Allotments should be exempt from restrictions?

[GnomeDePlume]

And people should be encouraged to get onto their plots?

We are going to have less commercially grown fresh fruit & vegetables this summer because of a lack of pickers both in UK & across Europe.

There are around 300,000 plotholders across the UK. We cant feed the UK but each plot well cultivated can take a household out of the demand this summer.

This is a busy time of year for plotholders: preparing beds, sowing seeds, planting out. Plotholders should be being encouraged to get onto their plots as often as they can and for as long as they can to maximise their production this year.

I was fortunate Tootle in that I asked for a lot of GYO stuff for my birthday and Christmas and I ordered all my seeds and compost in January.

I'm still trying to go to mine once a day and am building 4 or 5 raised beds in my garden this weekend as most of our lawn doesn't get used and the grass looks crap so I'll grow stuff instead!

Our Town council have said it is fine to go to the allotment once a day, not to share tools but not to spend all day there.

I already had some compost and some seeds and started to buy allotment supplies back in January I brought a new shed just before lockdown it's now in dd's bedroom.
I'm not buying anything else until I know the waters back on at the allotment.

Seems like all allotments have different rules at the moment.

I think the problem is that the language being used plus social rules (which are not law) being quoted are not encouraging. Telling plot holders to restrict themselves to essential work only or to restrict themselves to short visits will make people worry that this is a privilege which could be removed at a moments notice.

I agree that few plotholders will be truly self-sufficient but with encouragement more plotholders will strive to grow more for themselves with maybe a few gluts to share out.

For people who are currently furloughed or even laid off they may have the time to get to their plots and spend some time doing something positive. Lots of plotholders produce a surplus of seedlings, I know I do. Normally I share these with colleagues. More than happy to share with fellow plotholders if they havent been able to get seeds.

@Tootletum I got my flower seeds and bedding plants and bags of compost and planters etc, about a month ago. Because me and DH live in the sticks, (and our little market town is always the last to get stuff in and the first to run out,) we are always ahead of the game anyway, and always get stuff many weeks before we need it.

We also have a couple of months stock of non-perishables in at any one time (including meds.) So I (and DH) were OK for most stuff when the restrictions became very strict. We just get small top-ups now every 5 days or so, like milk and bread, and anything else we are starting to run short of.

I did get some hair dye today as my bit of grey is showing, and DH got some razors (from B & M.) So whilst some shops are being very restrictive, others are not being quite so strict.

Maybe try B & M for compost/plants/seeds???

According to the Prefects of Mumsnet you're a murderer if you pass within 2 metres of your living room window, so the allotments should all be napalmed in case in they house spores of the virus.

LOL @ @bluewafflewithmayo

My dad is going to his every day for hours at a time. However, his plot backs on to his garden. He has a gate at the bottom of his garden directly on to his plot so he can walk between it and his house in 30 seconds. My dad is in the shielded group as he had chronic lymphatic leukaemia. The allotment helped him recover from sepsis and deal with his cancer diagnosis. It is the best thing for him right now. He is scared of this virus, but there is no one in the allotment, he is completely alone as the plots are well spaced and his is separated from the others by a communal area that no ones is using. He is very lucky.

Thanks @anotherlittlechicken it's frustrating because we got all our seeds and nearly all the compost we need but didn't get any decorative plants for the garden, and depending how long we're in this lockdown for I start to worry about stuff like tomato feed . I know it's all very trivial, guess I'm just bored!

@Tootletum have you got any nettles, sticky weed or comfrey growing? Even couch grass works. Chop it up, water soak for a few weeks in a sealed bucket or old juice jug. You'll have a (stinky) plant feed, just dilute well when using. Just hold ya breath when you open it.

Some places are still doing seeds for flowers if you have room. DP saw them in Tesco the other day so it is possible to pick them up while getting your food shop. Aldi have special buy plants it too which I didn't expect, including veg ones this Thursday.

@bluewafflewithmayo there we go with the mixed messages again because I thought we were supposed to completely wrap ourselves in clingfilm and hide in the cupboard under the stairs. Only venturing out to empty the bucket (which might be useful to solve the tomato feed problem).