Topic: How Much Effort Does it Require to Work an Allotment?

[BAK]

I want to produce a quick summary for potential plot holders to give them some idea of what they might be letting themselves in for. Too many newbies fall by the wayside because they did not appreciate what was involved.

I was therefore interested in allaboutliverpool's figures that he quoted on the "half a ton of produce" thread - http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,39627.0.html

"1 hour a week in Winter.
10-20 hours a week in Spring.
1-7 hours a week in Summer
2 hours a week in Autumn".

From my experience I came up with a rough general figure of one hour per week per pole during the main growing season (Mar-Sep), ie 10 hours per week on a full-sized 10 pole plot. This assumes that you are going to keep it relatively weed-free in the main.

Any thoughts - how much time do you spend?

Also interested to hear of the minimum that plot holders get away with ... and how they do it.

[chilli queen]

I will be watching this thread with interest - need to know what I am letting myself in for.  I have to admit that the 20 hours a week mentioned by Allaboutliverpool scared me a bit as I simply don't have that much time to spare. 

[saddad]

We have five plots... but only about 1200sq yds (40 poles) as some are smaller than full plots... I'd say we spend about twice of the maxima posted but there are two of us so the figures seem to be about right..
 ;D

[sarah]

i have a half plot (8 meters by 16).  my approxomate times are

winter couple hours a week
early spring about three hours a week
late spring and summer ten to twelve hours a week
autumn abut three or four hours a week.

thats for a small plot though and i would say that i had to spend more time than that when i started to get the ball rolling as it were.

[BAK]

yes Sarah, I am ignoring the time taken to get the plot ship-shape which is even more of a how long is a piece of string question.

[pg]

Results on an approx 160ft plot:

8 hours a week spring/summer
5 hours a week autumn/winter

But mostly that's because I want to! I grow vegetables from seed (you could buy in mini-plants); collect 'free' mulch and compost material from around the plot (I cut down all the nettles, grass on the verges post insects of course) and prod at things. Time in autumn/winter less because it's cold!

I reckon buying in mini-plants or choosing non-intensive crops plus buying in compost would cut time by half.

[Tee Gee]

Well as others have pointed out time spent is seasonal.

I have two 60ftx30ft plots. and three greenhouses and find that once you are on top of things the time spent relative to the harvest produced is minimal.

It increases substantially if you grow under glass/polythene due to the need to water plants.


A rough guide of my input is as follows;

Jan-Feb; Basically no time at all other than to harvest crops. (Total say 4 hours)

March-May; Again very little but I do spend around 4 hours per week in the greenhouse growing the new seasons crops. (Total say 50 hours)

May-June; Planting out say 15 hours and 10 hours after care; (Total 25 hours)

June-Oct Say 5 hours per week ( 85 hours)

Oct-Nov ; Winter digging 3hours per day for 2-3 weeks (Total say 50 hours)

Nov -Dec; Basically no time at all other than to harvest crops. (Total say 4 hours)

Grand total; circa 220 hours + a little over 4 hours per week over the year.

As I said this is for two plots but that wouldn't alter much for one plot. The difference might amount to around one hour per week (on average) less.

I hope this helps with your calculations!

ps I think what you must tell all your prospective plot holders is;

The first year can be hell if starting from scratch.

Secondly and I think this is the straw that breaks the camels back in most cases, and that is................even after all that hard digging and weed clearing...................the weeds will return annually for as long as they have a plot.

Point out that there is no way out of that  and show them the best plot on the site and state that even these people have to ...............WEED!!

[davyw1]

Two 25 x 30 Yard plots, 2 x 20ft Polly  tunnels,  ( a third one to be built next month ) 2x 6 by 8 aluminium greenhouse,s, 2 self build greenhouse,s.
 A minimum of four hours a day six days a week every day of the year. I knock my heating off during the day so have to return again at night to put it back on.  Never garden on a Sunday.  Always take a coffee break at 11am.
Being in the North East and living right on the coast puts me about a month behind  gardeners further South.
As i grow show produce my season starts again as most people,s is coming to an end in November, so if i want to get the best from my normal produce i have to have every thing completed IE double dug, rotorvated, raked level, soil riddled and stored and so on by the end of next week. This then gives me time to empty and prepare leek trenches, set up my carrot and parsnip tubes and beds for show veg. My completion time is the end of this month. Then my garden becomes enjoyable , even putting the spuds in is a pleasure.

