Topic: oh dear - my first ever letter!

[pigeonseed]

Yes I wouldn't take mine to the allotment, what a nightmare! So much work stopping them trashing veg/injuring themselves (I leave it to you to decide which is worse).

Mine stay at home when I go to the allotment, a bit of peace and quiet as well... sshhh!  ;)

(PS My OH is with them - before anyone alerts social services!  ;D)

[lottie lou]

Thanks for that tip Saddad, I just thought it was the slugs that wrecked my celeriac.

[brownowl23]

Excellent I think youve done really well considering how difficult it can be sometimes to get things done with children in tow.

Thanks it is a challenge with kids in tow but I am up for a challenge. Im sitting here planning my plot for this year and working out what seeds I want to buy. Im also looking on the potato threads to see how to get big tatties. Ive got my tatties ordered just waiting for them to come although I may hit wilkos for some more :)

Ive got my tattie plot dug and carpeted, just waiting for the snow to melt to be able to get down and fertilize it.

saddad I think that lack of water must have been my celeriacs problems if they are a marsh plant. Perhaps I wont bother with them this year.

[emmy1978]

Good on you Brownowl! I had my first plot when the girls were 7 and 5- it was hard work and a nightmare in the holidays but they got so much out of it-including all the strawbs the thieving little beggars!
It always seems to be the newbies who are given     untended/neglected/nightmare plot who are then beaten around the head with a stick to bring it up to show standards-the other plots on the site have often been tended by the same people for years and look great. It seems with the rise in popularity of allotments that a quick fix is expected when we all know that's just not how it works. Love to you both Pigeonseed and Brownowl-I've been there and it's not nice-especially when you are working your butt off and love it so much. XxX

[grawrc]

Well I'm the one that has to send the letters on our site and boy do I hate it! :( :( I alway try to find out if there's a problem first or to organise some helping hands for folk that take on a ghastly plot. My biggest problem is the folk that don't get back to me or pretend it's not happening.... if there's no communication you can't make things happen!
Not a criticism of you two btw! Some days I love my allotment and others I just wish it didn't swallow up so much of my life. And I'm retired and have no-one to worry about but myself.

[brownowl23]

HI Grawc - it must be frustrating when people dont communicate. The first thing I did when we got our letter was to write back and explain the situation and to write out a plan of action that we hoped we could realistically get done before the next inspection ( weather permitting), we got most of it done.

We have a couple of bits of plot that still need to be tackled before out next inspection due soon so im hoping that i will at least be able to get it carpeted, to stop the weeds so they see im doing something. Even better I hope for some decent enough weather to be able to put my boots on and get digging. After all undug earth is wasted plot.  :o

How did the inspection go pigeonseed.

[pigeonseed]

How did the inspection go pigeonseed.

I haven't called him yet - last couple of days pretty hectic at work (plus I chickened out!)
It's still under snow atm anyway. So I don't know if he'll have been.

Well I'm the one that has to send the letters on our site and boy do I hate it!   I alway try to find out if there's a problem first or to organise some helping hands for folk that take on a ghastly plot. My biggest problem is the folk that don't get back to me or pretend it's not happening.... if there's no communication you can't make things happen!

Grawrc - that sounds like a lot of work! I do sympathise. I have emailed and called our inspector twice, so I'm wary of erring the side of over-communication!

I suppose the way you do it, grawrc, being fair, and finding out what's happening first - that's so much more work than the way these people are doing it. Perhaps he can't be bothered. Perhaps his employers have told him not to listen to excuses.

Maybe I should call him... aargh!!!

[elvis2003]

HI Grawc - it must be frustrating when people dont communicate. The first thing I did when we got our letter was to write back and explain the situation and to write out a plan of action that we hoped we could realistically get done before the next inspection ( weather permitting), we got most of it done.

We have a couple of bits of plot that still need to be tackled before out next inspection due soon so im hoping that i will at least be able to get it carpeted

brownowl,check you are allowed carpets first,as we certainly are not

[pigeonseed]

I called on Thurs and the inspector hadn't made it into work because of the snow! I don't think there'll be inspections till this coming week.

Lovely to be on allotment again today - kind man called Ian in Hastings Sainsbury's saved me two banners and called to tell me they were ready. Weighted down with loads of bricks and rusty bits of iron bar, they have covered another patch!  :)

Thanks for the brilliant suggestion, Betty!

I'll post a photo later, I feel quite pleased with it - I've never used covering before.

[Jeannine]

Hi, I think you will find that being the New Year these letters go out more or less automatically to any site not up to snuff regardless of how long you have had it. Just plod on and show progress as you are able, and keep a diary and pictures to show progress. Keep in touch with the inspector fella.

