Why do people bother?

[allotmentlady]

This evening, I had a little visit around our 44 plot site, looking at other peoples plots, trying to get ideas and I counted 10 plots that are not being worked properly, 5 of those not at all! The five in question are people that waited for years on the allotment waiting list, acquired one, did some work and then left it...even leaving veg to rot. So you would think with the new season starting they would be on, getting it all ready - NO.
I ask our allotment officer what is going to be done and I get a dozen or so excuses, from illness to work committments.........most of these people seem to be ill all the time! If so, then why not give up their allotment and let someone else have it.
The other 5 who I call 10 minute a week allotment holders are exactly that. One chap has had his plot 2 years and has not grown a thing! He blames the weather mainly or family committments.
I have made suggestions to the allotment officer but I am wasting oxygen.....

I was hoping that our site could enter North West In bloom but the community spirit seems to have died.......noone says hello or asks how you doing, unless I open my mouth first....people walk around with their heads down and the only time people get together is when they are blackmailed by the society (which was March 2007), when I was secretary.

I feel that some TV programmes give a false image of allotments and when some people get an allotment and the reality of hard work sets in, it puts them off. Walking onto a site with viewing an allotment 5 ft high in grass and weeds, with rubbish etc etc is a challenge.

Sorry for ranting.......but it really hacks me off.

[ClayGarden]

Firstly they got the passion then lost it. They planted then got bored. I still think people cant get involved then get bored. They can just loose interest. Maybe their travel time to the plot it too far? There are many reasons why things can become more important than an allotment. None for me though as i dont use one.

[allotmentlady]

Then why dont they just give it up? I do know that our allotment officer lets them out according to distance etc.....just to wait for years and then get bored??? Oh well I suppose some people do.....

[Alice]

Hello Allotmentlady, I'll probably get shot down for this, but I think it's the truth. These people get their allotments so cheap that they're worth nothing to them. If they had to pay a rent which realistically reflected the value of the land then they would work the ground or give it up. But they pay a peppercorn rent so it doesn't matter if they don't work the ground or make use of the space. Nothing aint worth nothing and all that. They would give them up when they weren't using them if the rent hit their pockets.

[Alison C]

I think that there should be a rule that if an allotment is left unattended for a certain amount of time the contract should become void and that plot made available to the next person. That is as long as there isnt a good reason- holiday, sickness etc etc.

[Gwyndy]

You're singing my song allotmentlady!! May I join you in your rant?

Our allotment site has many weed infested/underused/uncultivated plots and yet our local authority (bless them) has insisted on ploughing up a lovely central area of the site to create 16 more quarter plots for a waiting list of 9 people. The so-called quarter plots (and they are most definitely not) are not worth bothering with. Indeed if you were to put a tiny shed on them they'd be full.

My own plot is bordered by two badly maintained plots and a builder's yard!! Seriously, the guy at the back of my plot is a retired building worker and uses his allotment to store materials. He has not grown anything for the three years that I have had my own plot and yet he gets away with it. His site is covered with buildings that are falling apart and rat-infested. In fact he admits to having contracted viols disease some years ago from clearing out waste from one of the sheds.

The local council has the authority to terminate tenancies if plots are not properly maintained. If the rules were properly enforced then the current waiting lists could be totally eliminated. This would have the added benefit of ensuring that we have allotment tenants who are genuinely interested in gardening rather than just treating it as a fashion accessory, and we would also have a better maintained site.

I'm glad to know that I am not alone in my ranting!! Come the revolution ........ !!!!!

Happy gardening.

[jackie j]

I agree totaly allotmentlady. When I got my Lottie last September after waiting just over a year, as well as my own family and a part time job I was looking after my very sick sister, and after I agreed to take it on my first thought was oh my god how on earth am I going to find the time, within a month my sister died and she was so looking forward to tasting my first crops it has become my way of coping but I gave myself a year and if I couldn't manage I would give it up. Now I have a frozen shoulder which is very painful but I have roped in OH and son no 1 to help. I desperately want to do this but would give up as soon as I couldn't cope and let someone else have a go.

[Snadger]

Doom and gloom again!

We have a few problems on our site but they aren't insurmountable and generally it is a good place to be!
All our plots are let, which is good because the council charge the same amount for the lease no matter how many plots are let.
Because we are a comparatively small setup (40 plots) everyone knows each other and there is a good rapore. We have a few on the waiting list and as soon as a plot is vacated it will be re-let. A few plotholders keep themselves to themselves but that's ok, peace and quiet can be a wonderful thing at times.The long term plotholders fully utilise there space and only a few of the short term rentees let there plot go to seed but the following year someone else starts afresh.

I would liken our site to the way things used to be in a street environment, everyone leaves there doors and gates open and everyone looks out for and helps one another. In short, a wonderful place to be.

Eutopia is the word methinks!

PS We recently had our AGM standing in Jimmy's plot (could have been a phone box for the amount that attended.) At the end of proceedings the Chairman asked if there were any questions. Someone replied " When do the tatties go in?" quick as a flash someone answered " About half an hour after the meat"..........well I thought it was funny!

[Winged one]

I am kinda in the middle on this one. We have an uncultivated plot on one side of us (the lady took it on last March, got it rotovated when full of couch grass already, sowed one lot of seeds about 6 weeks later, and we haven't seen her since). So its full of grass again.

However, last year we would have fallen very definitely into the "not used properly" category. We also took ours on in March, and it was also full of couch grass. At the time, I was coming up to exams on a college course, we have a toddler, both OH and I are always very busy at work - so lots on our plate. But we went about it differently. We don't have a lot of time, but we managed to dig over almost half last spring, of which we planted up all but one bed. In the autumn, we strimmed and weedkillered the rest of the plot and covered that for the winter, hoping to dig in spring. We have managed to dig about half, but because it is covered, the rest is nowhere as rampant as last year and I hope to get that dug soon.

So my plot probably doesn't look the most productive in the height of the summer (and may not this year either). But it is being used, year round unlike most in our site, and I will eventually get it all into production.

I would certainly not like to be told that I wasn't allowed to keep my plot because I wasn't using every square inch of it - I mightn't have the time to devote hours to it every week, but I go when I can, keep it relatively tidy, and actually do have crops on it. Those times I can get there, either on my own or as a family, are really great and worth sooo much to us, for the food we get but also the fresh air, the country feel (both of us are from the country) and the peace which is hard to find in the city.