Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: aquilegia on February 01, 2005, 16:17:41
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How big is your allotment?
I'm still thinking about it. After Mr Aqui and I had a walk passed our local plots and saw many were uncultivated, he seems to be coming round to the idea.
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My allotment is 8 Rods. Most plots on my site are 10 rods but an old chap has the last 2 rods on my plot. He used to garden the whole lot but it go too much for him. (He is in his 80's).
I also have the veg garden at home which must be about another 6 rods or there abouts.
Jerry
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THanks Jerry. And how long and wide is a rod?
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I have no idea how big my allotment is, haven't measured it either as I might be daunted by the size.
My site Secretary is on here though, DJBRENTON, maybe he knows how big it is as I believe all the plots are the same size and I guess I would really like to know.
How big is a rod though?
Melanie :)
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the one I've just aquired is approx 25m x 10m (about 75ft x 30ft), so I'm told. they do a half plot which is 25m x 5m.
SG
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Good lord! My garden is only about 5m x 5m. WHat I could do with even half a plot. (Oh but, how much work too!) I reckon I'd only need one or two rods.
Just been doing a bit of googling - haven't found anything useful, but did find out that round the corner from the allotments, there was an Italian POW camp in the second world war and the allotments were bombed (apparently destroying someone's onion patch).
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THanks Jerry. And how long and wide is a rod?
10 Rod I think is roughly 10 by 25m, 250 square meters.
Jeremy
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Hi,my allotment is 400 square meter, it is enough.I have both hands full of work from it.
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Aqui I have a half size plot, approx 5m x 25m. I took half a plot because I was daunted by the possible work load of a full size plot. But I rekon it won't be long before I'm looking for something bigger. By the time you've got your permanent crops in place (raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb and any other fruit) and compost heap, possibly a shed etc. then you're not left with a lot. I'm left with four beds each measuring approx 5m x 2m, then a larger bed about 5m x 4m where I plan to grow sweetcorn, squash, pumpkin and french beans. If you think half a plot is too big then you could always plant half of it under a green manure or even let some pumpkins ramble over the unused part.
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Our allotment (nattyem and me!!) is 48' x 22' which is approx 14.5m x 6.5m.
Louisa x
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260m2
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600 sq yards, sorry cant convert that to metres or rods.
It is certainly as much as I want, but it does keep us in veg for most of the time, and I have not even tried to maximise the yield . . .
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20m x 5m
Have 2 of them, and as Jesseveve says, a lot is taken up with permanent bits like strawbs, fruit trees and bushes, asparagus, globe artichokes, shed and compost heaps.
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Not sure how many rods/poles my lottie is, but it is half a plot and it is about 9 x 15 metres.
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A rod is a measurement of length not of area and is defined as 5.5 yards (in real money) or 5 metres (in new-speak). A chain is 4 rods - or 22 yards - which is the length of a cricket pitch - I am not suggesting that you plant your veg on a cricket pitch 'cos they get mighty cross - the cricketers, not the veg!
Using my very own measurement system, my allotment is approx. 24 spud plants wide by about 40 spud rows long - way too much to dig in one go!
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Our site is nearly all 600 sq yd plots. When I took mine over I worked out that after deducting buildings, paths and the inevitable bonfire site, compost/manure heaps, trees and the gap next to the hedges that only about 40% was actively cultivated. The loganberry patch alone sprawled over about 20 sq yds and blackberries something similar.
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Hello aqui,
I have a half plot (5 rods or 25 metres by 1 rod or 5 metres). As there are only two of us to feed that's more than enough.
You don't have to cultivate all of it for growing veggies (unless your allotment site has a byelaw against such things) - and you definitely don't have to cultivate it all at once!
About 1 rod of the length and half the width of my plot is taken up with my shed, compost bin, a garden bench, two small cold frames and a couple of small flower beds that are nice to look at when relaxing on the bench with a cup of tea after a bout of digging.
I left about a quarter of the plot as grass when I first cleared it (lawn is too good a word). Great for entertaining friends/BBQs etc as we live very close by but don't have a garden. If the weather allows then the soon-to-be-Mrs Speedy also uses it for sunbathing while I am mucking about with plants, (in truth she only lasts about ten minutes before she comes to have a look at what I'm doing, and always ends up helping out). Maybe in the future I will end up turning more of the grass into beds to make way for new crops, but I like it the way it is for the moment.
Other plot-holders down our way keep areas of their plot as lawn (some of them do deserve the word) with fruit trees growing on them - again some allotment sites might have byelaws about the size and frequency of trees. We've got at least one person who keeps bees, and so some of her plot is turned over to hives. No rabbits/chickens that I know of on our site, but lots of people do.
