[Tortoisebex]

Employ a man to dig over the allotment.
I would rather do it myself but I am struggling with time etc due to shifts and family

I keep trying but not really making any headway before its time to leave again

Is this frowned upon in the allotment community?

[Christine]

Probably frowned upon by the rules you signed when you took on the allotment.

It had led to all sorts of problems here and accusations of sub letting. As well as grumbles from the waiting list who feel it's not fair to give a plot to someone who hasn't got time to use it fully.

[Aunt Sally]

We have a rule that anyone on your plot must be accompanied by you or your close family.

[Aunt Sally]

As well as grumbles from the waiting list who feel it's not fair to give a plot to someone who hasn't got time to use it fully.

I agree with that comment. 

[Tortoisebex]

I did wonder.

I would be there and it would literally only be to do the initial heavy clearing. I'm planning to do everything else.  I also need a new shed building which they will also do. It's not something I can do on my own

[Aunt Sally]

Best to check with whoever runs the site.  You wouldn't want to find yourself in breach of your tenancy agreement.

We help each other to put sheds up on our site.  Why not ask your plot neighbours.

[Tortoisebex]

Good plan I shall check with John .

You have a friendly site!

[Yorkie]

We have no such rules, and informal sharing is OK too with us, so it will definitely be site- / tenancy- specific.

If somebody is temporarily struggling, I would far rather they got help than be kicked off after weeds have been causing others difficulties.

If it is a permanent state of affairs, then my view might be slightly different.

[Peas let my pumpkins grow]

I didn't "employ" a man for the initial big dig/jungle clearance but I did kidnap one or two from home   

I agree you need to check the rules, but if its just a boost to help you get started then I myself wouldn't frown at you    once the big push so to speak is over it will be easier to maintain anyway

[Welsh Merf]

My personal view is: never knock a man when he's down! Even a child needs a hand to get on its feet to start with.

I work full-time as well, and only have the evenings and the weekends to spare on the plot. So I have thought really hard about whether it is a viable proposition or not, and decided that (with a little help from my friends) I can - and will - make it work!

So, if needs be, get sombody to dig it over for you initially, but then make sure that it's you that carries on from that point. I'm sure you'll find plenty of advice and help from the others on your allotment (or on here).

Best of luck matey!

[Tortoisebex]

Aww thanks I feel better about this now. I will still check with the site man

It is only the initial dig I need help with so hopefully I won't be ostracised :-)

[snowdrops]

How interesting,I'd never thought it might not be allowed to have some paid help. Fair enough if you paid someone to grow it all in your name I could see that it would be objected to. I am considering getting a chap in to help lay some slab paths for me as I just can't get them level & there's too many,I never considered anyone might object. Well only Mr S when he found out how much I had spent .

[angelavdavis]

Equal Ops means that generally it is allowed as most allotment articles say that membership must be open to all, it usually just needs a notification to the Council/Allotment Committee so other plotholders don't think either the person isn't a associate member or a freeloader!

[Mrs Bee]

We cleared all our jungle but getting the really large roots out was taking ages so we got a builder friend to bring his mini digger over to deal with them. We were going to pay him but he wouldn't take any money.

Never occured to us it might not be allowed

But our allotment is just so laid back we all do our own thing.

[Wiltshire Worms]

I cant imagine that it would be a problem with the original work, especially if you do the communication properly.  when we were allocated our original plot, our neighbours(who were given the other half) certainly used hired help to do the original hard labour bit.. as others have said, dont let it become the norm as you will defeat the object of having an allotment anyway..good luck