I agree with the idea of hiring a machine to chop everything down, it is amazing just how much difference that will make from the inspectors point of view, then straightaway focus on one area and get that tidy, keep cutting down if you have to  or cover it while at the same time enlarge the cultivated part.

Whatever you do..don't lose heart and please don't be put off by the garden wonders of this world that claim they can clear and cultivate a plot overnight, it is not realistic. Take heart from slow steady  progress, you might well be clearing on a very proficient level which will pay off in the long run.

Clearing an overgrown plot is a very difficult job, give yourself a big pat on the back for doing so.

Take care and chin up!!

XX Jeannine

[pigeonseed]

Thanks Jeannine!

Here are some photos of the plot - it doesn't photo well, due to being a strip about 4m wide and extremely long! So here it is in bits. Camera phone so poor quality I'm afraid!


April 09, when I got it. Green filter on the camera - only noticed when I got indoors afterwards!


soon afterwards - summer 09


Jan 10 - apple tree, and latest addition - supermarket banners, weighted down with debris found on site, another patch is conquered!

[pigeonseed]

Oh My gawd! I just got a horrible shock - an email popped up:

i am afraid that when i inspected the site today there had not been any recent activity as far as i could see ,    a notice to quit will be forwarded to terminate your tenancy in one month.

thankyou for your interest in this matter.

:o :o :o
I called him straight away and said 'I think you must be looking at a different plot.' and turns out, he was! My plot was never in question.

Oh god all the fussing and worrying.  ::)

But it might be that I'm on the wrong plot, because the numbering system might be wrong. And so I might have been cultivating someone else's plot!


Should I be worried or relieve?  :D

[Borlotti]

The plot thickens.

[Mortality]

Oh My gawd! I just got a horrible shock - an email popped up:

i am afraid that when i inspected the site today there had not been any recent activity as far as i could see ,    a notice to quit will be forwarded to terminate your tenancy in one month.

thankyou for your interest in this matter.

:o :o :o
I called him straight away and said 'I think you must be looking at a different plot.' and turns out, he was! My plot was never in question.

Oh god all the fussing and worrying.  ::)

But it might be that I'm on the wrong plot, because the numbering system might be wrong. And so I might have been cultivating someone else's plot!


Should I be worried or relieve?  :D

Oh my...
Better get one of them to show you the right plot or confirm that you have the right one.
I thought the council reps are suppost to show you where your plot is ??

[Old bird]

Hope all goes well Pidgeonseed!

What a fairly basic and apalling mistake tho I hope that the plot you are working on is yours!!

Good luck it looks as tho you are making good progress.

Old  Bird

[Trevor_D]

How can such a basic mix-up have happened?

OK, I only look after one site, not a whole Borough, but there must be someone on the site who knows one plot from another? When I show someone a new plot I walk round it with them, and if the boundaries are even vaguely uncertain I mark out the corners with stakes. And we have maps up showing who's got which plot.

Good luck!

[chriscross1966]

One of the few rules that we have on our site apart from the council ones (no chickens or other livestock but bees are OK) is that we all have to display our plot number near the front of the plot.... luckily I inherited a really robust metal sign with mine, which is now wired to the gate...... You really would struggle to make a mistake like that on ours.... that siad this is council busybodies we're dealing with......

chrisc

[saddad]

I'm so pleased for you... and if it isn't your plot what has the tenant been doing ?  :-X

[pigeonseed]

well there are little wooden posts with numbers on at the side of each plot. But which side?
No one showed me round - they sent me a key in the post. I also very rarely see anyone at all on there. And the council workers only work weekdays, so I can't meet him easily to sort it out.

I looked round, and it looked like the numbers were to the right of the plot, as one plotholder had his plot fenced off with string, wrapped round the post, on the right.

So I saw plot 45 and thought - wow brilliant, it's just grassed over! I took it, sent back the contract and went down there - there was a man digging on my plot! He said mine was the one next door - which was all tall brambles.

So to make sure we asked the other couple of plot-holders who were nearby and they said they weren;t sure but they thought the posts were on the left.

So I started battling the brambles. Meanwhile man next door has never been back! Now it looks like that was my plot all along!!!

The council inspector says the posts are on the left until you get to my row of 'back' plots, when they're on the right, then they switch back to the left again!  ::) ::)

Of course they could have mentioned it when they offered me the plot...  ;D

[cornykev]

The crafty bugger saw the brambles and swapped plots, so it looks like he's getting thrown off and he bloody well deserves it, he's nicked the better plot and still can't be bothered with it.  >:(
Somebody should be there with you the day you start, show you your plot and the boundaries, the do's and don'ts and good luck with everything, it seems someone else has been shirking I'd go bloody mad, but that's my way, I'm sure  your a lot more level headed.   :P    ;D ;D ;D