ALLOTMENT PASSIONS

There is nothing quite like an allotment – it is a very special sort of gardening that for many is highly addictive. So why have one? The answer is for the pure pleasure of growing your own produce – and a lot more besides.

When you step through those gates it’s just magical. (Marta Scott)

It’s hard work and nothing but. (Damien Grove)

It’s food for the soul. (Vicky Scott)

It has a compulsion all of its own – I want to be there all the time. (Ann Tucker)

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers and enjoying them fresh, tasty and in profusion are the bonus you get for the chance to be outdoors in the fresh air, appreciating nature, taking exercise and getting the soil under your fingernails. The allotment is a haven where you can watch things grow. It may also be the chance you need to have some time completely to yourself. And year by year, through successes and failures, you learn more about gardening.

You can’t start taking it in until you start working … until you get your spade in you don’t know how to do it. (Marta Scott)

Allotments are classless neighbourhoods where the state of the weather and the soil and the rampaging of rabbits are a million times more important than any gardener’s wealth or social standing. An allotment is extra special if you don’t have anywhere else to grow things:

Our little patch is just like a garden at home. (Brendan Coffrey)

My boy was a big motivation and as we have no garden I wanted him to be able to get his hands dirty. (Marta Scott)

Some people acquire their allotments almost by accident. The lure of the allotment can then kick in:

We took this over for Tom when he was ill. I have a day off during the week and that’s how we began. Now we have another plot of our own down at the far end. (Liz Hanson)

Of course the allotments do involve work, time and some financial outlay. If taking on a plot alone seems too daunting, then you may want to take on one with friends or neighbours, though this may not necessarily work out as you’ve planned if you don’t agree about what you’ll grow or can’t share out the chores evenly:

We share with our neighbours. We now have a line down the middle. We realized we didn’t match but we are still good neighbours. (Liz Hanson)

Even in an ‘official’ share, you may get to do the biggest load of the work.

There are two couples who officially have the plot I’m on but they don’t do much. (Marta Scott)

And you may not agree on how you’re going to garden.

We’ve lost all our lettuces to slugs as the people we share it with don’t like using any chemicals. (Angela Franks)

When you’re working it can be difficult to fit in all the visits you need to keep the plot as you’d like it, but when you’re retired, there is the luxury of regular gardening:

I’m at the allotment every day. I’m up there every single morning. I just love being there. It gives a structure to your day. (Maureen Nightingale)

Allotments are great places for couples and families, although you may not always be able to persuade your children or grandchildren of the advantages of being out in the cold and rain in the middle of winter. Allotments are rescue remedies – for the retired, the redundant, the lonely and the bereaved – because there is good to be had for the soul as well as the body in tending your plot, and friends to be made.

My wife died quite suddenly and I’d just retired. I met Bob and he suggested an allotment – it was one of the best things I ever did. Working hard, there wasn’t too much time to think. (David Downton)

The sense of community is fantastic when you live in a town rather than a village. (Pat Bence)

He just sits in his armchair and works out his racing schedule and gets the grandchildren working. (Jim Greenhill)

Or you can even watch the world go by:

My first one was in Romsey between a main road and a railway line … it was good for train watching. (Robin Barrett)

MAKING THE DECISION

Before you take on a plot take some time to think through what it will involve – though if the waiting list is long, your thinking time may stretch to more years than you would wish. The following are important points to consider.

Location Where are your nearest allotments? If they’re not close to home, will you be able to get there and back reasonably easily – and regularly? Will you be snarled up in rush hour traffic if you want to get to the allotment early in the morning or after work?

I have to bike up a hill, then cruise down it on the way home. It’s worth it. (Sue Bryant)

The way you tend your plot will depend a lot on how near it is:

Having the allotment just outside the back gate makes all the difference. You can get on top of silly things like watering which you wouldn’t do if it meant taking an hour to go there and back. You can also go out there and tap dance on snails. (Ken Daniels)

If it means a drive to and fro, you may need to be able to time it neatly.

In London in June and July the mid-week allotment routine was to get back from work by 6.30 or 7.00 at the latest, have a quick snack or pack a picnic supper while the traffic died down, then drive to the allotment for watering and picking. Sometimes we’d see the sun set on Hampstead Heath on the way home, but often it was pitch dark by the time we got back. (Ruth)

Quality Is it a good site? Do the plots look well tended? Is it secluded and secure and likely to be free from thieves and vandals? Sites vary enormously from the well manicured to the scruffy, though if all you want to do is garden, this is going to be immaterial.

You have to ignore the piles of detritus all around (including sheds and plots in progress). I have eyes only for my bit. (Marta Scott)

In selecting this plot (which has its deficiencies) I put some work into the location. I went to the council then went to look at them all and talked to people about the experience they’d had. I was glad I did that. The person I met on this plot was an old boy leaning over the fence. I asked about vandalism and so on. He told me everything about the plot and the people and in four and a half years I’ve never heard of vandalism or theft. (Edward Probert)

Does it get plenty of sun? Allotment vegetables are unlikely to thrive in a lot of shade. Is it on a steep slope?

I have a vaguely sloping site angling north that runs east–west. But it drains quite well. (Chris Luck)

Gardening time Do you have the time? An allotment is a big commitment, and the weeds will take over in short order if you’re not around to look after your plot. When plants die and the allotment gets messy it’s easy to get disheartened and give up. But commitment pays off.

When we go away for a month it’s just impossible when we get back. You have to be at it all the time. But we love it. (Brendan Coffrey)

One of the hazards is that it requires one’s presence. This particular site is not very well kept up. The plots are very big – we are one of the few that manage to cultivate a whole one. (Anthony Pearson)

If you can only get to your plot a couple of times a week for good long sessions it will still be worthwhile, though you need to be well prepared for the day:

Hot drinks – or comfort things – are essential in the winter. (Marta Scott)

Energy and dedication Do you have the energy? Digging and cultivating an allotment is hard work, and a great way of getting fit, but not necessarily the ideal if you have back problems.

If you are gardening as a couple, one may take the lead:

I do a little labouring, like cutting the grass on my partner’s allotments. She has three now and has so much energy … I feel I look like a sloth beside her! (Ron Pankhurst)

Do you have the commitment? If you love plants and gardening, the answer is bound to be yes, but it’s a question worth thinking about.

At Highgate, the allotment committee introduced the sensible policy of ‘probation’, allowing new tenants six months to see if they really were going to be able to tend their plots. If they decided ‘no’ then they were able to quit straight away with no recriminations and nothing to pay. (Ruth)

Most council and allotment associations conduct inspections once or twice a year to see whether plots are being properly looked after. If they’re not, then they will issue ‘dirty plot’ warnings and give a deadline by which improvements must be made. This is the point at which you might have to decide whether or not to continue.

Getting an allotment back into shape when you have had an enforced break can be difficult, but worth it.

I had to leave the allotment over a long time, but when I came back to it I rescued some crops and I found myself smiling. (Vicky Scott)

Cost Do you have the money? Renting an allotment is not going to cost a great deal, perhaps up to £50 a year, but you’re not necessarily going to save money by growing your own. By the time you’ve paid for seeds, tools, compost, cloches – and more – the costs can mount up. And there is always the temptation of a water butt, cold frame, greenhouse, a better shed ….

You have to spend money. You’ve got the fresh vegetables but you’re paying the price. (Brendan Coffrey)

The counter argument to this is, of course:

I like to grow those things that are expensive to buy – leeks, parsnips and butternut squashes. (Robin Barrett)