sorry lottie lou,but ive got to disagree with you there,our plot was the worst ive ever seen,brambles taller than us the entire length of it,and we got it done in months.i think if you cant get a plot to 75% in a year,it should go to someone that can,otherwise the land is being wasted.
rach
x
sorry lottie lou,but ive got to disagree with you there,our plot was the worst ive ever seen,brambles taller than us the entire length of it,and we got it done in months.i think if you cant get a plot to 75% in a year,it should go to someone that can,otherwise the land is being wasted.I think that's a bit harsh. If you can't maintain a plot, then sure, it's too big and you have to give some up, but getting on top of weeds takes way more effort than maintaining it, and if you're to do it without weedkiller which is perfectly reasonable, it'll take at least a year - a couple of years on heavy clay. There'll always be enthusiasts (like me and you) who'll do it in less, but it's not reasonable to expect everyone to have that much time and dedication. Allotments are hobbies for a lot of us, but first and foremost an allotment is where your average working woman grows fruit and veggies to feed her family, and it rightly takes its place in life's priorities.
rach
x
i do expect people to have the of time to cultivate the size of plot they choose! im sick of people taking on too much land then wasting it,its happened a lot this year,sorry,im just having a moan!Then stand down and get your perspective back.
;D blimey unwashed! i clearly said i was just having a moan! now who is being harsh!i do expect people to have the of time to cultivate the size of plot they choose! im sick of people taking on too much land then wasting it,its happened a lot this year,sorry,im just having a moan!Then stand down and get your perspective back.
I'll look like a clay model of myself when i get back. ;D
I'm going to try and think of something more positive, like next year's plans.
Is there any way you could cover some of the offending areas up with tarps / plastic sheeting / cardboard
Joe Swift hasn't been seen on his allotment for ages, so he will get a letter soon, so you are not alone.
I can't buy anything, but I wonder if any shops have anything useful they throw out normally...
Have you tried freecycle for tarps etc? That might be worth a shot?I have! I put a request in today.
I think the man dealing with Hastings allotments is quite reasonable, Clive someone or otherIt's him! Glad to hear he's reasonable. ;D I'm on Pauls Field, what about you, Corinne?
If you have a large supermarket near you it might be possible to get the advertising banners they use.That's a fantastic idea! Maybe they will let me have some of their Christmas ones.
I'm on Fernbank, where's Pauls Field? ??? I haven't a clue where that one is....
Judges postcards (on the Bexhill Road) often have pallets outside with notes on to say help yourself.Ooh! That's useful to know! Thank you!
Hope the physio goes wellThank you - apparently I should see some improvement within 6 weeks - hooray! I was doing my exercises wrong though, so that was a waste of the last month! ::)
I would also make sure he is talking about the correct plot and not someone elses!Do you know that has also crossed my mind!
QuoteI'm always envious of people whose sites rotavate or give a discount to overgrown plots.
Our council have a policy of giving the first part of the year (before the next payment) free so we can spend the rent on weedkiller. However I have thought that this gives people an easy reason to give up after a few weeks - they haven't put any money down so off they go.
I've had my two plots for nearly three years now and I've just about cleared them. I only have a pile of soil and weeds where I made the mistake of dumping grass sods as I cleared, I didn't use weedkiller and have cleared them both by hand... with the odd bit of help from the chickens. It is slow going so I'm suprised they're not a bit more lenient.
Hope it goes well.
It makes me think that the system is not working - the aim isn't to get as many people to the top of the waiting list as possible, it's to get people growing veg. And if they fail, that's the true waste of a plot. I wonder whether our site should get a load of these plot rotavated so people find it less off-putting. And maybe split them into smaller plots?
if you've got a few horrendous and offputting plots you're making much better use of them to turn three or even four people per year per plot off the list than you are breaking them down into manageable bitsWhat an awful thought. I hadn't thought of it like that. Mind you, it's probably easier to let people pootle along, growing veg, than have to issue letters and more letters. It's work for him as well and quite boring - he probably has to listen to lots of begging and excuses (for example me!)
make sure you have some picsYes I went today - I have really missed being able to garden this week, it's made me quite grumpy! I went in, only the fox's footprints on the whole site apart from mine. And I took some photos of my plot.
