[Beejay]

Plot next to mine has only Rhubarb in one little section. The guy, who I have only seen twice in the 3 years the site has been open, has mainly left the plot to grass. He just keeps it tidy!

[wafflycat]

Plot next to mine has only Rhubarb in one little section. The guy, who I have only seen twice in the 3 years the site has been open, has mainly left the plot to grass. He just keeps it tidy!

You see, to me, that's not proper use of an allotment. To me, an allotment should be used primarily for the growing of fruit & veg. I'd much rather see a plot being used to produce food, even if the shed is made from old doors and scrap timber.. that the beds are edges with scrap timber, that there's 101 uses for old pallets being shown... I think I must have an old-fashioned romantic view of what allotments are for.

[Smarty]

As a relative newbie I'd like to add that when a new person takes over an old plot the state of the plot should be taken into consideration and perhaps a more lax timetable drawn up.

I took over my plot last May after two years on the waiting list and it was in a heck of a state; it had been used for several years as the site compost heap/bonfire site/rubbish tip. We were due to get married in 6 weeks time and were in full-on wedding arrangement mode but there was no way I was going to turn it down after all that time. In the first month I managed to strim it, glyphosate it, rotavate it and then carpet it all in lovely black plastic. And that was it beyond a bit of fiddling around the edges until August. I had no hassles from the committee at all, probably because they could see progress albeit very slow, and last weekend the last of the black plastic came off (yippee!). It's now looking like a proper allotment. I'm up there several times a week, very committed,  and very excited about the growing season ahead.

My point is that it's difficult to make hard and fast rules;  make general rules by all means but be prepared for some flexiblity.

[paintedlady]

To me, an allotment should be used primarily for the growing of fruit & veg. I'd much rather see a plot being used to produce food

I think you may be in a minority here    Allotments have become personal spaces, especially for those who have no garden of their own at home, and many tenant's agreements usually allow growing of flowers, keeping of animals (sometimes limited to species and numbers) as well as growing fruit & veg.

[chimaera]

Using a plot productively may have little to do with getting an edible crop. I worked out I spent as much per week on flowers as root veg, so surely they are just as important a crop for the house. And what is the difference between a a row of pansies to look nice on the plot and one to harvest and look nice (and be eaten) on a salad? One person I know has a plot of coppiced willow which she uses for her hobby of basketry. On the other hand I know parts of  plots that are actively used but growing nothing; under cover, used for storage and fires etc. It is even possibly to have a productive plot that is not being worked at all, if it has fruit trees that look after themselves and are picked once a year.

It needs to be case by case. If space is being intentionally wasted, it is a problem, otherwise not.

Charlie

[p00rstudent]

on our site, the rules state that you have to have 50% of it under cultivation within 3 months. but that being said the site rep is a really nice laid back chap, and though he whinges about the allotments that have had nothing done to them, he just assuming that they didnt want to come out in the winter weather and they will crack on with it in the summer. this is usually followed by a spiel about when he was a young man he could have dug over the whole of england in an hour during a blizzard etc.

[noshed]

There's a surprising number of old blokes who can do that.
On our site we have endless problems with this although mosts of them are solved by agreement where possible. The council are supposed to be evicting some people but we will have to wait until hell has frozen over for that.
What we have agreed though, is not to give new people a tenancy agreement for 3 months, just so that they can show they are actually going to do something. We hope this will be fairer for the 20+ people now on the waiting list.
We are also splitting all 10 rods in two as they become vacant - it's a bit more handleable if you've got a full-time job.

[p00rstudent]

i have a 30rod plot and a full time job and i am able to manage it ok, granted the allotment has taken over all my free time for the past year, but it is worth it.

[corynsboy]

Having read through the above comments our rough rules do look a bit harsh.  However,
I think they are born of frustration and will be toned down and caveats added as we are reasonable people at our site. 

Some more interesting comments about flower growing and personal space from paintedlady.  As some one that lives in a flat I know what you mean.  I grow cut flowers on my plot too.  Mainly sunflowers and sweet peas for home and casual visits to friend’s houses. (plus borage for Bees.)

