Do you have an allotment and garden?

[Freshstart67]

Just pondering this...
I have a tiny garden, it’s outdoor space for the kids and I’ve got some pots and shrubs. Getting into gardening and absolutely loving it! We planted tomato’s and peppers this year. But I’m thinking I’d like to get the children more involved with planting and looking after a veggie patch. Sadly no space in garden.

Am I right in thinking allotments are for those who don’t have gardens? Or open to everyone? I don’t know anyone with an allotment but it would be nice to have somewhere to go and potter. I’m based in London so I do know the waiting lists are long.

Do you have an allotment? What do you grow? (Sorry I’m being nosey or curious).

Thanks!

Garden and allotment here

Allotments are usually open to anyone but they’re so popular now that waiting lists can be long, especially in London.

On ours, we grow a lot of perennials - currants, apples, strawberries (need renewing every few years) and globe artichokes. We also usually grow salad, beans and sweet corn, but this year nearly all the baby plants were annihilated by slugs!

Allotment and garden here! Definitely go for it. We grow a bit of everything... Salad peas beans onion potatoes corn courgettes different pumpkins carrots beetroot strawberries raspberries currants etc. Our 3 year old really enjoys it... And becoming more helpful and less distracting now... Still more distracting than helpful though haha

I have both. I used to have a very small back yard and a huge allotment. Loved it. It's a 5 minute drive away.

Now I have a garden - which is probably still slightly smaller than the allotment. I'm finding it hard to keep both going to be honest.

Thanks everyone!

I will put my name down and join the waiting list, hopefully it won’t be too long, but have a feeling it might be.

It’s great to hear what you’ve got on your allotment. For now I will continue to potter in my tiny garden.

😔 the waiting list for the allotments near to where I’m living (so handy), have a very long waiting list so they’ve closed their list, not able to add my name. Feel so so disappointed.

Dont give up hope. I was told the waiting list was 20 years or something equally ridiculous. 6 months later I got a call from the field steward to say a plot had come up. It goes in cycles, people put their names down on the waiting list but then when the time comes, they dont like the plot they are offered, have already got an allotment on a different field, no longer have the time.

Rent day also focuses the mind for people who have a plot but arent really using it.

In your garden there are quite a few other things you can grow in containers:

• potatoes
• carrots
• courgettes

Dont forget to grow herbs as well. Pots will give you a ready supply of things like tarragon, chives, mint, bay

We have a smallish garden and a large allotment (extra plots taken on when allotmenting was less popular). The garden is largely for leisure plus some herbs.

On the allotment we grow:

• Potatoes
• Brassicas
• Peas and beans (for eating fresh & drying for winter)
• Swiss chard
• Onions/shallots/garlic/leeks
• Soft fruit
• Orchard fruit
• Flowers for cutting

Don’t give up. Our allotments went from undersubscribed - when we got ours, they were begging people to take them on - to so oversubscribed that they closed the list for a couple of years. The list is open SGO now, but long. Round here, there are other community gardening schemes which enable people to grow their own, so you might want to look for anything similar near you.

Keep asking them. People often don't take up plots. emphasise how close you are.

Allotment are not for people who don't have gardens. They are just a plot for growing fruit, veg, plants and flowers.

We have an allotment. No one asked anything about what we have at home in terms of a garden. We actually just have a yard.

I did when the dc's were little. It meant they could run amok in the garden and I could grow veg at the allotment. It was really educational for them as the old blokes used to help and tell us what needs doing and why.

Now they're teens and a) don't play in the garden and b) won't help me grow veg anymore I have given up the allotment and just dug up some more grass in the back garden and grow veg at home.

Does anyone have any tips on "allotment etiquette"? We recently moved and there are allotments very close to us now. All of the neighbours have a plot and have asked me if I'll be having one and if I'm interested I need to to my name on the waiting list.
I would LOVE to but.... I have never even stepped foot in one and wouldn't know where to start! Any tips from experienced people?

Also - do you get people stealing your produce!

My daughter just moved house and there are allotments a stone’s throw away. I went for a look and a lovely gentleman showed me a notice saying there are currently 57 people on the waiting list ☹️
Only half plots are being allocated to speed up the process.

@ComingToGetUBarbara different allotment societies will have different rules on precisely what can or cannot be grown/kept. So whether or not you can plant trees, grow flowers, keep livestock etc. Also whether or not produce has to be for own consumption or can be sold.

My society is an allotment & smallholding society and the rules around what can be grown or kept are limited. We are allowed to grow anything we want, keep livestock, sell our produce. So on my allotment I have around 70 fruit trees, flowers for cutting plus the usual soft fruit & vegetables. Plenty of my plot holding neighbours keep hens. On one of the other fields in the society there is a pig farm.

