Allotments 4 All
General => News => Topic started by: Unwashed on June 05, 2009, 14:08:55
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Bit on Radio4 today (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00kn0ks) about that chap in Cheltenham - fast forward 18 minutes in.
The question was 'should councils be telling us more strictly what to grow on our allotments now that waiting lists are so long'.
It's an important question and it does nothing to inform the debate by linking it to situation in Cheltenham where the council have bent over backwards to accomodate a very poor allotment gardener - latest is that the council have allowed the chap to keep one of his plots.
It's a condition of the Allotments Act that a council allotments must be mainly used for growing fruit and veg, but councils are over-reaching themselves if they want allotmenteers to do more than that. And the very worst tyrany on an allotment is the busybody who tries to impose their standards on everyone else.
Councils who understand little of allotment culture think that sheds, ponds, patios, lawns, etc are now taking up space that should be intensively cultivated for fruit and veg, but that's very wrong. All of those things are central to allotment culture - not for everyone, but that's the point - allotments are a celebration of diversity.
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allotments are a celebration of diversity
Have to agree with that particular statement Unwashed !
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And none more diverse than mine.
It would take a real clued-up team of experts to evaluate what is food and what is just flowers. Then they would have to consider the herbs, medicines and companion planting. Some of my best veg has the nicestt flowers.
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The site I'm on is called allotment and leisure gardens... so as long as you do something there, it's fine.
I can see why people get hacked off with uncultivated plots though... I wouldn't want one next-door to my plot, and I'd be annoyed if I were on a waiting list and plots weren't being used.
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Have your sweet potatoes ever flowered Eristic?
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Bit on Radio4 today
i can see some site's are full but there are many out there that are not..
on my site i have a waiting list of about 2 mins (that is how long it takes for me to unlock the gate and show somone around)
all im saying is there is a good site in hillingdon begging for more peeps to come and dig at ashford ave
get in there
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Have your sweet potatoes ever flowered Eristic?
Always. Why bother with boring white-flowered bindweed when you can have lovely deep pink ones.
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ive can do a google earth picky about two years ago of my allotment
(http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj257/studyoulike/ashfordallotment-1.jpg)
as you can see from that shot it nearly went under
just two left on a 32 plot site .
i took the middle green one plot 16
(it pays to look on google earth before you take a plot on ;D)
ps: im pushing my sie realy hard and the consil are on my side ive even got them to put new lavs/bogs in
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Good for you- hope you get some takers soon.