Allotments 4 All

Our site is quite new, and we are partly thankful for the recent rain as we have no water source and have to tramp across fields to get some. Some on the site aren't so mobile and can't get over the fences as easily.

The Parish Council say it could be a long time before the water company put in the pipes - some suggest years. They tried to get a bowser apparentyl but it was an "eye tow" and they would not be able to fill it??!!

They are looking for a  "road towable bowser with a ball hitch" and have asked site holders if they know of somewhere that hires them as they can't find one. The site is in North Bucks. Anyone know where they should be looking??

For your own personal use how do you manage?Do you use water butts?

a few have put up sheds and have water buts, but i don't want to spend a few hundred pounds on a shed. Weh ave to use a watering can and walk across a few fields to a water trough plumbed to a supply. Heavy lifting in the heat at times...

We dont have mains water on our site, but in the next field there is a very good natural spring.
So our chaps have a generater and pump the water from the spring into a large holding tank. From there its piped via a old fire hose to the large white buts dotted around site. Takes time normaly done once a year sometime twice but we all have buts and roofs to collect some extra water.

To aid catching water -

Put some stakes around the water butt.
Tie the corners of a tarpaulin or plastic sheet to them.
Put a 2" hole in the centre.
Place 1/2 a brick in the centre over the water butt to weight down the plastic in the middle.

Voila: One rain catcher.  As the water hits the plastic - it will roll into the centre into the water butt.

The most important things to do are to not start watering, unless you can continue, and mulch as much as possible.

Good idea about the rain trap KT, but how do you stop the wind that we have at present?

Coming at this from a different angle as I'm the Clerk for the Parish Council and we're in the process of having water installed at out allotments but wondered if anyone out there knows of any good system for supplying the water which doesn't run us the risk of having taps left on or vandalised?  ???

to stop taps being left on, we have cattle troughs,  or dip tanks
lbb

Hello Council

Our is a bit like the one the two cows are drinking from:

http://www.polaris-sales.co.uk/water_troughs.htm

but galvanised:

http://www.millersmidmar.co.uk/Agriculture/Livestock/troughs.htm

It is quick to fill by dipping the watering can, but doesn't encourage 'visitors' by not being fresh enough water for drinking.  Some lads came looking for a tap when I was at the allotment a couple of weeks ago but were not impressed, which is probably a good idea really.....

T.

Council it's nice to see someone in your job showing an interest, do you have an allotment of your own or is it to get a better understanding so you can run yours better?

Hi council
I dont know where you are but we got our councils from central wool growers at towcester there cattle troughs with a hidden ballcock like in a toilet hidden in the end which is padlocked they might have what Tyke is looking for aswell

I've seen ballcocks in cattle troughs as well, and with a bit of ingenuity it should surely be possible to conceal them so as to make them reasonably vandal-proof. That being said, I've never known anyone leave a tap running on my site. If one is left dripping, it's normal for whoever spots it to turn it off properly. They're not much used except in dry weather, when the wet patch round a dripping tap soon becomes conspicuous.

on our site they use the 'push down and hold' type of taps (like the ones in toilet blocks) but in 3/4 "  ;)

We have the ballcock system and it is very good.I have one that is actually on my plot,so very lucky.

The only drawback is it is not fit for drinking. :)

Tyke

As well as doing the rain dance on Wednesday night i also have these little tips.

Wash and polish your car on Wednesday night.
Take the hard top off the car on Thursday morning.
Pay for your wife to get her hair permed then give her some shopping money.
Invite the lads round for an all day Barbie.
Book a round of golf
Decorate the outside of the house
Do the weekly wash on Wednesday night, then hang it out in the morning.
Leave the skylights open to let a bit of fresh air in.
Clean the windows.


I was given this tip a few weeks ago and it's not let me down since, so it must work ;-)

lol - thanks bajmoe! I have found that putting my onions and shallots outside to dry also brings the rain too!

Organise a site barbeque. Then you're guaranteed either a mega thunderstorm or a week of pouring wet.

Two of my plots have nearby dip tanks with unlocked covers, so some people attach hoses to the pipe.

I usually set up a syphon by the usual method (pour water from a can into a hose pipe, then plunge it under the surface to suck the rest out to wherever I want to place the other end of the hose pipe). Obviously my plot is downhill from the tank.

I assume the water is drinking water, but not from the dip tank which is full of algae and other mess  - OK from the water pipe as it enters the tank. But I take water with me to drink, anyway.

At my other plot, there is no water. I take large milk bottles filled with water up there every time I go. Other people take huge containers, but I can't carry them. I am trying to sort out the plants that send down deep roots and just have to survive on occasional rain on the waterless plot (East Sussex) with the idea of putting plants that need regular watering onto the plot 5 miles away.

I am having problems with plants that need regular picking AND watering at the more distant plot, versus those that need the same, but there is no water within 2 minutes bike ride.....

Any advice?

In the long term, if your Parish Council has any money, or a choice of how they can supply your water, perhaps they might want to think about a borehole.

Sounds pretty involved and expensive. But having looked into this option when looking at a house to buy that didn't have it's own water supply, I can say it would may work out cheaper and quicker than waiting for the water 'board'.

If there isn't a mains pipe within metres of where you want your supply the cost is horrendous - approximately £50 a metre to dig the trench and £80 a metre to fill it in again! With my example my calculations made it approximately £20k to connect to the mains a couple of hundred yards up the road compared to £10k for a borehole.

There is a drawback with a borehole - no guarantee you'll find water. But if you can find wells locally then there is more likley to be water.

Just a thought.

That's what we have pg.

See here:

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,43929.0.html