Having the non-productive bits of our plot to relax/play/cook on means we spend more time down there in the summer than we would if it was all given over to veggies, I am sure.
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Thanks DJBRENTON
Now I know how big it is
Melanie :)
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3 plots
1 - 10 rods (40ft x 30ft) 10 x 25m
2 - 5 rods (40ft x 13ft) 5 x 25m
My father and I share the 3. I initiated obtaining the first 5 x 25m and was concerned I would not manage to cope so my father agreed to use 1/3 of this. Literally 2-3 weeks later I really had the allotment bug and wanted to grow so much more. We took on the second 10 x 25m and within the year the third.
I find it very addictive, wanting to spend all my time there- forget the housework !
I was already to down there this morning. My son who has not been well but had insisted on going to school yesterday was feeling unwell still but again wanted to go to school ( wednesday is his favourite day). We drove to the school but he was obviously not well so we drove back home. Therefore no allotment today.
He is watching Harry Potter on Dvd and I have actually been able to do some cleaning !
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mine is a 10 rodder! or there abouts!? i want to measure it exactly because i am awkward but i think it helps when you come to do scale plans?
there is a little corner by me plot that i have my beady eye on that is corner shaped and would be beautiful for a flower bed or fruit corner?
Jemma x
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From memory mine is about 15' wide by 60 or 70' long. We don't keep rabbits, we're infested by them. I'm reclaiming a bit next door about 15' * 30' (or 10 * 15 if you're the rental officer ;D), this is intended to be a sward* with apple trees. There don't seem to be many rules here -your plot is supposed to be cultivated which is taken to mean you have to do something to it and you should be considerate about bonfires. I don't know about bees -I'll have to ask.
Jeremy
Multiple choice test -cross out one which do not aply :
sward is it :
a) A diverse and interesting multispecies grassland habitat
b) That untidy, weed-infested bit rough ground.
lawn is it :
a) That calm and pleasing area of neatly striped grass.
b) An area of boring mono-culture that does nothing to promote wildlife and only serves the interests of agri-business.
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my plot is 139 feet by 40 feet mainly bramble infested jungle so far but getting there bit by bit
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May help.
Length
12 lines = 1 inch
12 inches = 1 foot
3 feet = 1 yard
1760 yards = 1 mile
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36 inches = 1 yard
440 yards = quarter mile
880 yards = half mile
100 links = 1 chain
10 chains = 1 furlong
8 furlongs = 1 mile
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4 inches = 1 hand
22 yards = 1 chain
5.5 yards = 1 rod, pole or perch
4 poles = 1 chain
40 poles = 1 furlong
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heheh Derbex, you are as bad as me! Everytime I re-edge my plot I pinch another slither from the paths all round! Sorry any of my neighbours that may be reading this. The paths are going to be like razor edges before long, but I keep thinking to myself, 'I could fit another beetroot, or lettuce, or spud in that little bit!' ;D
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15 poles in all (spread over 2 plots).
We keep a "recreational" area for picnics and bonfires.
We also have some covered bits.
We have a whole area for "easy to grow" cut flowers.
I am really obsessed with it and couldn't manage it if I wasn't - and OH does a fair bit too.
Are you worried about taking a plot on and then losing control of it? Cos even when things get bad, it's amazing what a couple of hours can do to sort it out.
Go on Aqui - go for it. What have you got to lose?
sb
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Thanks for that all. They are huge!
I definitely think a whole plot would be too big. My garden is approx 6m x 6m. My veg patch is 50cm x 4m. and the veg extension we're digging this spring is 3m x 3m. (I was out with the tape measure yesterday!)
Even with me spending three days in the garden per week, with Mr Aqui's unskilled help at weekends, that's still plenty to do.
My current plan is to see how much I can get out of the veg patch this summer. I will then consider taking on half a plot either this autumn or the following autumn (it keeps moving forward a year, originally it wasn't until at least 2006). I'd love some berries, asparagus, etc, but just don't have room. Yet!
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I can see why you are hesitating. I think I wouldn't manage the plots if the garden at home needed much attention.
As it is, I hardly do anything in the garden at home. Last year I did do some toms in pots - but found that I couldn't cope with watering the plot then coming back and watering the garden and the pots too. So this year I have vowed "NO TOMS IN POTS AT HOME". In fact "NOTHING IN POTS". And I mustn't fall for any temptation over this cos i know I can't cope...
sb
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at a rough guess my plot is about 45x80 ft
I will have to meaure it properly and get a better idea how big it is .
all I can say it was big when it cover with weeds and it looks huge without them :P
Mags
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right, mine'll be about 10 rods then...always wondered what that measurement was!
