[jamesh20]

Hi all,

I was just wondering what your thoughts were on selling the produce you grow in your allotments. Do you usually have surplus produce and would you be willing to sell it to someone who wanted to use it to make local based products like jam and soup?

Just hoping to garner some opinion on this...

Thanks

[Janeymiddlewife]

Some allotment "rules" forbid you from selling produce....
how they'd find out though...........

[Aunt Sally]

It is in general not permitted on council run allotments.  I don't know about private ones though but think it is probably not allowed on them either.  Contact whoever runs your site.

[poultrygeist]

From what you say, maybe you could donate some produce in exchange for the finished product ?

I think small-scale bartering may be permitted or at least tolerated.

Rob

[p00rstudent]

selling of produce on our plot is forbidden, but people quite often swap things with each other which is a good thing, stops people from using the allotment as a source of income but allows them to trade produce they have in excess for one they are lacking.

[peapod]

Maybe you could swap eggs for surplus veg if they are allowed on your lotty site?

[p00rstudent]

i whish i could swap my excess veg and eggs for things like meat and milk, but as no one is allowed to keep livestock on the plots other than chickens there is no one to swap this with but hey ho. maybe one day i will be able afford to buy some land to keep animals on.

[Ropster]

there was a program on tv about a guy who wanted to use only produce he could get from within the london tube network in his restraunt.

He ran across the problem of not being allowed to buy from allotments

the way he got round it was the allotment holders "rented" him boxes, usualy the rented boxes just happened to have some spare produce in them 

probably still against the rules but thought it was worth mentioning

I think the program was called urban chief

[Aunt Sally]

Sounds deceitful and dishonest to me 

[bailey]

my grandad used to sell all his surplus,, to be honest he loved gardening and grew way too much for the family but knew he could sell it on especially to local folk, he ended up with a shed that was more or less a veg shop, only thing was majority of the produce would be asked for then he would go and get it straight form the ground/greenhouse ect,, i was only a kid but i remember people forming a que on a saturday to get veg for the sunday roast,, in the end the council forced him to stop and tax people got involved somewhere,, now he was,nt making any money he did it for the enjoyment and what he charged was pennies, i,m sure if an accountant or similar got involved they would find out he was losing money,, but he did it for his enjoyment and he loved the company of the folk coming for the produce,,   he then ended up giving the produce away at his local legion,, ....

so I guess be a little carefull in how much you sell..

[Eatyourgreens]

I am sure your Grandad sold his veg for all the right reasons, however we should all guard against the sale of veg from allotments (Or at least be very careful when you do it).

Allotments were set up to help feed the growing population of towns after the peasants had been thrown off of the land by the enclosures act and more mechanised farming.

If allotments became commercial or pressure was put on councils etc for this to happen, you could end up with a situation whereby we lost one of our last forms of contact with the land.

I am not an allotment holder, I am lucky to have a large garden, but in my view allotments and our right to have them, needs guarding at all costs.


Bob

[bailey]

good point eatyourgreens!

i,m also lucky, though I call it my lottie I have a considerable veg garden area at my father in laws, which is only 2 mins away from where i live and i also have a good sized garden at home...

the story about my grandad though is  going back a few years, he died 15 years ago so you can see its been a long time ago,, the garden was his own attached to his own house but council still got involved, don,t really know why..  but if this happened then I guess things are worse now?

I remember he caused alot of family arguments as my dad, uncles and aunty all said he should be selling at the going rate at the time,, but he refused,(he was a stubborn goat)

some of the folk where he lived still rememeber him for his veg today.

[diggerjoe]

I'm quite happy to give it away and friends and family do favours in return like mow my lawn if I have a busy weekend or drive me somewhere which is too far to bike. I wouldn't like to charge somehow that makes it all commercial which is what I am trying to get away from.

[MoreWhisky]

I'm actually looking forward to giving my surplus away to family and friends 

[Greengirl]

I give a lot away too, but sometimes if I have loads, I put a table outside with a sign saying help yourselves, but any donation to my seed fund would be welcome. People help themselves & give as little, or as much as they like. I made enough to buy a load of manure last year.