
Pete