The allotment federation might be able to help you.
The 10 helpful hints made me laugh, considering your situation, rather ironic
Brownowl, yours is not the same situation. Pigeonseed has taken over a derilict plot on heavy clay and she's quite reasonably finding it difficult to get 75% cultivated within the year, and the idiot at the council is threatening her with eviction in the worst winter we've had for a generation.
If I understand you right, your family committments are preventing you from spending sufficient time on the plot. It's fundamental really: Use it or lose it.
Am sure on mine it was 25% first yr, 50% 2nd and 75% in the 3rd year... Same council, different rules?It's their new extra-strict contracts, in an attempt to reduce the waiting list.
Oh and I had some rather unsucessful celeriac, need to investigate what I did wrong there.
I can do grumpy too some days..Me too - I was grumpy at the weekend. I think being snowed off the allotment is bad for me (and those who live with me!)
Extra strict contracts! blimey I'd better get my backside in gear.If you've signed the old contract, I don't think you'll have anything to worry about.
Im in Sidcup.
We were lucky to have inherited alot of fruit, but we werent expecting 40lb of strawberries alone from the fruit burried under the weeds. At one stage I was picking fruit for 2 hours every other night. I love soft fruit though but feared I may turn into a strawberry or raspberry. I do love the golden raspberries though I didnt realise they existed.
The veg I am eating now ( cabbage broccoli leeks etc) is part of the plot that we dug when we got our cultivation letter. We did as much as we could even though we appealed on it. the site had a rubbish pile at the entrance so I couldnt get the double buggy on site myself (im only tiny) I had to wait till the weekend so hubby could lift the bugggy and do one wheelies over the rubbish pile to get on site. the paths between the plots arent even wide enough for a wheel barrow so he has to one wheel the buggy all the way. So that restricted our diggin time.
This year I hope the boys can join in with us. Hopefully they wont go for trying to replant the tatties when im diggin them up!
They do like to help water but thier feet end up as wet as the plants as they seem to manage to water inside their wellies. Its great for families to grow thier own veg though even at this age, at least they will grow up knowing where it comes from and what it looks like, unlike some kids these days.
Excellent I think youve done really well considering how difficult it can be sometimes to get things done with children in tow.
How did the inspection go pigeonseed.I haven't called him yet - last couple of days pretty hectic at work (plus I chickened out!)
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!
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
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.:o :o :o
thankyou for your interest in this matter.
Oh My gawd! I just got a horrible shock - an email popped up:Quotei 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.:o :o :o
thankyou for your interest in this matter.
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
The Good King Henry can have a proper home then...You were going to send round social services, saddad! No it will have a good home, I have given you my word! ;D
Dh has been given unexpected gardending leve pending redundancy so I think he is at some point very soon going to take his gardening leave literally and get down the lottie.
Well the redundancy could be a blessing in disguise. his employers dont believe in work life balance- well they believe in the owrk bit but dont believe in a life outside. He been there a while too sso im kind of hoping something will come along quickly - but not too quickly for the lotties sake- so that we still end up with a bit of a nest egg.Dh has been given unexpected gardending leve pending redundancy so I think he is at some point very soon going to take his gardening leave literally and get down the lottie.
Well the gardening leave is nice - but the redundancy could be either nice or nasty, depending on whether he wants it. Is it good news or bad? :-\
Usually because the plot holder has not been near their plot to be spoken to , doesn't answer the phone/reply to emails/ respond to letter. Not the case here obviously. Nobody likes to be told their plot isn't up to scratch me included. But committees also have a responsibility to the people who do look after their plots and also to the people on the waiting list.
People are generally pretty bad at handling "confrontation" without getting angry and abusive.