Hello
After a few weeks of reading all your posts I have finally joined your forums! I am thinking about getting an allotment but am worried about how much time I will need to devote to it. As well as being a mum to 2 small boys and a wife I am a full time student midwife which involves a fairly heavy workload. Would I be biting off more than I could chew getting an allotment now or should I wait a couple of years until I have a bit more free time. I have been thinking about it for a long time but don't want to take a plot that I won't be able to look after. How much time do you all give to your allotments?
Thanks
Dibsy
I roughly give 6-8 hrs a week if that. be more at the moment because I am behind, but If you take on one. 4 hrs on a saturday/sunday is plenty.
The Lady two plots over, shares her plot with her friend, both have young families.
Its there quiet meeting place I think. but they seem to cope.
If You can get a plot and find it id a bit large. you can have two 3 beds till you have more time. I just kept mowing mine till i was ready. no waste as it all went in the compost bi.
I think finding a plot is harder than using it.
get as much info on local sites as you can. Then see if there is a waiting list.
good luck with whatever you decide
Thanks for that. There are a lot of plots around here available which is good for me. One site has about 15 empty! They are all a car drive away as I live in a village which does not have it's own.
It is a good idea to get a plot with a friend - perhaps I'll look into that.
Dibsy
I have 4 children and I usually take them down with me. Sometimes they join in, digging, planting, sometimes they just count frogs. Most of the time they sit in the shed eating biscuits ;)
We spend 4hrs a day at the weekend, and I often go down in the week, but most people spend far less time down there, and manage fine.
You could just cover your plot and grow a few containers at first, I'd definitely recommend it as a relaxation and good way to spend time with the children
Emma
Welcome to the forum dibsy ;D hope you have lots of fun here ... Agree with celtic_growers, worth putting your name down for a plot now, it may take time to get one. You can be in charge of exactly how much time you spend there, and you can get the plot to accommodate to the time you can commit.
I got my plot (for single working lay-dee) in May, covered up all but one bed area with manure and black plastic, and planted the first dug bed with broad beans.
(http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/7117/plotmay0521lm.th.jpg) (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=plotmay0521lm.jpg)
Whenever I had time at weekends (and/or help from No.1 son!) I would roll back a bit more plastic, dig another bed, and plant that. Sometimes I would just plant through the plastic (e.g. leeks in pic below). By the end of the season, there were enough productive beds to feel pleased with, for about 4h/weekend. We never spent more than two hours on the plot at each 'session'.
(http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/6113/plotsep0517wy.th.jpg) (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=plotsep0517wy.jpg)
Since September I have only been able to make it to the plot for an hour every Sunday, harvest the hungry gap veggies and fill the compost bin with the week's peelings. The plot hasn't seemed to mind that some of the big projects are on hold, and I do tweek the odd weed.
From April I will be able to spend increasing time on the plot again, and will do ambitous things with shed and greenhouse, dig more beds ... and the plot will accommodate itself again.
If your plot becomes a pleasant place for the family to congregate (biscuits might help ;)), you'll want to spend more time there. And once you've planted stuff, there's more incentive to go down and harvest, and once you're there other things start calling ...
As long as your 'untouched' areas are under control - with black plastic and manure, like mine, or mown like celtic_growers - they can be left until you are ready. Whatever time you have, the plot will respond in kind ;D ;D ;D Go for it!
Was going to say much the same. It takes as much time as you can give it - just don't try to get the whole plot productive at once. I turned half of mine over to green manure last year - keeps the weeds down, no work, and replaces nutrients when you dig it in. Then I only had half the plot to worry about and it seemed much more manageable (especially when I covered half of that in black plastic!)
I wanted to take on a plot for ages but didn't take the plunge until a friend said she would be interested in joining me. Since January we have spent about 4 hours each weekend mostly with the children in tow. They occupy themselves by exploring the overgrown parts and bringing back their 'finds' (fire extinguisher, length of flexible pipe etc) Its a great place to relax and unwind and during the summer, you could turn it into your quiet study area :D
I'm with all the other listers - go for it ;D ;D
Sharon
hi i got my plot 29th jan this year and iv only been down for 5hours in total because if illnes with children weather etc and iv managed to dig the potato bed ,flower bed and half fill the compolst bin my pics are on www.myplot.me.co.uk i two have small children and i find an hour hear and there keeps hem wanting more and they do help when hey start getting cold , board, we come home but once they have warmed up they want to go back
I took on 2.5 poles last year and must admit I was also worried that it would take a lot of time. My other half is not really interested in gardening and the last thing I wanted was for the allotment to feel like another chore.
In fact it worked out even better than I could have hoped. We set it up as beds as it made it seem more manageable and also allowed us to get planting quickly. After 3 or so busy (and fairly back-breaking) weekends at the start, it was really quite easy to maintain all summer. I probably spent about 2-3 hours a week there, mainly watering and weeding for half and hour or so after work. Even managed to encourage OH, helped no end by the pub half-way between allotment and home!
Hi Dibsy and welcome to the site. I too am challenged by spare time but don't let it stop you. There are lots of things that you can do to help keep the work to a minimum. My advice is as above, cover any ground your not using with something that kills/stops the weeds. This could be plastic, weed membrane, mulch or even green manure ( a plant that you grow, and then dig into soil, I think). This helps you concentrate your efforts on the bit your actually growing with. Good luck :)