I've got another allotment!

[carolinej]

Hello

was over the lottie this morning, putting in more raised beds. I got talking to someone who wants to give up his plot, but cant find anyone to take it on. It is a full sized plot, whereas I only have a half one. It has an enormous greenhouse on it, 2 compost  bins, loads of water buts, Gooseberries, Strawberries, poles with wires for beans and a shed.

Well, I just couldnt help myself :-[. I agreed to pay him £20 for the greenhouse and his rent for this year, which is £7. It looks like a really nice plot. There are lots of plants like sprouts still growing. It needs lots of weeding, and my raised bed touch, but I think it has LOADS of potential. I will even have space to put a table and chair, so I can watch the crops grow!

I will also have enough space to grow maincrop potatoes, and will even have a shed to store them in ;D

Oooh, it's like Christmas in March ;D ;D ;D

cj :)

[carolinej]

[kt.]

Definatley landed on your feet there. On our site - if someone gives up the plot, it goes to the next on the waiting list (which is done by the council), so no queue jumping there. Only one plot per person as the list is so long.

[Simon05]

Definatley landed on your feet there. On our site - if someone gives up the plot, it goes to the next on the waiting list (which is done by the council), so no queue jumping there. Only one plot per person as the list is so long.

Its supposed to be like that on our site, some gardeners have 3 plots

[ruffmeister]

awesome and well done, any piccys to compare your old to your new?

[carolinej]

There is no waiting list to jump. There are probably 50 allotments, but only about 15 are taken. Several people have more than one, which is good, as the neglected ones just make more weed seeds.

I am downloading some pics at this very moment! Will put them on as soon as they are ready.

Had a closer look at the new plot, there are loads of bits and bobs lying around. I cant wait for a good rummage.

cj :)

[carolinej]

This is my first allotment. As you can see, the raised beds are coming along nicely.



This is the new, big allotment, with the greenhouse at the bottom ;D ;D ;D



This is the inside of my new greenhouse ;D ;D ;D

Hope these pics work ::)

cj :)

[carolinej]

Whoops , picture 2 is completely wrong ???

it should be this



cj :-[

[cambourne7]

carolinej thats really great !!

[saddad]

Well played... I'm green with envy at the size of that Greenhouse!
:-X

[Deb P]

Lucky you!

I'm on the waiting list for my second.....amazing how they get filled up so quickly! ;D

[Marymary]

Caroline that is utterly amazing.  You will be able to go into market gardening with all that space & that enormous greenhouse.  Love the raised beds.  How big are they?

[kt.]

Its supposed to be like that on our site, some gardeners have 3 plots

Those who have several plots on our site are those who took them on when the site was deserted and you couldnt give plots away. 4-5yrs ago.

[carolinej]

Love the raised beds.  How big are they?

Marymary, the beds are about 8ft by 4 ft. I say 'about' as I am not very good at woodwork,so they vary by up to about 4 inches. I try to get them all the same, but by the time I have knocked the stakes in, the measurements have changed ??? I think it's because I cant hold the stake really steady and hit it at the same time >:(

On the small plot, I should end up with 10, and a 4x2 and a 4x4ft(to fill up the triangle left because of wonky boundaries :-\ Getting enough wood is my biggest problem.

cj :)

[Marymary]

My raised beds [in my garden] are about 4ft wide & vary in length but I only have 6 of them - I'm very envious of all your space - maincrop potatoes ooh I wish!  :) :)

[JRP]

Hi Caroline, ;D great looking plot layout idea,you must be a very fit person to do all that hard work to get your end result,and you have another plot too,to work on.
When I made my reuse of waste allotment plot I had most of the older allotment plot holder gang up on me to try and get me off of my plot, because they said I was not using the land in the normal way by covering it over with all my pallets on plastic sheets to stop the weeds growing,which can be removed at any time if anything happened to me. But now there are lots of people like you who are making raised up beds on their plots,and making pathways going around them like my pallet sections work,so we can all get to our crops in all weathers without getting our shoes or boots muddy,and our plots will always look neat and tidy compared to some,who have weed problems,which we have less of by design. May you and yours and what you grow live long and happy. John. J.R.P.

[carolinej]

But now there are lots of people like you who are making raised up beds on their plots,and making pathways going around them like my pallet sections work,so we can all get to our crops in all weathers without getting our shoes or boots muddy,

I mentioned that ideally I'd like to be able to come to the lottie without my wellies, and that was one of the advantages of raised beds. I was told, firmly, that no matter what I did, I would always need my wellies! Some people are begining to understand what I am doing now, and are warming to the idea.

I was worried at first, that the other lottie holders would always think I was mad, always giving sarky comments about my raised beds, but things are improving now. One man had seen raised beds on TV a few days ago, and could see how good an idea they were. Good old Carol!

I do admit to feeling a little bit under pressure to get some good crops this year though. It would be nice to let them all see that raised beds are a successful way of growing, and that I am not a complete lunatic!

cj :)

[Trevor_D]

Quite a few folk at our allotments are going in for raised beds - I'm slowly doing it for one of my plots. It certainly makes it easier to keep the edges neat. But you still need wellies! (I need wellies just to get to my plot!!!!)

Envy the GH. Like freezers: they can't be too big! Lots of tomatoes in that one!

Trevor

[carolinej]

But you still need wellies! (I need wellies just to get to my plot!!!!)

Fortunately, my plots are accessible directly from the road, and my paths will all be woodchip....eventually.

cj :)

[lorna]

carolinej. Well done you, can understand your excitement. To coin a phrase that greenhouse was a steal!!