How do I let go of my allotment....not ready to...

[BarkingUpTheWrongRoseBush]

Huge full size allotment. It used to be my refuge and escape from a fairly full house and a back yard that I’d filled with plants.

We’ve moved, now have a garden, small but larger than before and the house is quieter. Not big enough for a conventional veg patch, but could have a greenhouse, herbs, and a small 8 x 6 veg bed.

The allotment is hard work, keeping on top of the weeds, it’s a 5 to 10 minute drive away. I’ve put a lot of it to fruit.

I really ought to give it up...I’d have a lot more time in my week, wouldn’t have that nagging guilty feeling that I haven’t bveen up to water, sow, chase pheasants..

But the views are stunning, I still enjoy pottering up there, but now if I wake up early I want to potter in my garden..not get in the car to the plot.

Do 8 make that allotment easier and do what I can for 5 years till I retire, give half of it up? Give it all up?

Some good different view points - thank you.

I think the point I was trying to make in my first post was that even though it's not particularly high maintenance - I'm not giving it the time I used to.

There are empty plots on the site - and a waiting list. It's not terribly well managed by the Council in terms of evicting people who aren't really using it. It takes 2 years and then the person being evicted only has to plant a little bit up and the clock starts ticking again.

@Horehound - yes - there's some bits round the edges where I just need to get the strimmer out and do it. I spent all day up there yesterday and it looks much better!

Also I'm going to pay someone to attack the hedge properly when the birds have stopped nesting - huge hawthorn hedge that is starting to encroach.

I think I just need to accept that the next couple of years it's not going to have the same focus as I did previously and get a couple of big jobs done - like the hedge and the edges (they are for the wildlife but are getting out of hand) and put the beds properly to sleep over winter with manure and black plastic. I missed doing that this year and it made getting going again so much harder.

Then in few years time I should have a bit more time for it. And also my DH is likely to have grandchildren by then....and I'm more likely to want to escape again.

Or...I accept that having a small veggie bed, a greenhouse, some herbs, is all I really need and give up the view!

@ProfYaffle - that's it! I'm starting to think that it might be a relief to give it up...

Yes, it has been such a relief! Every now and then Dh and I look at each other and say something like "can you imagine if we had to go to the allotment now ......." before we pour another glass of wine or something.

Oh dear, op, you really are in two minds! It sounds like if it weren't for the lovely location, you might not feel such a pull. So hard when there are pros and cons to both options. Maybe write a list of them. Might help you focus.

If the main benefit is that you can have your own spot with a beautiful view - how many times a month do you go? Are there any areas nearby you could drive to instead, to get the same or a better view? Sounds like the obligations of the allotment are feeling like quite a weight atm. Does your dh help, or is it just yours? It's probably quite a slog for one person. Maybe consider splitting the plot as pp have suggested and see how that goes. It might make your mind up, one way or the other.

I'd either split your plot or give it up - I'm secretary of a small site containing 14 plots and our waiting list has increased to 160 people. It's council owned by the committee manage the waiting list and the site. One of the best bits of being the secretary (well, the only bit!) is the call I get to make to tell someone at the top of the list that they've got an allotment - it's like telling someone they've won the lottery.

i've got a half sized plot and its ideal. Ok so i run out of space in the summer, but its big enough to keep me busy without being a chore. So that is what I'd do - reduce down. Cant they split your plot in 2? Your committee really ought to think about this anyway if they have a long waiting list - we dont have full sized plots at all at our site for this reason

Yes there's something like 300 on the waiting list - but when the ring up most of them don't want it. A friend was told they were 90th and got offered quite quickly. The admin istn't great!

I was in the first tranche of allotments when they were giving out full size ones - about 12 years ago now. They were brand new allotments. The second tranche a couple of years later were all half plots and any give up now are divided into half plots. There must be about 80 plots now.

I could give up half the plot....which is probably the best option and keep the side with the fruit trees, the view and move my shed onto that half. It would be much more manageable.

That sounds like it could be the way forward.👍 It sounds like such a lovely place, quite a treasure to have access to it!🌷

yes that's what i would do, then it will become fun again rather than a chore. If you arent enjoying it then you might as well buy stuff from the supermarket.

The amount of actual food I grow is fairly minimal.

On a half plot I could keep the fruit bushes and trees, put in an asparagus bed, keep a bed for potatoes as I really like a freshly dug new potato, a cutting patch and a bed of PSB and an experimental bed of whatever takes my fancy.

Someone else with energy can take the other half.

I'd miss my privacy though - at the moment I have one neighbour ....the massive hedge keeps the others away!

Bamboo fencing?

There's a thought...there'd have to be a fence of some kind. Need to check how to move a shed too.

If you’re still in two minds, make the choice that keeps the most options open.

Could you possibly put weed suppressant sheeting down on a good chunk and plant fruit bushes, for example, through it. Minimal maintenance and you could cover the sheeting with straw/ bark/ grass clippings.