[ClaireMc]

1. Our plot is NEVER going to be the best-looking.  But our veg still taste fantastic.

2. Why are the Scots so fond of thistles?  They are now my deadly enemy (thistles, not Scottish people).

3. Time goes faster on an allotment than anywhere else.  The clock is a bigger problem than the slug.

4. I wish I’d thought to sun-block my muffin top whilst weeding at midday. Ouch.  

5. I sat at the feet of the best gardener I know, a professor of botany no less, ready to write down a list of plant names (probably in Latin). He said ‘Just plant the things you want to eat and see what happens.’  That was the best advice we got.

6. I expected weeding to be the worst job but it just sends me into a happy trance.  Watering during dry spells is the real * – water saving is top priority for the inevitable drought of next summer.

7. The reproductive power of the strawberry plant - awesome.

8. Everybody said ‘Don’t bother with spuds and onions, they’re really cheap in the shops.’   We’re planting twice as many of both next year.

9. The car of choice for allotment holders seems to be the Nissan Micra.  Preferably red.  Not a value-judgement, just an observation.

10. Labelling things - an excellent idea.  I'm going to do it next year.

11. Gardening is not a cure for arachnaphobia, unfortunately, but I still love it.

[WG.]

Very good.    

Add a few more as they occur to you.

[lucywil]

8. Everybody said ‘Don’t bother with spuds and onions, they’re really cheap in the shops.’   We’re planting twice as many of both next year.

10. Labelling things - an excellent idea.  I'm going to do it next year.



totally agree with your reponse to no.8, they may be cheap but taste of nothing so definately worth growing your own

as for no.10 i must try harder, i convince my self i will remember what it is only to forget before i've left the greenhouse!

[GrannieAnnie]

I wholeheartedly agree with No.8.  They may be cheaper in the shops, but shop bought spuds and onions are not a patch on freshly dug own growns!!!!!

And No.10 is good, just don't do what I did and re-use the compost of any seed pots that didnt germinate!  I thought well, as those seeds didn't use up any of the goodness in that compost I'll sow some more seeds in them.  However, now those plants, are growing, they are not necessarily what I planted the 2nd time around, as I look at some of the tomatoes and the label is different to what is growing!!!! lol  So in some cases, it looks like the 2nd sowing didn't germinate, but the 1st sowing germinated really late!!!!  So its still a case of wait til they ripen!!!!  Never mind, I'm happy with whatever I get!!!

[Lynne]

That is all so true. Especially the one about allotment time going more quickly than normal time. I find that I plan to spend three or four hours there and actually spend two to three working as so many people stop to chat, but that is a nice part of the 'community' atmosphere.

[Trillium]

Totally agree with #10. While I do label things, I'm a bit slipshod with it and promise myself every year that I'll do a more thorough job next year. Wonder just when that year will arrive?  

And definitely #8. We've grown our own spuds and onions for so long that I won't even eat them outside of our home as I know they'll taste like c**p. Visitors dining at our place can't believe how much our spuds taste like potatoes.  :?  One year when we didn't have enough spuds for an elderly friend, we directed him to the Mennonite farmers who sell organic spuds. He later said that those spuds tasted no where near as good as ours. Now we make sure he gets a sack each year.

As for #11, we don't get the spiders until about this time of year and I'm ready for them - always wear long sleeved shirts and gloves, and I watch where any webs are so they don't come rushing out when the web moves. A stick makes short work of the webs. Sorry spiders, but it's MY garden and I don't share.  

[brucesgirl]

I agree with everything you say - except I never label anything!! I think of it as a memory exercise, much cheaper than the Nintendo.

And the time thing is scary - we usually get home too late to cook any of the stuff we've grown!

[Jeanieblue]

There's nothing so wonderful as home grown.  Even our little grandson reckons he's growing cos he's been eating 'Nanna's veggytubbles'  !!!
We've just got a new plot - see A Cautionary Tale - but today, clearing a corner out full of volunteer potato plants, we bagged ourselves about 3lb. of lovely little spuds and had half for our tea, scrumptious !!!!
Look forward to seeing future posts. Happy digging, Jean

[mushroom]

And the time thing is scary

isn't it just? there's always something to do, or there's just chilling out, which also counts as "something to do", and woosh there goes 9 hrs. I find that, on my days off, I'm spending as much daylight time there as possible, so, rather than having a lie-in bed, i'm getting up at sunrise in order to get to the lottie at 10am!!!

[richyrich7]

#3 certainly true esp if you go on a sunday morning when the site shop is open, I have been known never to get to the plot  :roll: I don't talk much honest  

#12 have you ever noticed how the birds sing that little bit louder down on the plot and the car noise is so much less, bliss  

[sparky]

12 have you ever noticed how the birds sing that little bit louder down on the plot and the car noise is so much less, bliss  

Exactly Rich. Living near the M62, the "lottie" is an oasis.

[jaycee]

3. Time goes faster on an allotment than anywhere else.  The clock is a bigger problem than the slug.



Agree but  2nd (on a very wet and windy day )is browsing the Allotment and Gardening Web site.

[si-mate]

I don't understand the whole thing about not growing the cheaper veggies / fruit.

If I were to add up everything we've spent on equipment, shed & greenhouse, seeds, compost and even time it's probably 3 - 4 times more than we could buy the produce for.

BUT....shop bought produce doesn't taste the same and it doesn't give me a sense of satisfaction & achievement.
It doesn't keep me fit (well fitter).
It doesn't get me out in the open.
It doesn't help me make new friends.

Now how many of us do it just to save money?

[DD.]

Now how many of us do it just to save money?

Not me - I could spend less on Tesco's bland tasteless stuff and sit on the settee all day long watching Star Trek and be a Homer Simpson.

Or I could spend even more on gym membership.

I reckon the plot is a good balance.

[jacnal]

3. Time goes faster on an allotment than anywhere else.  The clock is a bigger problem than the slug.

Doesn't it just? I've spent up to 10 hours on the plot and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Even considered quitting work to do my own thing  :shock: !

7. The reproductive power of the strawberry plant - awesome.

I totally agree. I took out runners a while ago, chose a few and put them in pots of compost, but there's more  :shock: . Too many, BTW!

8. Everybody said ‘Don’t bother with spuds and onions, they’re really cheap in the shops.’   We’re planting twice as many of both next year.

 
Ditto here

9. The car of choice for allotment holders seems to be the Nissan Micra.  Preferably red.  Not a value-judgement, just an observation.

      Mine's a red fiat Ciquicento (sp?)  :oops: My next car purchase will take into account space for pallets and big wooden planters etc. Maybe a pick up truck? or a van?

11. Gardening is not a cure for arachnaphobia, unfortunately, but I still love it.

And not a cure for slugophobia  :roll:  either  :cry: . I still stand there watching them munch my veg, helpless as to what to do. I now have metal ice tongs to pick them off my cabbages! Oh they go into the folds and are in slug heaven, the b*****ds.


Apologies for my long reply   .