This Weeks Update Posted 13/11/06

[STEVE PARTRIDGE]

Hello all, I'm sorry that this update is a bit later than usual but I have only just recovered from staying up to watch Children in Need on Friday night, what a great event for such a good cause, regards Steve.

http://www.myallotments.blogspot.com

[Snadger]

Hello Steve, Your own allotments are very impressive and a testament to your skills. Your blog is really good as well. I hope your book does well for you and I may buy a copy myself when it's ready!

You can tell you are a really good and dedicated gardener and probably know more than a lot of the professionals.

Most allotments are taken on by amateur gardeners though, sometimes with very little skills who have different ideas about what they would like from their plot.
I notce some of the plots at your site look a bit untidy with mulching material and pallets laid on top to stop them blowing away, it's untidy but it is a recognised method of weed control adopting the no-dig philosophy to gardening. I don't use it myself because my soil is in good fettle and takes very little weeding, but if I was to take over an overgrown allotment I would possibly try the no-dig method.

I don't think I would like to be on a site with a rigid regime, where every plot looked the same and row spacings were always done 'by the book'

I once saw Bob Flowerdew's garden and it was very untidy to say the least, but he was growing wonderful organic crops!

I guess, the point I am trying to make is, if you do take over your allotments as either Secretary or Chairman, try not to judge the whole site on the standard of your own plots because yours are exceptional and would be very hard to emulate by the rest of the plotholders!

Keep the good work up, and I look forward to your next blog update!

[Alice]

Like your little ditty Snadger. It's nearly as good as Steve's allotment - but not quite.

[STEVE PARTRIDGE]

Hello Snadger and Alice and thankyou both for your comments, I fully understand your concerns and points raised about some gardeners methods and do not expect them to have their allotment of a standard such as mine, the problem that we have on our site is that those plots that I showed in my slideshow have not been cultivated since the Spring which I think is not really acceptable, I would just like to see people on those plots using them rather than taking them on and then giving them up but because they have paid up until the end of the year the current committee leadership do nothing whilst the plots get into such a state that it is difficult for new plotholders to clear them unaided, regards Steve.

[nick the grief]

Unfotunately thats the way of the lottie Steve. We have seen quite a few people who read the John Seymour bible & think I'm going to be self sufficient & grow my own organic food thinking it gives them some sort of smug moral highground ( no one on here before you all write in!!) then when the realise it involves hard work they fall at the first fence & retreat to sainsbury's

We always tell them not to go mad at it & so long as they have between 1/2 & 1/3 done by the next year thats OK and keep the weeds down with aeither a strimmer or Roundup or covering.

Since we reformed as a committee on our site we have reviewed some of the standard letters & rather than giving them the old "get it dug or else" we adopted the line of " we notice you haven't been down recently is everything OK /have you got a problem/ would you like a half plot instead" and have found that a lot better.

I'm a classic case in point, I took on my lottie in March, come april & had a trapped nerve in my back & that was me out till the November. Luckily I saw our old secretary & told him early on & he kept it for me. So things may not be as black & white as they seem.

[pigletwillie]

I agree Nick, coming across as the Allotment Gestapo is perhaps not the best way to encourage people or make friends. Gardning is never Black and White and allotments are many shades of Grey.

Tread lightly Steve or you may well find yourself with no friends and no influence if you go charging in heavy handed and rather than improving things may just stir up discontent.

[Snadger]

Nice to see both NTG and pigletwillie mentioning the Black and Whites as we need all the support we can get just now! !

Howay the lads!!!!!!

[nick the grief]

You've never been the same since that shearing fello hung up his boots along with that other northern tyke milburn .... Colin wasn't it