Theft of produce is quite rare (if you ignore the foxes who take hens). Most thefts are around stealing petrol and machinery. Every now and then there may be an individual who struggles with the concept of thine and mine. We had one plotholder who was stealing veg from her neighbours' plots and giving it away. It was seen as more of a mental health problem but she was asked to leave.

Also theft is unlikely because we all have the same gluts/shortages at the same time!

General etiquette rule is leaving your neighbour in peace, not treading on their plot unless invited, not allowing your plot to overspill in anyway into theirs. Just generally being a good neighbour.

@Pottedpalm if your daughter is interested tell her to get on the list. The lists do turn over quite fast. I was told that our waiting time was 25 years or something then got offered a plot 6 months later.

Many people put their name down then when the time comes they have lost interest/moved/got a plot elsewhere. Then you get the people who dont fancy the plot they are offered because it is too far from their friend/too weedy/too big/too small.

In my society a lot of people are started on small plots but then move to larger plots as confidence grows. I started with about 125 sq metre plot now DH and I hold about 1100 sq metres (around a quarter of an acre).

A lot of people give up after a year as they find the time commitment is too great. You need to be able to give the allotment regular time so a few hours every week rather than a few days every month.

Good advice, thank you. I imagine as people are going back in to work some might be unable to give as much time to the allotment.

No waiting lists where we are. It can be a big commitment though and many people who start do give up. I'd advise starting with a half or third plot if possible.

We have both. In fact our garden backs onto our allotment so It's like an extension of our garden. Also our plots are enclosed so really secure.

Our Council are shit as there are at least four plots that are just grass and they get mown by their holders - they could be used by someone who actually wants to grow stuff.

Thank you all, it’s lovely to hear what you all grow on your allotments and just having that space as a family/individual/couple.

I’ll keep an eye on my local allotments and hopefully they’ll open up their list again so at least I can add my name.

@GnomeDePlume Yes, absolutely, I’m going to make the most of our tiny garden. I was actually thinking potatoes and carrots in pots. I’ve ordered some pea seeds, which are arriving this weekend. So hoping to plant a few a see what happens. Herbs is a great idea! I have to window boxes out the back I could put together a herb box. Wee we have an odd shape raised bed but the soil is not good. My plan is to place some paving slabs and stones then I can have more pots. Really looking forward to planting tulips. It’s great getting the kids involved, my daughter’s face lit up when she ate her own strawberries she had grown! And she’s keen to do more.

Love the idea of keeping hens there as my garden is too small currently. If the site allows obviously- thanks for the advice.

It's worth perservering to get on the list. IMO allotments are like puppies: many people got them during lockdown and not so many will want the hassle as life gets back to normal. Already many of the newly taken-on plots at our allotments are getting weedy and overgrown and neglected. People who were all gung-ho last year are getting less and less interested this year. I can see them giving them up before too long.

We also have a smallish garden and an allotment. We grow tonnes of fruit: cherries, apples, gooseberries, blackberries, blackcurrents, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries. Veg: sweetcorn, potatoes, beetroot, asparagus, pumpkin, courgettes, tomatoes, onions, garlic, spinach. Cutting flowers: dahlias, gladioli, roses, tulips, daffodils.

We have a big plot so 1/4 of it is a 'wildlife' patch where we grow wildflowers, have a small pond, pile of logs, pile of stones. It gets so many visitors!

Well I heard back from Allotment society, I’m on the waiting list, 5 years apparently!
Only 12 plots and last year they were inundated with requests.

They kindly recommended other places with larger plots but too far for us. So definitely making the most of our tiny garden now. I’m thinking about rearranging things around so that will help.
I’m planning on moving out of London within next couple of years, so hopefully I’ll be lucky with an allotment

@RoastedHazelnutLatte, WOW!! You’ve got a lot going on in your garden and allotment. I’m definitely getting some ideas from you all, thank you!

We have 15 plots on our site and a waiting list of 160 - it was 12 before the pandemic started. I’m about to do a list cleanse so this will probably come down. We’ve just kicked someone off for leaving at least two skips of rubbish in the communal area.

I’d think v carefully about hens - we have three plot holders with hens who don’t grow anything (our rules state that 75% of the plot needs to be cultivated). We are trying to evict them and have banned new tenants from keeping hens - the current hen plots are teaming with rats, rotten food, and the hens are not looked after properly. They also did not adhere to the restrictions around bird flu. They’re a nightmare and cause 75% of the arguing on our site.

How much roughly does it cost and do you pay per month or for a full year?