Topic: IS IT A GIRL THING?

[betula]

I have been looking at the plans of other peoples plots and I am looking at huge long lines of soldier like rows of vegs.
I am trying to make my plot look more like a garden with grass and a seating area.When I tend my vegs I like to feel I am in a garden.If my Grandkids vi st
I want them to feel they are in a beautiful place.
IS it a female thing or are there any Guys out there who feel the same.
Also ,what do you do with such vast quantities of veg?I know you freeze some and give some away but some of the blogs I have looked at make me wonder why so much? :o

[Lauren S]

Hi Betula and welcome to A4A.
I think you have to grow more than you need because...
1. The weather can take some, i.e frost, strong winds and heavy rain.
2. Critters of all descriptions like to lunch on your produce too.
3. You need to grow more than you need so you can swap, exchange or give to friends, family, neighbours or use as a *payment* for favours you've had done. i.e I'm growing this year more runners than I need to give to my *home neighbour* in exchange for all the loo roll tubes he gives me. A friend has given me posts for my lottie and I will be growing him some chillis and garlic. For my *lottie neighbour* I have grown some brassicas.

[Uncle Joshua]

Do what you feel is right Betula, we added flowers and a few seated area's to our allotment last year and it looked much better for it.

[saddad]

This is another way of doing it Betula...


My OH did it, I was driven off to get a more traditional plot, now she is trying to muscle into those as well...




That's how it should be!

Not that...
 ;D

[betula]

You understood me perfectly saddad.Congratulations to your OH.A work of art.I love it.Wish I could create that nearly as well. :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

I started off to have a traditional plot, found my family don't go for our cold-climate veg much, and started growing flowers and planting trees. It certainly makes it more interesting. Growing some of the more unusual flowers from seed is a particular challenge.

[Pesky Wabbit]

I have a large plot, but resist the urge to fill it. I still grow too much, but less than I used to.

I tend to fill areas with herbs like various sages, lavenders, mints, rosemary, borage etc.

Its not necessary to plant things in straight lines - the plants don't know !

[Deb P]

I'm sure it's not an exclusively female way of doing things, but walking around our plots I can tell pretty much which plots are mainly tended by women as they are inclined to show a mixture of flowers and veg and have other features.

It would be boring if we all did the same thing though?

I like a mixture of raised beds and 'long rows' on my plot, and have tried to make other features like apple cordons and a willow den decorative as well as practical. Ultimately it reflects your personality I suppose, but keeping a plot can be a great way of expressing your creative side! ;D

[sarah]

i thinkyou answered your own question really, its about what you want from your plot.  there are many more people nowadays who dont have space in their own garden ar have no gardens at all and an allotment in these circumstances can be a haven and as saddad has shown it can be a beautiful place.  then there is the more practcal side of allotments which is the regimented rows of veg which is really a space for producing as much as possible; its an easier and more productive method. i thinkyou have to do what suits you best. i like to get as much out of mine as possible but also grow flowers for my house. but then i have a garden aswell.  ;)

[Robert_Brenchley]

It's not new; before Victorian urban sprawl, most towns were surrounded by gardens which were leased to anyone who could afford them; they weren't cheap to rent. People had them on long leases, and very often they were orchards and places to go and relax, with flowers and veg and everything.

[Emagggie]

Saddad, Mrs Saddads plot is just beautiful!
I'm a girlie and my plot is a mix of allsorts, my (male) plot neighbour said it was 'homely' ;D

[Cuke]

This is my first year on the plot and I must admit, looking at the space I've got and what I'm planning to grow and comparing it to the amount of veg we go out and buy there's a massive imbalance at the moment. So, either we'll be eating loads more veg soon or we'll be giving loads away. I'd imagine reality will be somewhere in between, we'll undoubtedly eat more fresh veg as it'll be ours and easy to come by, but we'll also freeze lots and plan to give lots away to family and friends as well.

I think more than half the fun of having an allotment is in the growing, the eating is lovely too but I'd much rather enjoy growing loads and worry about what to do with the excess afterwards than grow less and only meet our basic food needs. Like you say though, it’s nice to make the allotment into a place to come and spend time as well as a productive asset. We’re not going for the long regimented straight lines of veg some people do, smaller beds with lots of paths, some flowers and a nice dedicated seating area is the way to go for us. 

I do wonder about people who grow loads of the same stuff though, the guy who had the plot before us left hundreds (seriously) of carrots and beetroots rotting in the ground, surely it makes more sense to grow less of a wider variety of veg than rows upon rows of the same stuff.

[Barnowl]

Our first year OH  complained that people only had to look at the plot to tell l what I do for a living (clue: Monty Python - I want to be a lion tamer).

Managed to soften it up a bit since then, but there's a long way to go to reach Saddad's dizzy heights.

[saddad]

Not guilty... mine is the one with the polytunnel... OH has gone mad with the pottager effect on my first plot!



another view of the pottager.



I'm sure Deb P won't mind you having a peek at her plot either..




 ;D

[betula]

I'm lovin it ;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

The potager looks nice, but it's not very practical. As soon as you crop anything it's going to spoil the effect. I wonder how much they really were grown in the past.

[saddad]

The irritating thing is often it doesn't get eaten... it would spoil the plan.. the lettuce bolt... but the leeks and red cabbage can be harvested when there are no visitors...  ;D

I was really disappointed with Villandry as I couldn't get near enough to the produce...
 :-\

[angle shades]

 :)Hi betula,

Grow your own way,and do your own thing

I grow in blocks in the cottage garden fashion,everything mixed together,roses,herbs,fruits,veg etc, confuses the pests ;D

the old boys near me grow hundreds of cabbages,beetroot etc in rows and never eat them, it's their choice ;)

I have a blue shed, with matching chairs dotted about the plot,

everything the old boys throw away, ie old galvanised watering cans, quaint old wheelbarrows I save to either use or decorate the plot,

my lottie looks like a garden, has a wildlife area and orchard and is my sanctuary from this crazy world ;D happy growing /shades x

[betula]

:)Hi betula,

Grow your own way,and do your own thing

I grow in blocks in the cottage garden fashion,everything mixed together,roses,herbs,fruits,veg etc, confuses the pests ;D

the old boys near me grow hundreds of cabbages,beetroot etc in rows and never eat them, it's their choice ;)

I have a blue shed, with matching chairs dotted about the plot,

everything the old boys throw away, ie old galvanised watering cans, quaint old wheelbarrows I save to either use or decorate the plot,

my lottie looks like a garden, has a wildlife area and orchard and is my sanctuary from this crazy world ;D happy growing /shades x

   You sound so much like me.I have old tin baths,wrought iron pot stands,little mini watering cans and candle holders on my plot.I have always got my eye open for something along those lines.
How is Lincoln doing?I lived in Grimsby for eight years and often went on day trips .Is steep hill still as steepLOL.Loved Louth too.

[angle shades]

 :) I forgot about the tin baths ;D


I've also got wrought iron gates! anything to be different,


and yes steephill is still steep ;D/ shades x