In reply to Alan Holmes ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

"Uncle Marvo" wrote in message
...
In reply to Bob Hobden ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

Paul wrote ...
It's not really an allotment, but I'm getting to the idea of
vegging on the bank. Trouble is, it's on a wicked slope, about 1
in 2. Is this likely to make it drain too much for most veggies? I
know most stuff need water to produce the bits you eat, apart from
root veg. Anyone had experience of growing veg (particularly legumes)
on a
slope like that?

I could quite easily rig up a pump to water it straight from the
river though, as long as the veg was washed properly before eating
that shouldn't be a problem.

I think I might also get competition from Mr Ratty and his friends
the rabbits, but maybe I can fence that off in a Mr McGregor
stylee.

A couple of ideas..
One of our allotment members uses water from the local River Bourne
and has an abstraction licence to do that legally, however the
Environment Agency person said he is only to use seep hoses not use
it to spray over the plants. (sewage outfall upstream?) Seep hoses
would not cause you so much of an erosion problem.

I have gardened on a S. facing slope (about 1 in 10), quite useful
as it heats up quicker in the spring etc. but you may have erosion
problems as others have said. 1 in 2 isn't too bad though for a bank
and would lend itself to a couple of retaining walls (like a raised
bed).
Rabbit fencing* is a must on our allotment site anyway but keeping
out the rats is another story, water voles? you should be so lucky.
:-) (* We found AVS Fencing was the cheapest by some margin if there
is one nearish to you)

Thanks for that. I must contact the EA to see about seep/extraction.
They are usually very helpful.

How high a fence will a rabbit jump? I know a rat will climb a 20'
wall if he thinks it's worth it. I thought I might just leave them
some food outside to keep them out :-)

Whilst visiting a friend in Lancashire some time ago, we went out for
a drive. and as we went down one road he said, 'the rabbits here can
climb a 6 foot wall', we had a good laugh, then we turned a corner,
scared a rabbit which ran up a wall at least that high!

I was reading this and other posts about burglars and, whilst in Homebase or
some such godforsaken excuse for a DIY shop, came across the burglar-proof
paint that was mentioned in another thread. I'm think along the lines of a
small wall with this stuff on, so Peter and Mr Ratty are deterred from
venturing into my soon-to-be-built allotment. I can merely step over the
wall, having longer legs than them, then put a wire fence inside with a gate
to stop jumping animals like deer, kangaroos etc. Does this sound like a
good/feasible idea? I'm told Mr Ratty climbs like we dom needs to get a grip
etc, has similar skin. I don't know a lot about rabbits, apart from how to
skin and cook one.