Topic: Psychology of renting

[pg]

This new member (who has been lurking for a couple of months) would like to thank you for your suggestions and hellos in response to my first post earlier this week looking for manure in Warwickshire.

I've taken on a lottie after moving over the summer from a house with a veg and fruit haven created by my own fair paws to a rented property with a jungle. I need to garden!

I'm finding it a little bit irritating having to deal with officialdom - following rules (no carpets or plastic) and negotiating my own quite large (already) compost and turf heaps. I used my teacher-look and Paddington-stare to out-do the allotment boss when he sucked his teeth at my ever growing compost heaps from clearing the site. "I suppose you're going to have a bonfire with those wheen they dry out?". I explained sweetly I was not - round one victory.

Anyone else find it hard to get your head around being a tennant rather than your own boss in your own space?

[cornykev]

I have never seen an allotment without carpet on it, I mean there's horse & carriage,  bread & butter and compost & carpet. So if you can't use carpet you'll have to but plastic on it, sh#t sorry no plastic, good luck PG but look around at what other tenants are using and find out what you can get away with.  ;D ;D ;D

[kt.]

I would put the plastic down anyway. Once it is covered what is he gonna see. Dont get it out till you are ready for it and ensure you can cover it quickly.... ;)

[manicscousers]

try mulching  like supersprout, see what they make of that ?  ;D

[supersprout]

The very first day we took on the plot, raking rubbish into a pile, the site rep shot over and told us not to make a bonfire so close to the fence. He's a good chum now, and teases me about no-dig, whilst I sometimes stroll up to his plot to admire his digging ;) It may take a while for the regulars to take your measure; until then they'll assume that you're inexperienced/arsonist/dufus or what have you ;D

Was the officious person qualified to quote the rules at you? We have loads of lottie rules that are blatantly ignored - I think local authorities had some sort of template at one time, and just put in everything they thought could lead to disaster. Even the site rep ignores the rules! but the landlord (the local authority) would be within their rights to insist. As others have said, take a look at what's common practice and take a lead from there.

Re: the mindset - I couldn't afford to buy the land for 2.5 plots. If it were my own garden, I couldn't ask for a hand with heavy jobs; have neighbours who lashed down my greenhouse during the gales last March when I was away; rely on neighbours for one-off tools; get good local advice; have a congenial chat at break time; get fences repaired at no cost; get free woodchips and Council compost; and swap surpluses of different veg., and so on. It took me about a week to get used to it ;D

Once you've started to make progress that meets with the regulars' silent approval, I hope you get more advice and less of the rulebook!

[LauraB]

I've had trouble with one allotment holder on particular - I was lovingly clearing my bramble ridden plot by hand and had discovered two very small trees (a pear and a plum) and a lovely big lot of chives. I'd saved them from the chop and intended to plant all three elsewhere if I could dig them up safely.

My neighbour invited himself to help me (because apparently, I shouldn't be going to the allotment without my husband and by the way, isn't it terribly bad luck that my three children are all daughters lol), took my shears from my hand and started to chop. You can guess what the first things were that he chopped...

As for the rest of the neighbours, though, they are wonderful. Some have helped with my plot, helping with fires, giving advice (and produce!), making me giggle, and just generally making me feel welcome.

As for rules, I'm rather shocked by how few our site seems to have. One is 'no fires'. Our site chairman has built me two lovely fires in the past week, though  ;D

[louise stella]

How about using cardboard like I am and mulch on top of that?  I tend to do "daring" things like that when the old boys aren't about - it save a lot of bother!!

I think a stroll round on a quiet day will enable you to find out just what is tolerated - they might just be using "the rules" with you because you are new!  Because as you are a woman - you haven't a clue have you?  I mean all this lottie stuff is mans work isn't it?

....yeah right!


Louise

[pg]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Who was the guy who told me the rules? He is chairman of the allotment committee and  also runs two large allotment plots on the site.

There aren't many of us allotment holders. Being a village site, new lottie people don't come very often. If I'm remembering correctly, I'm lottie person number 8!

Apparently there used to loads more allotment holders, almost everyone in the village. This fell away, and most of the site was left to grass/weed over and was used for grazing horses. The horses have gone and I'm now creating my alllotment plot in the grassed over area.

There may be rules, but on the plus side no-one seems to be looking too closely at the amount of ground I am clearing. I think I could expand about 5 feet in all directions without anyone noticing.