"shazzbat" wrote in message
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"brooklyn1" wrote in message
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"Hamer Family" wrote in message
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In the UK an allotment is a parel of land rented, usually from local
government, (the council) usually by an individual. I have my plot of
land. In the UK the local authority is obliged in law by a number of
'enclosure acts' to provide such land as may be neccessary in a
particular area. This is because of riots after the landed gentry
enclosed the common land and made it their own in the 1800's. Leaving
poor people nowhere to graze their animals or grow food for the table.

Allotments are usually collected together in a site managed by a
committee, and in any site there may be a handful of allotments or
dozens. On my site there are about 150 plots. each managed by an
individual, or family or group of friends. I have my own plot, with my
own shed, as does the man next to me and the couple next to him and the
couple over the road. It is not the same thing as a community garden. I
farm my own plot as do the other allotment holders on the site.

Go here to see the site that I have a plot on:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&...03433&t=h&z=18

BTW I don't lock my shed, I just leave sharp and dangerous hazards and
manure lying around so that any thieving scrote or other class traitor
will hopefully injure themselves and catch something dreadful.

Baldymoon


What size are these allotment plots, are they all the same size? How
much is the rent? Can one actually grow enough useable crops on these
plots to make it worthwhile to cover the rent and ones time, labors, and
incidental expenses... or is this more a fun hobby for most? Does the
government supply water? I suppose the government is the landlord?, for
what purpose is the rent monies used?



Allotment sizes vary enormously, as do charges and almost every other
facet of allotments. At our site, there is a system I haven't heard of
anywhere else, in that the price applying when you get your plot is set
for as long as you have it. People who have had theirs longer than us are
paying £12 or £15 per year. We pay £20. People who took theirs on after us
are paying various amounts up to £50. Many sites are council property, but
ours is property of a local landowner and has been allotments since 1917.
The site is administered (very loosely) by a local estate agent (realtor)
who also handle the other business of the landowner.

The rules about what you can and cannot do or grow vary from site to site.
We for instance are not allowed to keep any livestock on the plots, but
some places do allow chickens etc. Our site has no water provided, so we
catch what we can from the roofs of the shed and greenhouse. As to value,
I believe it is enormously worthwhile. We buy nothing but seeds, seed
potatoes etc for ours, various plants have come from friends etc. when a
small punnet of soft fruit can cost £3.99 at the supermarket, and we can
pick a washing up bowl full of blackberries, you bet your life it's worth
it. We also grow rhubarb, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries,
tomatoes,golden raspberries, gooseberries, and we have an apple tree, a
plum tree, and a cherry tree. And that's before any veg.

But for many people the true value of an allotment is in the side
benefits, ie fresh air, exercise, free or at least cheap food, improved
diet, new friends, the knowledge that what you're eating has been grown by
yourselves, and grown organically/ethically etc according to ones own
convictions. And for many of us, the chance to make things out of junk and
scrounge things out of skips etc.

Steve

I find this facinating, an entirely different system from what I've
previously known for community gardening. And each reply generates more
questions. Approximately how large are these plots, I realize they're all
differeent but like in what range; 2,500 sq ft, 10,000 sq ft, 20,000 sq
ft... what area is yours? I'm thinking that if you can grow so much
variety, even have fruit trees, then you must have at least an 1/8 - 1/4
acre. For the few dollars a year it seems like a steal, doesn't pay to own
your own piece of farm land, I guess. What do you do if it doesn't rain for
a while, can you haul water by wagon? How far away do you live from your
plot?