[bashful_badger]

And how long they are there for each session?  I've not yet taken a thermos flask with me so I can't have been going for long enough!

Oh, that's given me an idea, used to go fishing with my dad and at "breaktime" he'd whip out his little brass burner thingy and we'd cook sausages and wrap them in bread.  It was the best. 

[hightide]

Don't use a timer, but when it gets dark enough I usually get the hint.

Tesco did a Camping Gaz stove at £12.99 and for another six quid a kettle and a plastic water bag.

Frash air, fresh tea, birdsong and hobnobs 

[peapod]

I take sausages up too, pop in a pan on my camping stove and dinner is served.  I keep waiting for our Gwiz to turn up though 

My time spent at the plot is massively variable over the year.  Good weather Im there as much as I can be, but as little lad gets bored for long stretches, and OH wants to go home for his beer before kick off then time is much more limited than I actually want to spend there. It willbe different whn I can drive and can just pop up there.

But for all that, the jobs get done and we get a good harvest. So on average over the year Id say (once set up and running) I'll be spending about 5 hours there over the w/end.  Spring and autumn obviously needing the most time

[HilaryG]

I confess to spending hours on my plot, sometimes whole days. Its only my 2nd year of growing so I'm still totally obsessed by it all. My OH says I'm suffering from OAD The other plot holders are beginning to suspect that I sleep in the shed. 
What's the earliest time you've gone to your plot? Early mornings are really lovely

[Babyshoes]

We generally only manage one visit a week at the weekend unless there is something that desperately needs doing after work on a weekday evening. Our visits can be anything from the best part of a day to an hour or so, depending on what else is happening and what desperately needs doing on the plot.

We do get jealous of the other plots with no weeds and huge veg, but I suspect those plot holders don't work, or at least not full time... Our plot may have a load of weeds and some failed veg, but we have done pretty well out of it for our first year, and will hopefully do better next year!  :happy:

[MoreWhisky]

I go every day. I seem always to be there far more than anyone else on our site (only 28 plots tho).

When i come home from work after tea its such a nice place to go and relax.

And im loving the BQ sweetcorn at the moment for when i have a break. and strangly i seem to be getting more visitors and the moment ).

[A. Fallowfield]

I go most days, and take a snack and a drink. There's always something to do even if its just 'chatting on the plot'!

[DD.]

When weathers good, I'm there just about everyday.

The duration can very massively though.

Spring, when it's mostly sowing, planting & preparation, it can be 3-4 hours a day.

Summer, when it's mostlyharvest, it's only as long as it takes to get it in, plus a weekly longer hoeing session.

Autumn (now), back to a bit longer sessions of clearing, them moving towards winter digging.

Winter, just a quick enough for a few days, grab it & run before I freeze my whatsits off or get soaked.

[mr Isaccs]

Since I got my plot in April this year there has only been 2 days I didn't go and that was because i went away to a music festival.
At first I used to spend 6 or more hours a day or so as the plot was riddled with twitch grass and so I sieved the whole plot by hand.
Now I spend at least three hours each day pottering around, you'll often find me there at 6 a.m. ( best time to have a fire as local residents moan, understandably).
As soon as I wake up my mind is thinking about what I can do down the ground today ( I think I may have an addiction  ).
Don't know what I'm going to do in winter as there's only so much digging you can do.
I must say that I have had a brilliant first year, roll on Christmas so I can harvest my brussels.

[MoreWhisky]

Ive not been for about 14hrs. Best get there i think.

Joys of a day off work ).

[little sweetpeas]

In all around 20 hours a week. I have a gas stove, hot chocolate and a tin of biscuits/cake plus a bucket of toys for my toddler.

My youngest starts pre school next week so will spend a bit more time there and once she goes up to the primary school I'll be there 6hours a day if I can.

As well as working on my plot I just like being there. Talking to other plot holders, helping new plot holders and helping with the upkeep of the site.

[Christine]

It's usually at least 20 hours a week but the last couple of weeks the weather has been decidedly off putting and I've been doing a lot of preserving. Am just taking a break from the preserving at the moment. Must get back to the green tomato chutney job in a while.

Tomorrow is allotment day to catch up on weeding, trimming, composting and harvesting. If you harvest you have to eat or preserve it. So it's six of one and half a dozen of the other at the moment.

[Babstreefern]

Depends on the weather mainly .  For instance, last weekend was a no-no .  It had been torrential downpours all week, and it would have been like the Somme Battlefield .  So instead, I went to the farm for my meat and had a nice day off on the Sunday .  I work full-time and so I've booked this Friday off as a holiday , and plan to work all through the weekend getting everything ready for winter .  I love it, its so relaxing after working all week in an office .  I know of a few guys on the allotment that get there at 6:00 in the morning.  Sorry, but 6:00 comes but once a day in my life style

[JRRD]

I can never quite get my head round people who tell me they have been there all day...........

Just the thought of the lack of available loo, just makes me suddenly desperate 'to go'. (Too much information I'm sure  )

I know its all in the mind, I am sometimes there for a  couple of hours in the morning, (come home for lunch) couple of hours afternoon, (come home for after school/dinner) and couple of hours in the evening.

I just can't stay for the whole stretch, I have stayed for about three hours a couple of times and I think i've really pushed the boat out !!! 

[Lady Lottie]

I just go when I can - which usually amounts to once a week - maybe 4 or 5 hours on a Saturday or Sunday, especially now the nights are drawing in.  In the summer I sometimes went there after tea for and hour or two..or 3!    but personally I prefer to go there when I know I can get really stuck in an stay for a long stretch - a) cos there is always lots to do and b) because I enjoy it so much.  I suppose this is also because I have to take all my tools etc up in the car and its a bit of a faff.  And only half my plot needs weeding because the other half is under polythene with pumpkins growing on it.

You just find a way to manage it that fits in with your life - and grow stuff accordingly - I've just started college full time so just KNOW I won't have as much allotment time as I'd like come Spring/Summer 2010.  So - I guess I will either get up earlier on a weekend and grow things that require the minimum of attention or be up there when it's dark!