selling what you grow

[stephenwithap]

hi everyone hope your all well
wondered if someone could help me out with this coz i dont understand reasons
a good friend of mine who has had an allotment for a few years as just been asked to vacate her plot
her crime was she dared to sell her veg she had grown
now she didnt do this from her allotment that i could understand insurance and that kinda thing
she did it at carboot sales
which i would have thought was ok as she was not selling it from the council owned allotment
but apparently the council dont allow you to sell your goods anywhere if it has been grown on your council allotment
now i have one in blackburn and have been told i cannot sell my goods not that i was thinkin of doin just the site manager said he had to tell me just incase
so i wondered is there a law that says you cant do this
are all councils under the same ruling or is it just some of them
and if not law if there is someone on here who works for a council could they or anyone else shed some light on this and answer why it is like this
coz i would have thought if you pay your rent and you pay for seeds and things and put the work in surely it should be up to you to do what you want with the goods
as long as you are not selling them on the premises
cheers steve

[lynda66]

the reason for it is, and as far as i am aware applies to all council allotments ..... is that the primary reason for having allotments is so that local people can grow their own food, they aren't there for commercial use, basically half he plot could have gone to someone who wants to feed their family, but she was selling the produce probably from half the plot.

[stephenwithap]

hi lynda howare you good i hope
thanks for that answer i can see where ther coming from with that one seein as its put that way
bein new to this allotment lark really it just confused me
my friend is a little upset but as ive told her she shouldnt have sold if she was told not to but she says was never mentioned
although on my allotment site it was first thing they did tell to which i said i have enough trouble sellin gothic gear never mind veg only growin coz cant afford supermarket prices lol

[lynda66]

yeah very tired, been overdoing it in the garden tryng to get the run sorted for the chooks think i may lose some bits this week .......

i'm surprised she wasn't told when she took the lottie on, though it should have been in her contract.

[stephenwithap]

wot bits lol no dont bother leave it to imagination
i will only get in trouble again lol

[bubblewrap]

I often "exchange" stuff grown on my allotment recently "swopped" Potatoes for rice. Other members of our site exchange produce but no money is involved.
The idea of allotments is growing food for own use & not profit.
I don't know any of the legal issues of selling home grown produce(even grown on own land) but Sewer Rat is sure to know.
You could PM him or wait till he is on line again.

[Stacey Steve]

We are allowed to sell excess produce for a nominal amount.

You can't do half a plot of one thing and then claim it's excess. It's all down to what seems reasonable.

We've sold some jam and to be truthful for about what the jars and sugar cost us but I suppose there are always some who will abuse the system.

The 3 plots next to me are taken by the Christian Foundation and they admit freely there are growing purely for commercial purposes and on a semi commercial scale, so I would be upset if my council were to stop me from selling bits and pieces toward my seed fund.

[bubblewrap]

The 3 plots next to me are taken by the Christian Foundation and they admit freely there are growing purely for commercial purposes and on a semi commercial scale, so I would be upset if my council were to stop me from selling bits and pieces toward my seed fund.

They my have got permission as a charitable organisation.

I think the issue is how & where you "sell" the produce.
To sell at a car boot is inviting trouble.

[Snadger]

I have a little honesty box at the allotments to sell my surplus eggs! I would hope that if someone wasn't happy about this they would let me know..........before trying to take my allotment from me!

[rana]

If everyone started selling allotment produce could you imagine what sort of rent the councils could realistically demand for the use of the land (much of which is in prime real estate areas). Remember there is now a huge waiting list for plots in most areas so for the fortunate people who have the priviledge to be able to lease a plot, I'd say dont push your luck by bending the rules.

[lynda66]

wot bits lol no dont bother leave it to imagination
i will only get in trouble again lol

dunno, just sure some arms or legs may drop off lol

[lynda66]

bartering has always gone on, people swap, (i think eggs will be different snadger, cos it's not really produce as in stuff you are growing, and the same with jam, that's something you've made, i think theres probably a fine line somewhere that someone came up with, but selling on a car boot is over it

[di]

As others have said,the whole purpose of having an allotment is to feed your own family.There's no way rents would stay so low(???)if people were using their allotment as a business venture.
If we grow excess...which invariably we do,then it usually gets passed around family & friends,who may or may not occassionally give us a little money to help out with seeds etc.
We do sell our excess eggs,but the reason for having "extra" chooks is so that hopefully when they go off the lay a bit,we'll still have enough eggs on a weekly basis to cover our own needs...in the meantime any money we make on eggs goes directly towards the cost of feed.
.

[zazen999]

http://www.communities.gov.uk/docume...pdf/131012.pdf

Hi all

I am going to post a separate thread with this in it but if you have an allotment, you should read this guidance, which clearly states that you cannot run your plot as a business. Selling off surplus for a small amount [such as an honesty box], or swapping is allowed.

[SlugLobber]

Knowing how much you can buy stuff for at my car boot, I certainly wouldn't class selling excess stuff as a business venture. Selling ALL of it is another matter entirely! How much was she selling, Stephen? A few plants/veg mixed with bric-a-brac, or a whole table of veg laid out? If she was selling all of the produce as a veg stall, then I see the problem, but excess stuff? Hmmmm.

If some councils stop you from even selling excess, it means that there is very little point in a single user like me ever taking on a plot. I can only be so generous with my freebies, given the cost involved in growing veg.