We have one chap who at the bottom of his plot has a shed with net curtains, a patio (Pink White and Green Slabs) and a three foot high slatted garden fence around it.  He has BBQs during the summer and I know he's got a bottle of Pimms in his shed!  Good on him.  He's got a lovely plot he uses 3/4s of it ( the rest is shed and patio) and no one is ever going to complain about that.

[SusieQ]

I don't think your rules are harsh at all. When there are waiting lists of keen people why should the allotment have to put up with those who are tardy?

Do you have part plots on your allotment?  If someone isn't cultivating all their plot for some reason then it may be an idea for them to give up part of it.  I cannot see any reason for any part of any allotment not being cultivated for more than a year.

Use it or lose it, that's what I think.

[Beejay]

Plot next to mine has only Rhubarb in one little section. The guy, who I have only seen twice in the 3 years the site has been open, has mainly left the plot to grass. He just keeps it tidy!

You see, to me, that's not proper use of an allotment. To me, an allotment should be used primarily for the growing of fruit & veg. I'd much rather see a plot being used to produce food, even if the shed is made from old doors and scrap timber.. that the beds are edges with scrap timber, that there's 101 uses for old pallets being shown... I think I must have an old-fashioned romantic view of what allotments are for.

Hallelujah Sister, I agree with you no end.

But we can't have sheds made of scrap timber, etc. Mores the pity

[woodburner]

I'm just wondering how you would deal with my friend, or me for that matter.
My friend doesn't do much digging or weeding these days, the 'weeds' on her plots are there to encourage pollinating insects, mainly campion. she knows every plant on her plots, and there is almost nothing (there is a bit of dock underneath the blackberries) that isn't beneficial or edible, and she gets masses of food from it. She doesn't know what permaculture is but that's actually what's going on there. Because everything is mixed up together it's not clear that there is lots of edible stuff there until she points it all out, also she saves her own seed. The overall effect is that to the untrained eye it looks abandoned.
Me? I'm taking a long time to get to grips with my plot. It's nearly a year now and I've only got a fraction of it properly weed free. The rest is under slowly disintegrating cardboard, I'm fairly confident that I will get most of it planted this year, I may even end up needing more space! Hopefully I will get some more ground properly turned over for stuff that needs to be sown rather than planted, but runner beans, brassicas, cucurbits, and fruit bushes planted through fresh cardboard, and the cultivation of potatoes should deal with the rest of the weeds. But it's definitely not cultivated!

[beansticks]

Excellent thread Corynsboy,and i agree with your principles wholeheartedly,i had a neighbouring plotholder who i only saw three times in three years.His plot was full of weeds,at the time we did not have a committee but a one man band running the site.When i used to complain to him he would reply he paid his rent and that there was nothing to be done. Two years ago we formed a committee and he was first to go.No 3 strikes we just did not accept his rent and terminated his tenancy.He never uttered a word of protest . All power to your elbow wasted plots just deprive people who are on waiting lists. On our site we now have a probationary peroid for newbies,and all plotholders are regularly reminded of their tenancy agreements.

[corynsboy]

I'm just wondering how you would deal with my friend, or me for that matter.
My friend doesn't do much digging or weeding these days, ... The overall effect is that to the untrained eye it looks abandoned.
Me? I'm taking a long time to get to grips with my plot..... But it's definitely not cultivated!

Hi woodburner. Thanks for your comments.   I'm in favour of alternative methods of growing and so long as your friend's plot isn't causing her neighbours extra work then no harm no foul.  Right?  I sounds like she knows what she is doing and if it works for her and everyone around her she would be embraced by our members for working smarter not harder.

New members struggling to renovate a neglected plot are always going to be given encouragement and plenty of wiggle room.  These are exactly the example we need to stop people falling between the gaps and falling foul of rules never designed to punish them.

This really is going to be a difficult job.

[wafflycat]

This really is going to be a difficult job.

Yup - one I don't envy you for! Best of luck!