Mine looked huge too (the plot that is :o) until we marked out beds and tentatively allocated space to all we want to grow this year. Now all of a sudden it doesn't seem nearly big enough BUT this will be our first growing season so i may revise this opinion when I start having to tackle 10 rods worth of weeds when they start to grow in my lovely cleared beds!!!
Plottie :)
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I may (if weather and time allow) drag Mr Aqui to the allotment office this weekend.... I'll keep you informed.
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My plot is about 30ft x 70ft. I say about because it's actually 25ft wide at one end and 35ft wide at the other. I think the guy who laid out the plots at our site must have been drinking.
It's a nice size for us though, as I easily produce enough veg to feed the two of us and any more land might take more time than I could spare.
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ok, went round to see the plot which i am getting 'soon' (as soon as the lady vacating my plot is out of hospital in the next few days, basically)
it's probably about 8x4m, which seems a good size for two.
it has a rhubard bed on one side, with i think two plants in it. other than that, nothing else is permanent. we are allowed soft fruit so goosegogs it is :D
i seriously can't wait now and will be ordering lotsa seeds soon :)
svea
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I have 2 Lotties both approx. 140 sq.metres each, Although on one, I would reckon that at least 20 sq. metres is taken up by a 50+ year old greenhouse. The other one has a nice modern 6ft x 8ft greenhouse on it, although when I am in the old greenhouse it seems to have such a good feeling about it and I can't help but to imagine all the things and people that have been in the place.
By pure fluke both my Lotties are next door to each other and only about 50 yards away from my house. There are only 3 allotments in the scheme which is council owned, so I think I am very lucky to have got 2 on the same patch although technically one isn't mine but an older gentleman bowling club friend of mine.
I got one of these in late may last year and one in late August last year, so I haven't been able to do a lot with it except tidy it up, although I've planted raspberry canes and strawberry plants.
Last year I planted anything I could lay my hands on, but this year I've taken a little more time over things and have all my seeds and potatoes at the ready for when Spring finally comes.
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i vaguely remember rods and chains from school - wasnt there a perch as well? mine is about 75' x 20' - i think thats about 5 rods?
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Somewhere around 4000sqft (about an 8th of an acre) or about 6 weeks of digging.
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i vaguely remember rods and chains from school - wasnt there a perch as well?
.....poles as well
All the same length if I remember correctly - a rod, pole or perch.
I have 3 allotments, and I think each is about 25' x 100'
Mike
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I've just took over a 5.5m x 20m plot, it's the smallest plot on the site i think but big enough to get my fingers green.
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Don't know how big my lotty is - enormous is the best way to describe it! My husband isn't fussed about growing anything. He just wants a shed to put stuff in and move it about occasionally and a deckchair so he can relax and drink beer. He already has the wind up radio (which he bought me for Christmas) so he can listen to the match when he's not actually at the match. He likes to make things out of bits of wood and has made me two raised beds already and a wire bin to put leaves in. He's soon to acquire a shed and says he's buying a box of wine and a gas cooker in it. I'm busy buying manure, mulch, seeds and tools but he's got a different agenda completely but he's going to be very relaxed on the plot and that's what it's all about. We have some new lotty neighbours who are all newbies so we're going to have a good time finding out how things are done.
Wardy
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Hi
I have dug out a couple of pictures of my original half plot.
The first is at the time I took it over although the previous owner still had produce he allowed me to start work on the empty sections.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/Wigston/Takeovertime3.jpg)
The second picture shows how I sectioned it off.. this is a lazy idea of mine... I couldn't face looking at a full undug plot...sections make it easier and sets me goals which are achievable
The original greenhouse I bought from another plot holder for £30
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/Wigston/Allotment12.jpg)
Hope you like 'em
Derek
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wow - half plot you say? it's looks huge!
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Derek Like your posh greenhouse - not bad for £30!
Your plot also looks very posh unlike mine which looks ... well .... grassy!
I've hurt my back and am laid up but unfortunately the manure arrived so my husband went to shovel it off the haul road. He said he nearly fainted when he saw the mountain of dung confronting him. Instead of shift it all at once he made a path through it! Honestly ... ;D He thought it was for all the lotty holders to share - not just all ours. It was only a tenner.
Wardy
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Wardy
You are very fortunate ..a load of manure delivered to our plot is £25.
My plot is at the back near a hedge (The Leicester Racecourse is on the other side of the hedge) so I have to barrow everything from the service road between neighbour's plots to get to mine. I was on the plot this morning and the paths were extremely muddy and slippery
The ground is waterlogged in places so I had to restrict my operations to the greenhouse today...athough the sun was out earlier on there was a raw wind blowing across the site too
Derek