Allotments 4 All

Ah, the trials and tribulations of a first year! I spent 2 and a half hours yesterday, busting a gut but finally things are starting to look like a garden, albeit it still a bit weedy, stunted and covered in carpet. And yet it now harbours, somewhat miraculously) spuds, onion, garlic, squash, toms, fruit bushes, beans, peas, parsnips, beets, fennel, sprouts, leeks, broccoli, rhubarb, sunflowers, lettuce (Ok some is bolting but at least it grew), aubergines, melon and rocket (slightly nibbled).
Those who have followed my allotmenting trials will know that the people who run our site are less than charitable about "unusual methods", which include covering things, not planting in 24 neat evenly spaced horizontal rows and growing "weird" things like parsnips and gooseberries (Icannot WAIT for them to see the blue pumpkins). But I shall overcome because yesterday my neighbours (who are kinder) commented that they were impressed by how much work I had put in and that most seems to be growing normally and one even said that he would have liked to cover some bits of his plot as he could see that my method (learnt from A4A, all you lovely experts) was successful!! but that he was afraid of getting untoward comments!! humpf that makes me mad! I told him that the supervisor could just like it or lump it and had no right to tell us how to garden!!!
Thought you would like to know about that anyway, for once I was smiling on the plot, not cringing, hoping no one would see my cardboard.
FYI, many things are doing quite well and are taking off after the terrible May weather, even though there are lots of things that depress me, like my container spuds rotting (Aargh the drainage, i forgot about that!), my peas still being stunted but slightly improved and an inferiority complex when I see my neighbours 5 foot raspebrry bushes laden with baby fruit.
But newbies take heart!! some day you will eat something that you have grown, be it dwarfish or misshapen or pecked by birds and it will taste better than anything you have ever paid money for!! like me Mara des Bois strawberries which are worth their weight in gold.
May we defend our green bushy bits to the bitter end!

Good on yah!!

Tell your interfering neighbours that plants don't don't know if they are being grown in a straight line or to some pattern.

At the end of the day a plant will do its thing and it will taste as good as one grown in a pristeen plot.

Which reminds me of a similar thing that happened on our plots years ago.

There was a well to do person growing a few plots up and he 'bought' this and he 'bought' that and he used to gloat about how good his plot was until I told him it was because he was using the best in 'green manure' there was, and the rest of us couldn't afford it.

What do you mean he asked?

"Pounds notes"  these are green but we can't afford to plough these into our plot like you do!!

Meaning anyone can buy them selves out of a problem but does the means justify the end?

nuff said!!

Ha ha I shall remember that one!! I did put in a few pennies this weeklend because I came to the conclusion that if I didn't start some sprouts or leeks as plants then we probably wouldn't have any! And I had a moment of weakness before the aubergines at the nursery! But all in all, a lot of it comes down to luck with the weather or a lot of sweat!

Well said both of you I agree I don't care that I eat a few white fly and nibbled cabbages, i've grown it and i'm proud of it. The fun should be we enjoy it not a contest to have the best. Best is not always better......

Watch out for the plant fairy's, they arrive at night and move all your plants about so what was a straight line of crops when first planted becomes a  C or S shape  ::) please note that your end result crops still taste the same. Just lifted my first crop of wonkey spuds, they tasted lovely.

yes, and seeds jump around so they end up 3" away from their friends, again, they taste brilliant so, well done, you..maybe you've given him courage, soon find out when the cardboard arrives  ;D

right on antipodean girl.  its good to hear you winning the battle. keep it up. ;D