Anyone have an alottment?

[aly]

Theres a new field opening up with allotments.

Me and a friend got thinking about having our own alottment for the kids.

just thinking if you can think of it being a bad reason?....this will be strting from scratch. so getting it redy with and without kids etc.

:D

[WibbleWobble]

go for it...we have one and its fab. It is hard work and you need to be committed....weeds grow very fast. My lot love sowing seeds, planting out and then harvesting. There are chickens on the next plot so we go and feed them.

Make sure you RA and possibly make your paths wide enough for your buggy (mine arent- we got the plot before i even thought about cming)

[Happy Bunny]

:thumbsup:

Brilliant idea

My kids love growing veg.

One question though LOL i like the way you worded your thread on another site-your intentions were ?

[mushpea]

yep I got one, its a very over grown one at the moment though :eek:,, not had much time to get down there latley.
we grow peas, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes , lettuce etc with the kids and then we have some stuff just for us but they like going down there and helping plant stuff then they raid the fruit bushes for snacks:laughing:
Mine arent allowed in the shed though as obviously tools and slug repellents are kept in there

[mabel]

I have had one a long time but only visit it with the children to feed the hens occasionally, I find it difficult and not childminding if I did the allotment, so we grow the plants here, I tansplant them. then they can bring home a courgette, pumpkin, some beans, beetroot etc. Allotments are very hard work but then I have 2 !

[aly]

:thumbsup:

Brilliant idea

My kids love growing veg.

One question though LOL i like the way you worded your thread on another site-your intentions were ?

whatever do you mean? :littleangel:

[aly]

thanks all, yeah we know theres gonna be hard work and we just asked our early years team and have been put forward for a substantiality grant a being put on a trial for an eco group,...they've never used cms and as we phoned today they are gonna trial us :clapping::clapping:

[kel1983]

We soooooo want one. There is some out the back of our garden which are very convenient. We are on the waiting list for one. Its so annoying as few are not in use as the soil in contaminated. Im sure they could have done something with it by now

[bunyip]

Soil contamination is very expensive to deal with, whilst allotment rents are an absolute pittance considering the potential value of the land. A particular horror-show on a place where food is grown. If anything, I'm surprised they haven't shut down the entire site. I wouldn't hold your breath over the LA/landowner dealing with it.

OP, if you're really serious about it, go for it. But have a really good think and make sure you are serious. I'm going to be an old grump now, but too many newbies think it's such a "nice" idea, without any consideration of the commitment and work required, week in, week out, in pretty much all weathers.

It is nothing like Gardeners' World on TV. What you don't see is their team of about 20 strong-arms who do all the tedious (to some) digging, weeding, and hard labour so that Monty Don and his ilk can poke around a bit to plant and harvest without ever doing much in between. And if the plants happen to have been wrecked by pests (because it's almost impossible to get effective pesticides these days), no matter - they dig them up and replace with fully-grown examples brought in from another nursery, just in time to be harvested.

Sure, the waiting lists are longer than ever before. But at the same time, never have allotments turned over so quickly as people come in and soon realise they are way out of their depth. I would strongly recommend any newbie ask if they can initially take on a half- or quarter-plot until they find their feet.

If you can't get up the waiting list yet, see if your local school/children's centre need help with their veg garden, or even to set one up.

If you're going to take children, then risk assess the plot you're offered and the entire site. I don't take mine to my site. There are just too many hazards: broken glass, open water, etc. and it's a tiny 4-plot private site, so I don't even have to worry about other users. You have to think about what other people are growing and treating their with plots too, plus possible vehicle movements.

I run a small growing area at my local Children's Centre. The lo's are far safer there, where we can control pretty much everything.

I love it, but then I love all the digging, slug-killing, setting rodent traps, and have no problem with being wet and cold either.