Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: beastiefishboy on August 05, 2004, 08:46:49
-
i actually went into my lottie for the first time last night!
:)
took me 40 minutes of hacking and slashing to get to the gate tho!
when we finally got in it was great tho!
weve got foxes living under the huge monstrous weed / alien tree things!
and ants nests about 6 feet high!
ok so im exagerrating but.....
so this weekend will be the start of many months hard labour for me and mine!
cant wait to see bare earth!!
-
Well done mate.. I know exactly how you feel! Was there myself a few months back. You will get highs and lows and sometimes just feel is it worth it. Stick with it because it most def is.. I had to plant as I went this year so did not exactly plan it as I would have liked but next year I intend to have a much better setup... I have taken stick from my mates calling me Arthur Fowler and all sorts but its me and the family who are eating decent Veg which actually taste like veg and to top it people keep asking where I have been on holiday.. People pay hundreds of pounds for a tan like this. 8)
-
That's it, Ads, years ago we took lots of stick as then we were young(er) and allotments were regarded as places for old codgers but it didn't deter us and we have reaped the benefits over the years! Only thing (for me anyway) the tan is sorely restricted to the exposed parts of my body - which aren't many - mainly face and arms ;D!
Thank goodness those attitudes are changing fast I feel like punching the aire Yippee every time a newbie signs on here- one thing at least I think we have to thank tv for.
-
One tiny leap for me, ??? although I only look 25 my body keeps reminding me I’m not ;D and listening to some advice from my brand new lottie secretary (who guided me round the site recently) he said “Don’t rush into it or you will lose interest rapidly, map out a small bed 3mtrs x 2mtrs dig that over concentrate on that patch and grow something, strim the grass around the bed and use it as a path.
Repeat the process as and when ready even if it takes a couple of years, you will keep your interest in the Lottie and it will expand at a rate you can cope with”. ::)
Was that sound advice :-\ or was he trying to get out of bringing in the free rotovator, :D he sounded sincere and it does seem to make good sense. ::)
Roy ;D ;D (still excited) ;)
-
It is good advice Roy, honest guv! ;) If you go in guns blazing, you clear a patch, and get absolultely knackered with blisters on your hands and stings on your legs from the darn nettles. Much better to plan your first patch, dig it, get it looking good, so you can plant in it, then start the next patch. When we got our plot, it was head high in nettles, but we cleared a small area, and my lottie neighbour and site secretary gave me a bunch of leeks to plant, and that was it, all the encouragement I needed to keep going, dig a little, make it good, plant a little, dig a little, make it good...blah blah blah. Cor, when I get going I can talk the hind legs of a donkey! ;D ;D ;D
-
Keep talking Emma, I'm enjoying it and learning at the same time. :o
Just had another thought (can be very dangerous) :o Do you Plottie Lottie Peeps tend your Lotties daily, ??? if not how often? ::) Reason I ask is that I tried my hand at growing Radishes in a tiny space in our garden and only missed one day of watering in this heat wave and they shrivelled.
Cheers. :-[
Roy ;D
-
When the kids are at school, I try to go 4 mornings a week, with the possible (Ava permitting) visit at the weekend for a couple of hours. Now the kids are on their hols, I am getting up there a lot less, but my visits are for longer, well, unless I have the kids with me! I drag them there for picking, but when there is work to be done, then Ava or the inlaws look after the little 'darlings' for a couple of hours. The only watering I do is when I first sow seed or first transplant, other than that, I leave the watering to mother nature. Lazy, nope! No piped water, only a tiny stream fed from a spring on the adjoining common, and this is now dry thanks to the sunshine!
-
Thanx 4 that Emma and what I wanted to hear, ;) but what about my Radishes, :o do you think someone has Nuked em? :o I also planted some in pots and managed to harvest a few and they were hot and tasty, can't remember the name but they were the long ones. ;D
Roy. ;D
-
To try and stop things whithering away in the heat on our plot, I tried to get in as much organic matter as I could at the start of the year. This helps hold moisture in the ground. It helps that we are on thick London/Essex clay also ::). The other thing I try to do is to plant smaller things, like the radishes, in amongst larger things, like the lettuce, so the lettuce provide shade and help prevent moisture loss. Dunno if this is good, bad or ugly, but it seems to work. And the long radishes I think are French Breakfast. ;D I think it is a case of setting yourself realistic goals, from starting the digging, right through to what you hope to harvest. If you only have a few hours a week to spare, then you want to try and grow things which can look after themselves, or can get by with less water, or don't need constant picking - like my darn runners at the moment. Hope all of this rambling helps. ;D ;D
-
Hello.
I started on my first allotment last November, and so know how you're feeling Roy - quite exciting but very daunting. My half plot was completely overgrown, 2/3 brambles, 1/3 waist high grass plus lots of other stuff.