[Barnowl]

Because we both work during the day, I've tried to design the plot (25ft x 55ft) to minimise upkeep and haven't maximised the possible number of beds, instead having broader paths and a small patio area. I regret this sometimes when running out of space for my seedlings but one has to be realistic about the hours you are going to be able to put in and plan accordingly.

[kt.]

The first year took me about 20 hours per week to clear it! Clearing the building site and jungle. I also prepared the ground for the following year, built my chicken Cree, erected the greenhouse, put in paths, built compost bins, waterproofed my shed and chicken Cree, put a gate on the entrance, fixed damaged fencing, put up guttering to catch rainwater. These were one off jobs that will hopefully last ::)

The following timings do not take into account sowing seeds in pots in my greenhouse at home.  Once it was cleared it now takes an average of


10-12 hours per week in spring / summer (I would do more if I had more time)
6-8 hours per week in the autumn (clearing beds once they have been harvested.)
4-5 hours per week in the winter, maximum. (Cleaning tubs, clearing brambles, spreading manure for the following year to name a few jobs.)

2 x 10 minutes daily to feed hens and collect eggs.
2 hours monthly cleaning out the hen house

[Eristic]

Well I think you are all missing the point of having an allotment. It's not about how much work you have to do or how many hours it will take, it should be a part of your lifestyle, chill out time, enjoyment, exercise etc. Nor is it about tonnage. A 10 pole plot can easily produce 2-5 tons of produce but who wants that many parsnips or worzels? How much does a bunch of flowers weigh in pleasure units?

Having an allotment really means a commitment to something you want to do, and should be regular. Once a week EVERY week, twice a week most weeks, Daily is best.

Having an allotment is a lifestyle and should not be broken down into 'How much work will I have to do?' If you see it as work you might as well get a job or some overtime then spend the money.

[ThomsonAS]

Interesting thread. My answer is "about a couple of hours a week more than I've time for!"

I'd add that a lot depends on:

1. The condition of your plot when you take it on (I had a wilderness with carpet, broken glass, random bits of tatty black plastic,  couch, marestail and bindweed. Four years ago on my first season, I managed a bed of broad beans, a block of sweetcorn and some courgetttes. Year 2 was my low point - with the 'naughty letter' from the council. But I've worded on clearing stuff by hand rather than Roundup - and this year, it's clearer that ever - as I cut down on the 'generous' paths between beds to accommodate all the stuff I want to plant. (MESSAGE BEING: DON'T TRY TO DO IT ALL AT ONCE).

2. Your ambitions. (This year I've decided to put a larger area than before over to soft fruit. In years 2 and 3 I was heavy on spuds . I paid the price last year with blight but the digging at least allowed me to wage herbivorous genocide against the d**n weeds - and a wonderfully unexpected council skip the other week allowed me to junk the last of all the cr#p that my predecessor left - with the exception of broken glass.

More than effort, I'm coming to learn that what works for me on mine is PERSISTANCE - trying to leave it, overall, in a better state than I found it every visit!.

[BAK]

Eristic,

I am sure that WE all realise the joys of allotmenting and dont worry about the time put in or the money considerations.

However, there are newbies out there who have romantic notions about producing organic, pesticide free crops but equally have little idea about the effort that they will have to put in to meet their objectives.

My objective is simply to give them some idea of what they are letting themselves in for. For example, I would much rather they asked for a smaller plot that they felt that they could cope with rather than get quickly disillusioned with a larger one ... this could be as little as a quarter plot rather than (say) a half plot. On our site I guestimate that getting on for 50% of newbies quickly fall by the way side ... unfortunately many of them hang on to their plots, cultivating less and less as years go by, thus exacerbating the waiting list.

[Eristic]

I'm not trying to knock you BAK and I blame dumb TV programs for glorifying the activity. The fact remains that every day the plotholder is absent, weeds grow and soil compacts. By the way, the only reason I do not have money considerations is because having no money, I cannot consider spending any. Far too many newcomers seem to think throwing money at the plot will give them an advantage over old duffers like me but usually the time spent fetching, using and returning the machines takes longer than simply spading it over.

Small nursery plots for newcomers is a very good idea with just 1-2 poles max and monthly inspections and short lease as a control. They could then migrate to bigger plots as they become available if they are capable. There will always be a failure rate as reality kicks in just as the puppy for Christmas still wants a walk in Feb.

