Topic: Two Questions

[Sinbad7]

Why are plots on allotment sites divided across the plot and not down the middle of a standard plot?

And, if your site has a waiting list of say 15 people how does a starter/taster plot help?  Say if you split a plot in 3 and gave them all a bed each, when a plot becomes vacant who do you let it to out of the three, presuming all these 3 starter/taster plot holders have kept their bed's cultivated?

[ceres]

Most of our full plots, while around 10 rods in size, are very long and skinny so splitting them lengthwise would give an even skinnier plot.  There is one side of our site where we don't split plots because of shading and dryness from trees behind the site which would make the 'back' plot less attractive.

We don't do starter plots.  Our smallest plots are halves and our experience is that a majority of newbies who take a half re-join the waiting list to get another half.

[SMP1704]

I think the answer is to not call these mini plots either starter or taster as that raises an expectation of progression, which may not exist.

We are turning one of our plots into mini plots roughly 12x5 - to satisfy the new breed of dibblers, who like to come to the plot with their young children and spend of couple of hours on a sunny weekend.

If people on the list choose to take one of these minis, then that is their plot - if they want more they go back on the waiting list.

I'll find out next year how well this idea works in practice :D