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Why is it these days people want to see kids as mini adults all the time.??
I'm saying there shouldn't be an age limit, because capability isn't defined by age. Whether a child (that is, someone under 18) is capable of working on a plot unsupervised is a matter for the parent and it'll depend on the child and the situation. .... ....It depends on the child and the situation, and that's a choice for the parent.
Slightly off topic but I hate it when these kids are so admired for having to take over the running of a family............In a modern society like ours why can't these kids have a support system put into their homes so they should be enjoying their childhood,not some kid having to give up their childhood.Something precious and taken away for ever.Why is it these days people want to see kids as mini adults all the time.??My rant over.
Hey mister you watch wot you are saying about OAP's. We were gardening before you were even thought of ;D
I generally find that kids on allotments are fine, as long as you run them through the shredder and mix them thoroughly into the compost. Best for things like squashes and sweetcorn, heavy feeders etc.... If they make too much noise you might want to change the settings on your shredder.....chrisc
Well my experience was a lot different from grawrc. I had the older ones on my gardening club. There was a lot of this "strong in t'arm but thick in t'head" with some of them. Not afraid of hard manual graft, in fact they loved it after being stuck in a desk all morning . I remember that the big lads were avid watchers of Gardener's World. At that time it had the woman with the "big tits and no bra" as they quaintly put it.I would not agree that kids that age don't have the time. The main problem is to keep teenagers usefully occupied and out of trouble. Giving them an opportunity to develop a hobby gives them a sense of achievement and remember the ones who are keen on gardening will be the keenest on doing things that are socially acceptable.My impression is that the social structure of allotmenteering has changed in recent years. It is no longer an old man's preserve. There are many young adults taking allotments and many women. The younger generation seems to be much more aware and concerned about the ethics and standard of food than previous generations. These are the future if we want allotments to continue in the future. I remember the excitement when I was able to take the first crops home and eat them and I think we ought to give young people the chance to experience that because that is something that stays with you for a lifetime.
Spot on Geoff - indeed the profile of the allomenteer is changing as are some methods and some types of crops. All the better!