"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"Spider" wrote ...

"Sacha" wrote
"Martin" wrote:
What a truly excellent idea! B&Q have said that for the second year
running, their sale of veg seeds has gone up. I think this time 27%
was
mentioned.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/ear...st-to-give-lan
d-for-allotments.html

"He pointed out that the vast proportion of land in Britain is owned by
one
per
cent of the population, meaning few ordinary people have access to land
to
grow
their own fruit and vegetables."

iffy statistics, many houses have a garden big enough to do both. One
doesn't
need acres. Most can't cope with 50 sq/metres, although units of
100sq/metres
are provided as standard in the gardening club my wife runs. She is
considering
offering units of 25sq/metres in future.

People constantly tell us they want to downsize their gardens. One chap
actually wrote asking us for ideas on making his large garden more
manageable. Prescient as I am ;-), I suggested that he might ask a
younger
person to look after it in exchange for the opportunity to grow food and
flowers on it for his own family.


An elderly neighbour of mine was keen to do this with part of her garden,
and she asked my advice. I said that, in principle, it was a great idea
but that she would have to allow access to this gardener almost at will.
The local gardener she had in mind is a very close friend of mine who
works. This friend would need access to the garden before leaving for
work, after work or after cooking dinner; in other words, all sorts of
odd hours. In effect, the elderly neighbour would need to leave her side
gate unlocked for long periods or all day. This worried her, as it
should. It worried me, knowing that she had already succumbed to a bogus
electricity caller (she ran from the house screaming and the caller
decamped). There were other issues, too, as there are bound to be with
this kind of arrangement. If the proffered plot were a front or side
garden, then it may work very well because access is so much easier, but
a back garden plot is fraught with problems and dangers.


I would have thought the fitting of a Yale lock with keys to both parties
would have sorted out that problem.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden


Indeed, it probably would solve the problem for some. However, add a touch
of paranoia and a generous pinch of selfishness (one of the "other issues" I
hinted at), and a simple problem becomes a complicated one :~(. Suffice it
to say, the younger in-coming gardener (and my best friend, incidentally)
was truly relieved to be rescued from a difficult partnership.

Access is a huge part of this sort of arrangement but, because of the very
reasons that such a deal is struck, the partnership itself can become very
flawed and unbalanced, and a problem in its own right. It takes some wisdom
to see all the problems and negotiate a fair trade. For those who can
manage it well, it's a great idea.

Spider