[clairebeau]

I thought this hobby was going to be cheap: beg, borrow or steal sort of thing!  

I'm easily fooled eh?!  

Who here does things on the cheap, and who is POSH?!


Oh, and another thing, whilst I'm here...any single guys want to get married?  How on earth I thought I could manage all this...I need my head testing  second thoughts, I'm far too bossy and you'd only get in the way   Bucket load of encouragment needed...please. x

[compostqueen]

I do my plot on my own. You can borrow plot guys as needs must    You can get them easily by luring them with cake. Never fails 

Plots can be very cheap but you need to join your local Freecycle, become a skip diver, and join a seed swop. There's probably one on here actually 

Join your local lotty association for subsidised seed scheme and lotty sundries

[clairebeau]

I do my plot on my own. You can borrow plot guys as needs must    You can get them easily by luring them with cake. Never fails 

Plots can be very cheap but you need to join your local Freecycle, become a skip diver, and join a seed swop. There's probably one on here actually 

Join your local lotty association for subsidised seed scheme and lotty sundries

You mean I'd have to SHARE cake?  I've never heard of this custom

I use Freecycle, mainly to get rid of stuff but I'll keep my eyes peeled from now on.  Oh, we got a compost bin off there a few months back, but Finley (son) wants to build our own from pallets. I'd rather he wanted to dig mind! x

[sunshineband]

On our site we have some plots where everything has been bought new, including very posh looking water butts and enormous polytunnels, those that are distinctly ramshackle and some (like ours) where mostly things are recycled but others, like our shed, we paid for.

and all the veg look good 

I don't have a spare young man, but I do agree cake is a useful bait --  chocolate fudge seems to work well 

[mumofstig]

Cheap and cheerful here (cos it has to be!) but it still don't have to be ugly 

I mended a shed someone was going to throw away, and painted it.............and didn't put wood around my beds. My paths are just pegged down weed control fabric, which is cheap n cheerful on e-bay.

All I pay out for now is seeds compost and lime/fertiliser, no great expense.

and yes...borrow a man when you need to my friendly helper get paid with the odd pot of jam or chutney. I have seen cans of beer being used to bribe the younger ones though 

[Aidy]

I would say my plot is very frugal 

[savbo]

I do my plot on my own. You can borrow plot guys as needs must    You can get them easily by luring them with cake. Never fails 

or as John Cooper Clark so rightly pointed out, you'll always get a guy with a pie...

(you can see it on youtube under Pies (Live))

[AnneB]

Ours is cheap and cheerful, but I think, rather good.  However we are amateurs compared with some of the construction efforts in neighbouring plots.

All the raised beds are made from re-cycled scaffolding planks.  We have a water butt that used to contain liquids from the printing industry and compost bins from pallets.   We are still to construct a poly tunnel, shed and fruit cage, but we will not be building new, it doesn't seem quite right to on an allotment somehow.

We regularly swap young plants around on the site - I have received rhubarb, lettuce, cabbage from other plotholders, and we have donated surplus leeks and celery.

We have divided the labour quite nicely.  My other half is in charge of construction,  I do cultivation.  It seems to work out quite well.

[bazh]

I think it can be as cheap or expensive as you want it, you have to be a bit cheeky at times for instance I get my manure for free because someone advertised on freecycle just costs me the diesel to collect it, last time I was there I noticed at the back of the rundown stables something that looked like old chicken pen but unused and full of nettles so I asked if it was ever likely to be used again and if not would they like me to take it down and get rid of it for them they said go for it so I've now (once I go and get it) have the materials for a cover for my rather large strawberry bed to keep the birds off next year.

Due to emigrating in the next couple of years we're saving like mad so have no choice but to run the allotment on a budget it can be done, but if it's a hobby why not spend a bit of money making the place look nice, we only have 30 plots on our site and some obviously spend a lot of money and it does look a bit keeping up with the jones between a few of them lol

[JaK]

Mine is going to ba cheap and cheerful. I don't have many tools at all and what I do have I bought at the local tip for £1, they will do the job nicely. I may well be asking my family to gift tothe plot rather than me this winter festival as that will save me some pennies too! My friend owns a stables and I have a few chickens so getting manure should never be a problem either. 

[strangerachael]

Since I became secretary of the allotment association ( ) I am now in the know as to who is about to vacate their plots and what they're getting rid of  The other day I mentioned to the chairman that I needed some posts to put in supports for fruit.... within half an hour all the necessary materials had been rounded up and deposited on my plot    ... I must say doing the secretarial bit is a bit of a chore but being on the committee does have its perks!

[Yorkie]

Since I became secretary of the allotment association ( ) I am now in the know as to who is about to vacate their plots and what they're getting rid of  The other day I mentioned to the chairman that I needed some posts to put in supports for fruit.... within half an hour all the necessary materials had been rounded up and deposited on my plot    ... I must say doing the secretarial bit is a bit of a chore but being on the committee does have its perks!

We take the view that anything left on a plot is for the next tenant, and not to be acquired by anyone who happens to have inside information.

[Plot 6B]

I like my plots to look at their best all the year round. In saying that I always try to obtain materials, etc for them as frugally as I can. In the three years I have had them I must admit I never stop looking for things for the plot.
The best way I find to obtain things is always when asking , be polite and always offer a small amount of money for the materials in the hope that the money offer will be refused

[Plottered]

Did someone mention cake??? 

[sunshineband]

Did someone mention cake??? 

YES