Definitely go at it a bit at a time. Starting in December I hacked all the brambles down to ground level and stacked them for burning (they took until Easter to dry out enough to burn!). I found something called a "patio knife" was the best tool ever for clearing brambles - wickedly sharp and with a vicious hook on the end to slice through thick stems/roots.
I strimmed the grass back and then dug my first bed - back breaking stuff with more roots than earth it seemed, but getting your first bed planted certainly gives you the incentive to keep going. I've now got about 3/4 of my plot 'cultivated' - although not entirely weed free - and visit it two or three times a week - quick visits in the evenings to water and weed, longer at the weekends if I can. I'm envious of those people with totally tidy and weed-free plots, but they're all retired it seems!
The remaining quarter of the plot is under thick black weed control fabric, and I'll deal with that this winter when everything's stopped growing so darned fast! Now I know I can grow stuff I'll definitely be using the space next year!
Oh, and we decided to leave some of the grass in place as a 'lawn' (although you couldn't play croquet on it) - not having a garden at home we've now got somewhere to entertain and have BBQs, or relax in the sun when we're too knackered to garden any more - definitely worth considering!
-
Thanx Speedy M, it's all being taken on board. ;)
Do a bit leave a lot.Do a bit leave a lot.Do a bit leave a lot.Do a bit leave a lot.
Do a bit leave a lot.Do a bit leave a lot.Do a bit leave a lot.Do a bit leave a lot. Phew! :o 8) ;D ;)
Roy ;D
-
Roy got to agree there is a lot to be said for clearing a small space, planting it up then moving on. We did it that way and its more encouraging then a vast expance of empty dirt.
Theres still quite a bit you could put in now for instance we have just ordered some onion and garlic sets to put in later in the year and I've just sowed some khol rabi.
It is worth keeping a grassy area for a bench/pets and kids but mostly for the bench as after half hours digging you tend to really NEED to sit down! (ps, keep your eye on skips, our bench is from wood slung into a skip and every bit as good as a bought one)
-
Going for mass clearance of the whole plot. Hiring a petrol strimmer tommorow and I'm going to clear the lot. The reason????? Planting green manures to get the soil nice and fertile. Also to loosen it up a bit before I rotavate the green manure in. Quick tip on mass clearing. With this dry weather, spread the very dry stuff (dry grass) over everything, put bonfire in the middle and light the bonfire. This method cleared almost 3/4 of my plot. Make sure you put in your fire breaks though at the borders of your plot or you could upset the neighbours. ;D
TrailRat
-
I’m scraping my feet on the starting line Jo and waiting for the starting gun to go off, ;D but October still seems a long way off, but am storing all the info as we get nearer. ;)
TrailRat you are making me out of breath. ::) :P
Roy. ;D
-
heres a before and 14 days after Pic of bindweed ,nettles, docs,couchgrass etc.
(http://img61.exs.cx/img61/9442/bindweed1a.jpg)
Sprayed with Roundup here is 14 days after
(http://img61.exs.cx/img61/7798/DSCF45.jpg)
Another Week or so it can be cleared and roots wil be dead as well
can be grown on immediately ..Jim
-
Wow :o Jim looks like you got some hard labour to do there. How far does Round-up go? I was only looking at a bottle in Asda the other day when I picked up a few bargains, wished I’d bought that whilst there, looks like its doing the biz Jim. More pics later perhaps?
Roy ;)
-
:)Hi everyone, I don't have a lottie but I would like to know why when you get one they seem to be always in a bad condition If there are waiting lists why aren't they allocated as they become free?Or do the previous tenants run them into the ground first? :)
-
Yes , first, what you said last ;D ;D ;D
-
;DOh right, thanks Roy, seems a shame though, it makes it hard work from the start. I suppose the interest dwindles off gradually.I wish our lotties were a bit closer.
-
Sorry Val just having one of my silly moments, ::) I haven’t’ put a spade in a Lottie as yet. :'(
I can only assume that by the time the site secretary gets to know when a plot is neglected is when the renter misses next years payment and then is given perhaps another few months to tidy and pay up or give up, which then takes up another growing season that is wasted. :(
I imagine there must be numerous reasons where renters want to hold on to their sites when they were unable to manage the upkeep and found it hard to let go. ???
Maybe a few here that have had good reason and will come forward with their views. :)
Roy ;D
-
The clear a little bit at a time advice is good advice. But what I would say is, don't get scared when the weeds start to come back. What happens is you clear it in the winter and it all looks great. Then suddenly in around early May, the weeds start growing again. And my goodness they grow at such a pace it is overwhelming. It is at this point that you could easily lose heart and think it is a battle that you can't win. This "fast-growing" weed scenario doesn't go on all summer at the same pace. You just have to try and keep on top of it.
