[aelf]

Looking around our site this morning and many of the plots look abandoned to the winter weather already! I won't see many people working their plots now til the spring.

I still have loads to do, in fact, I'm often busier during the winter months than the summer (apart from harvest time). Things need to be repaired, or built, ground can be cleared, manure spread, early (and late) seeds put in and so on and so on!

Strikes me that these fair-weather gardeners are not getting anything like the most out of their plots.

What do they do with themselves in the winter? 

[tode]

Eat all the stuff they've grown in Summer ?

[Stevens706]

I’m surprised as there is so much to do, digging, manuring, staking the Brussels, planting garlic and over wintering onions, cleaning the greenhouse and so on, not mention all the attention the fruit needs, I will have most of December and January off the plot.

[corynsboy]

I really only get down after work in the evenings and at weekends.  I hardly do anything on the plot in January, February is usually pretty bleak too.  However the rest of the year I'll keep myself pretty busy.

This winter I need to replace the shed roof (overhaul the shed entirely actually) that’s Two Saturdays and two Sundays in November.  I'll do some work on our paths and my permanent beds too

This year we are also trying to organise a working party to fall on Halloween or Nov 5th were we have a working party during the day to sort out some of our fence and hedge issues then we have huge bonfire with all our old rubbish and put on some wine & BBQ and fireworks in the evening.  The bonfire is already taking shape on one of the plots.

[Babstreefern]

We fixed the shed completely last December (remember that really cold snap?) , clean the greenhouses, I do my seeds at home and put them in the conservatory.  I'm already winter digging my plots - over half done already.  Then liming (acid soil), blood, fish & bone stuff, chicken pellets and generally tidying up everything.  I hope to have finished by end of December, then a nice relax before starting all over again by April.  Then I've got to put all my grown plants (from the seeds) into the ground/greenhouse by end of April, then off the Americal for 2 and a half weeks in mid May, and the rest of the time after, doing catch up by getting rid of the weeds that have since by then grown

[Elcie]

I much prefer being at the plots when the sun is shining!

But, I also like going down during the winter when I know I can have a chance to clear up and get on top of the weeds whislt they have stopped growing!  Starting that in spring would be pretty daunting for me.

[lightyears]

my site has a lot of fair weather plotters, and i dont mean the folks who go out to work etc and have short time, i mean the share lazy folk who take on to much and dont realise what they are into, im already halfway through my winter preparation whilst the plot next door is like the jungle in viatnam because the bloke is "board of it"

[Hey Jude]

I think some people have their rose tinted glasses on when they accept a plot and they either rise to the challenge and do a great job or give up after a couple of seasons. I know I under-estimated what hard work it would be, but I just love it and can't imagine my life without my allotment - judging by quite a few of the plots on our site, not everyone shares my enthusiasm (or aching back!!)

[aelf]

I think some people have their rose tinted glasses on when they accept a plot and they either rise to the challenge and do a great job or give up after a couple of seasons. I know I under-estimated what hard work it would be, but I just love it and can't imagine my life without my allotment - judging by quite a few of the plots on our site, not everyone shares my enthusiasm (or aching back!!)

You are absolutely right, I love it too! But the fair-weather plotters are missing out on so much growing time! One guy asked me this year how come my onions were much bigger that his. The reason was he didn't put his sets in til March and mine were in the November before. And this guy has had his plot for several years now.

What prompted this post was a discussion I had with a group of plot holders who all agreed that gardening is a 'summer activity' and when the weather turns, they all retreat indoors. Ok, if that is how they want to do it, but it seems such a waste of potential to me.

[madcat]

One of the joys of allotmenting is that we are all different ....  So long as what you do doesnt adversely affect your neighbours, may the diversity flourish!

So some produce more than others, some produce different things, some grow volume to feed an extended family, some to produce delicacies, some for their health. 

And some of us just dont like the short dark days of the winter!  In a month or two I will turn into a bear, and hibernate till the sun comes back.

[strangerachael]

Whenever I go to the plot I wonder where everyone else is but most plots are well tended so they must be going some other time and wondering where everyone else is!

[Mike the Postman]

To be fair (pun intended ) you get fair weather people in all forms of outdoor pursuits and hobbies from fair weather golfers to fair weather hill runners.To find that there are fair weather allotmenteerers comes as no surprise to me really.

Me,I love being outside in all weathers.One of my favourite quotes is from Billy Connolly 'there is no such thing as bad weather,only bad clothes.'

[mumofstig]

I would have thought that most of us would admit to spending less time on the plot in the winter
For a start once you've done the digging there is much less to do.
The weeding is a bit here and there as the weather allows.......so what else is there anyway? a bit of shed and tool maintenance...maybe

All in all I pop outside when it looks a bit sunny, do what i have to do....then pop back in round the fire and check the seed catalogues and plan next years beds. Then change it all again..and so on ....
ad finitum

So does that make me a fair weather gardener? well   if it does.

[Christine]

It all depends. There's certainly less to do in winter in some ways but to leave your plot unattended could make it the target of vandals.

There's so many things that are almost due to be done when the last of the summer crops have done their thing for me.

Tub and pot scrubbing, compost management, digging over, preparation of beds, pruning and tree care, checking of canes, netting and other sundries for next spring, getting shears and other tools sharpened are only the obvious jobs that I have listed for the next three months.

[yummy]

Well I don't get on my plot much in the winter due to work. I'm a teacher. I have not been home earlier than 7pm this week and it is going dark by then. The first term is always mad. I usually have some kind of work to do then as well, plus the house and food shopping needs taking care of, as do my dogs.... and sometimes I even like to go out or visit friends. That's just the way it is. Nowt to do with fair weather