Topic: how lucky am I?

[campanula]

My lottie neighbour, Reg, has not been seen all summer so, being a nosy northern woman, I went round to his house to see why. Reg and Dorothy are 83 & 84 and have been debating giving up their allotment as they can no longer manage. Reg has been a plot holder for 43 years so I was horrified to hear that they felt so unable to cope. Straight away, I offered assistance - If I did the heavy work, they could just bumble around and give advice. Sadly though, they could barely manage the walk to the site and were reliant on friends and family to drive them there. 43 years of experience - how could I let that go to waste. Frankly, I bullied them into agreeing to keep the lease although, with their suggestions, I would take on the plot and do the work. They even declined any of the produce (but we shall see when it starts growing!) So, I am going to pay the rent and have the use of the plot and they can come and 'have a beer and a biscuit' (as Reg likes) when they get a chance. And, they have sold me their shed and petrol strimmer and hose. Dorothy grows flowers so I have been digging what I can and sorting their garden at home to widen their borders for planting the extra flowers. - I will persuade my sweetheart to make them some raised beds (as bending is a big problem - How fantastic is that? I sorta felt a bit guilty in case there was a waiting list but R&D won't have it any other way now - they get to be part of their beloved plot and I get to pick their brains.So,last spring, it seemed hopeless that I would get any sort of plot and now I have 2 (with my own Geoff Hamilton thrown in. Great day!! ;D

[good_life_girl]

Lucky you! It's nice to be able to do something for other people sometimes isn't it.  I felt very bad at the weekend, hobbling off home after a couple of hours digging because it was getting dark, when the old chap opposite (3 times my age at least) had been there all day, dug about 20 times what  I had and was hopping on his bike to go home!

[campanula]

Ahem.....now some of the initial elation has worn off, I have been down to inspect the site looking through new eyes......I have to say that I am practically weeing myself. One year ago, I was a hostel manager (for ex-offenders) with a minute garden - I calculated it at one fiftieth of an acre. From nowhere (mid-life crisis or summat), I throw it all in and set up with my sweetheart as garden designers and landscapers. Then I get my first lottie (which I have only actually prepared 2thirds of)as a vegetable know-nothing, and now, I have 2 of them and will be scrutinised by an old geezer with like a million years more experience then me- thank god for this site!

[Hot_Potato]

I am so impressed with everything I've read......what a lovely thing to have done....ok I know you've gained a smashing lottie site and a shed but.....R & D must be so happy to have met you....they will love being asked for advice and still feel part of the lottie.....good on yer too for chucking up your old job......and trying something new.....so many of us would love to have the courage to do just that!!....sounds as if you've got a real sweetie by your side too.....enjoy the flowers - sure you'll be a whiz with the veggies too - old Reg will keep an eye on you I'm sure.....H.P.

[campanula]

Thank you so much Hot Spud! I was thinking that I sounded insufferably smug and self-satisfied (with Catholic and Jewish grandparents, I really KNOW about guilt).

Also, I am not brave.

Cheers Suzy

[Mrs Ava]

hehehehehe ......you really are insufferably smug and self-satisfied campanula....hehehehehe...  only joking matey - bloody lucky and an all round nice chick is what I would call ya!   ;)

[Hot_Potato]

Oh Campanula.....I know ALL about guilt too!! and that's without the Catholic & Jewish influence!!....just loved being called Hot Spud!.....wish I'd thought of that when choosing my name!!  ;)...I've got a real name too...it's Maggie (otherwise H.P.)

[gavin]

Nice one, campanula - wish we'd done the same for "our" elderly Polish gentleman, Karl.  But he had a heart attack in mid-winter, so knew nothing until he turned up in spring to take home some stuff - and by that time his plot was already re-let.

Very sad to see him leave - it would have been good to find some way of keeping his connection.

Sad to see how his beautifully productive plot has been neglected so far by the new tenants too - he was far and away the best gardener among us.  Ah well

All best - Gavin

[campanula]

I am blushing now.

cheers, suzy

[ina]

I agree on the value of advice from the old time allotmenteers. Besides sharing their knowlegde and know-hows, it has happened that they would share things I'm not so crazy about..... chemicals. I garden biologically and it is so hard when one of the old timey ones comes over and starts spraying my veggies with 'good stuff' and I have to stop him in a polite manner.

When, in the beginning I knew nothing and took all their advice as the gospel, how can one start disagreeing? After all, they have 40+ years experience and the roles of teachers and student were set in the beginning. I may sound ungrateful but I want to do it my own way while nice old men become a bit pushy, wanting me to plant their extra seedlings I don't care about, accept their excess veggies I don't like, use chemicals I don't want etc. etc. Insisting I do not plant my runner beans in the same place as last year and even when I tell them how and where I get my info, they try to make me do it differently.

I manage to always stay nice and respectful, I have to wiggle my way out of things I don't want and I feel that my opinions about gardening and the environment are not taken seriously by the old timers. It blew their minds that I won first price of mixed gardens from the allotment complex last year and one of them told me I should see it as encouragement price to go on with gardening. Shoooooooooooot, first price and even that didn't convince them hahaha.

Still, I am forever grateful for the help and advise from experienced gardeners. I enjoy their company almost all of the time but I just want to tell you that there is a down-side to everything and how you position yourself in the beginning sets the stage for later on. But what do I know, I've only been gardening for five years hehehe.

[campanula]

Our site is so small - 14 plots in total so I have been quite pleased to get any feedback from fellow plotters.I can see how different gardening on an allotment is to gardening at home - you really are on public view - certainly when we spread our manure, we had an amused audience - steaming hot day, standing on top of a huge mountain of...poo on the back of our pick-up, heaving it into what felt like 300 barrow loads!
I know I would be enraged if someone came and sprayed my plot so I guess I would put my cards on the table at the outset - no chemicals!
I probably will feel a bit of an obligation to Reg, but he seems to look forward rather than back. I think though, he is just pleased that the soil he knows so intimately, will continue to be used as we have actually lost one end plot which got so overgrown with brambles that the council stopped letting it.
I think our site is going through a seachange anyway as several old timers have stopped during the last 2 or 3 years - there are still at least 2 plots which are also not being cultivated and as the rent has not run out, they are not being officially re-let. I am new here and I think that 3 or 4 plots have just been taken on last year but there seems a definate move to a more organic approach.