"JennyC" wrote in message
...

"Des Higgins" wrote in message
. ie...
Had Monty Don and a pile of allotments. It was one of those uplifting
touchy feely programmes that made me wish it was Summer; lots of shiny
vegetables and immaculate vegetable beds. I was amazed at teh sizes of
the
the patches (something like 10 metres by 30?? or did I mishear that?....
that is HUGE!). I can see why there is a waiting list to get them.

I haven't measured mine but it's definitely not feet. I'd estimate it's
about 10 by 30, but I'm not sure if it's metres or yards. The size was
intimidating at first - a definite "what have I taken on" feeling when I
first saw it - but is manageable for 2 reasonably fit people. My
neighbouring plot is cultivated by an 85 year old man, on his own, and looks
superb. I'm sure it has helped keep him fit over the years.

I liked the idea of the guinea gardens but, if I understand the law
correctly, cultivating council allotments as leisure gardens (rather than
just growing food) makes them fall outside the allotments act. If that
happens the council may be able to grab them back for redevelopment. The
value is immense. The plot I'm on has about 90 seperate allotments and, at a
very rough guess, would be worth £millions if it was available for new
homes.

The comments about availability were misleading. I'm in Birmingham and was
allocated an allotment one week after expressing an interest to a neighbour
who has a plot on the same site. The rent is about £24 a year, stand pipes
are dotted around for water, there is a site hut to gather in when it's
raining, but greenhouses and sheds are not supplied. No problem - I'm into
recycling so I'll acquire one at low cost some time this year.

Cultivation, this year, is a case of "do what you can and worry about the
rest next year." My partner and I have dug about 1/4 of the allotment in
less than 3 weeks. We'll clear the rest and throw in some green manure, to
try to keep the weeds down, once we've finished planting food crops in the
part we've already dug.We're told the first year is the hardest - after that
it's continuous maintenance.