As far as neglected plots go, it must vary from site-to-site. On our site at least half the plots are vacant and dreadfully overgrown. There is some threat of development, so we've really got to try and persuade people to take over these plots. I think in the past younger people have shown up, covered a patch, got disheartened and given up. I really think that plot holders should be given much more help and I am trying to suggest the the allotment committee that a working party is the only way forward. A groups of people prepared to do a bit of work on a plot and then get a tenant and also to act as a Swat team when someone is struggling.
Good luck with the clearance project - let us know how you get on.
Sarah.
-
That was a very interesting read Sarah, :) with regard to the piece about the weeds re-growing; you may have read my dilemma in the pond section? :o Well I now have two large pond liners that I think will make good weed suppressants, would this hold them back completely?
The Swat Team idea sounds great too; there must be the odd time when Lottie peeps are just sitting there watching thier crops grow. :-\
I see on our local TV news channel that school children are taking an interest in crop growing, that’s good news. 8)
Roy ;D
-
Sarah-B, what you are suggesting about a work party is precisely how it works at our allotment complex and I think at most, if not all complexes in Holland.
When you rent your lottie, you sign a contract. Among many rules is the one that when you give up your lottie, you leave it clean or lose your deposit. A lottie is rented out completely clean (except for trees if there are any) and recently rotovated.
The members receive a list each year of when the 'work turns' are for every lottie holder. Twice a year everyone has to work a saturday morning, if you can't make it, you can change your date, if you don't show up, you pay a fine AND do a catch up turn. All communal areas and vacant allotments are kept clean and repair work gets done. Usually the work groups consist of 8-12 persons. You get to know the other allotmenteers and learn a lot about growing veggies while working together.
The first year, a new lottie holder is an aspirant member, no structures can be built or trees planted during this first year. All lotties have to be kept maintained, if it is not, the holder receives a warning letter in the middle of the summer. Has it not improved by the end of the summer, off you go. If you leave it messy, the work group will clear it and it's rented out clean to someone else.
All this can only be done if you have an active committee and I'm very grateful that there are people that have the time and are willing to donate it this way. They are not always popular but that comes with the teritory of enforcing rules.
So, you see Sarah, it can be done.
-
Why new allotment holders get gardens that are weeded up is usually because before You can serve a notice to Quit an allotment. The tenant must be in breach of rules as to non cultivating etc..
Also time is usually given before final notice for the tennant to clean it up..
If after this it hasn't been done then the notice is served and the allotment is then transferred to a new tenant..This is how we do it on our plots,
We are fortunate as we do have a waiting list and no neglected allotments
..Jim..
-
hi
I was offered my allotment at end of may ,Just last week given go head to get on plot . The council have are giving me plot rent free until march when fees next get paid as it has taken them this long to clear caravan +++ off site . Last year when we looked at site the plot i was given had weeds over my head ( i am 5ft 2 ) and had not been worked for a few years.
a few more plots on site have been given up this year and so far nobody has been allocated them , sad really as by time they rent out allotment weeds are getting well out of control .
:(
mags
-
;DThanks for all the news about lotties, it makes interesting reading. I did wonder about all the stuff that goes on behind the gates, I saw somewhere that one council are renting out half plots for new comers. That would be a good idea for people who can't manage a full size plot...wouldn't it?...this is from someone who's never had a lottie so don't shoot me down if its not workable. ;D
-
Wowzers Ina! What a very efficient way to run an allotment, and how nice to be given a clear patch so you can start immediately, without having to go through all of the rubbish and weed clearance. We now only have a half plot that is over run with weeds, and that is the other half to my half plot. The chap who currently has that half is incredibly ill, but just can't face giving up his little plot of land yet, and nobody minds. Sometimes there are exceptional circumstances.
-
We have a few like Emma, people who have been there for decades tending their plot and then it has got beyond them, the difficulty is that they may be able to tend them again in the future and so people don't like to throw them off, at least while there are untended plots.
I think we are unusual in that our plots are rented by the sq. m. and so are all different shapes and sizes.
We don't even have a comittee -just one or two people who seem to do things, such as mowing the paths.
Jeremy
-
Yes E.J. for exceptional circumstances most people just chip in and help. Sometimes the work group gets put on the plot of a sick person (or whatever) but usually the allotmenteers nearby will keep it decent. Two years ago our across the path neighbor got sick and together with other neighbors we kept his plot clean for 18 months. No big deal really to run a quick hoe over the plot every now and then after we removed his crops.
The thing that makes it easier on our complex is that we run the whole thing, the council is not involved in any way, so no bureaucratic waiting periods. Of course the normal city ordenances apply to us too like permission for cutting down trees bigger than certain size, keeping the canals open, no bonfires etc.
-
Took the plunge here and bought a strimmer. The unused part is strimmed everytime the vegetation gets approx 8" high so it can't seed. It's also a quick way of tidying up the non-used parts.
Combined with round-up I'm starting to acquire patches of clean soil ready for planting next year.
cc