Hello from another newbie. Been reading about the subject, seems that it is better to start with a small plot. I enjoyed reading on Internet-land about the different types of allotment people (is there a collective noun for allotmentiers? Is that it; "Allotmentiers"?
There are the preppers who are going straight for the whole self-sufficient zombie-apocalypse preparation thing whom then complain that did you know, you clear the weeds and they actually come back! Turns out that allotments are more work than a windowsill herb garden apparently. Go figure.
Then there are the accountants. These guys seem to base their decision entirely on the pennies in their pocket. Some buy titanium greenhouses, mahogany sheds and gold shovels. They drive the Range Rover the half mile to their plot once every other month to conclude at the end of the year that their single marrow was actually not profitable. Wow, did you use a spreadsheet for that?
The dreamers will see a photo of somebody in a deck-chair on a summer's day supping on a cold-one and figure they want some of that action. This rapidly wears thin when they discover that they are the ones expected to do all of the digging! I thought it came with a gardener, a bit like our estate. Well, really! How rude.
Then there are the pragmatists whom actually have most of the equipment from their own gardening ventures, or buy it second hand, or borrow it from crazy Aunt Dotty the mad cat lady in the family. They tend to be positive about the outcome. Exercise, vitamin D, tasty nutritionally outstanding food, environmentally a step in the right direction (I will fall short of saying they save the world just yet).
So which one am I? I hope I am being realistic, but small-scale realistic as that pesky having-to-work-for-a-living still gets in the way on weekdays and the too-tired-to-do-anything-because-of-weekdays weekends. I am wary of some of the bylaws in this country, such as "No firearms on allotments without a permit". Why did this happen so often they needed to point it out in a bylaw? Just how dangerous are the plants other people grow? Triffids need adequate fencing don't you know! Or a firearm. With a permit.
So I'm seeing potential plots this afternoon. I will take the dog which will be my canary in case of violent angry death-eater veg the fluffy coward will no doubt tweet and run away thus alerting me to the danger.
If you're still reading, kudos on your staying power, but haven't you got an allotment you should be digging?
Comments please!
Chris.