[Vortex]

I certainly agree that recent TV series that have glorified having an allotment have exacerbated the problem with newbies - you only have to look at the number of "I've got a new plot what do I do now" threads on forums - particularly the BBC Forum.
I think the biggest reason newbies fall by the wayside is not the up keep of a plot but the "Getting it clean and workable" in the first place. Its a lot of hard graft, and can be both back breaking and soul destroying. With techniques such as raised beds and grid gardening you can get away with about 2 hours a week in terms of maintenance, the problem is it may take you 400hours of hard work to that state of affairs.
Unfortunately there is no substitute for experience or for putting in the effort and researching what you may be faced with before even putting your name down on a waiting list.
Aside from the effort of taken to put a plot into a workable state there seem to be several other aspects that hamper newbies most notably
1) they don't know what veg will grow in what conditions
2) they don't know when to sow or plant anything
3) they don't have a plan

[davyw1]

I agree with Eristic on the point of dumb gardening programmes.
What the would be gardener is not told is these the gardeners presenting the programme are growing under perfect conditions with a team to back them up. Some even have the facilities and backing of universities. They are sponsored by a number of firms so therefor don't have to buy fertilizers and so on. It looks good on TV, but its not reality

[5rod]

HI 5ROD HERE
THIS YEAR I HAVE TAKEON1/2 PLOT
EXRA.TOO GET THE PLOT READY I.E
REMOVE ALL COUCH GRASS,WEEDS
AND DUGOVER,MANURE
17 HOURS AND 7 PEAT BAGS FULL OF
COUCH GRASS,LOOKS GOOD NOW
              :D :D :D :D :D

[gardening-gal]

I understand what you are all saying, but we all have to start somewhere. I'm lucky that I have had a chance to grow veg in my garden. So I have a basic idea of what I'm doing.
  Some people are not lucky enough to have a garden big enough to have a go.

 I'm sure all of us have made errors in judgement when it comes to trying something new.  None of us know everything before we start, alot of it we learn as we go along.

 Maybe if you have some newcomers come in why not offer a six month lease instead of a year, with the option of extending to a year.  You could do an inspection at six months so that if its not being tended you can offer it to someone else.
 I'm sure most people will know if its for them after 6 months.

[Vortex]

Hi gardening-gal

I think you're misunderstanding the point that was being made. We're aware that people have to start somewhere, after all we did once, but the problem seems to be that they want everything on a plate these days.
They seem to expect to be able to walk onto a new plot, that is in immaculate condition, and be spoon fed with plant this here and that there, and do this now, and that in 2 months time.
Most don't appear to know what books are or what libraries are for, let alone how to research a subject, or teach themselves.
If they're done their basic research, have a plan in their head or on paper of what they need to achieve and when, they stand a better chance of being able to survive the initial "Oh my god impact" when they first see their new plot.
I'm well aware that no plan every survives contact with the enemy, but if you have no plan in the first place you have no basis upon which to begin.
And a plan is not "I want to grow some veg so my kids know what veg looks like and I know where it comes from and I need some exercise" thats a set of goals.

[MindBodyandSoil]

I myself was a "newbie" some five or six years ago, although I had always grown in a very large garden, allotmenting is very different to growing in the garden! It takes an awful lot of work. I have four 10 pole plots, and, although we've had them for several years now, there are still many things we still have to do. Trouble is, as we've got more groud worked each year, I still find I've got FAR too many seedlings! There is never enough space!!! Now, as I said in my previous thread, on top of my own 4 plots, I have started managing a new project involving 4 plots at a total of 1000sq m. How on earth will I manage so much??? But, with my project, I am aiming to give my mental health service users a solid foundation, and offer all the skills needed to take on their own allotments, perhaps in small groups at first, with us still acting as a support if necessary, so that they wil lnot become overwhelmed, and will be able to help each  other.

I think a lack of basic practical skills is often largley to blame for "newbies" falling by the way side.

On my personal plots, I have people behind me who came an cleared their five plots two years ago, did all the hard work, cleared, weeded, turned the ground etc, then never came back - for the last two years, I've not only been fighting against my own weeds, but also all the god damned seed blowing over from theirs, as their weeds are now rougly 4 feet and all the seed blows over the hedge!!!