Ding dong....

[Kieron75]

Good evening guys, first time I've posted here on the vine. Along with a good friend Bill, I am a proud allotment holder of two plots here in Castle Donington. One plot is our orchard plot with 4 damson trees, two apple trees and one pear tree. On that plot is our large shed and a polytunnel for warm growing. On our second plot is our vegetable beds and fruit orchard with yay berries, raspberries, gooseberries and golden raspberries.

Bill has MS and I have mental health issues and find our allotment a big part of our life therapy and it's true what they say, the soil is good for the soul. We have made loads of raised beds to keep the workload down as much as we can, even made our large shed and pollytunnel out of scrap wood etc. Our rule for the allotment is everything must be free or under £5 in total. Hence I'm nicknamed Magpie by my beautiful wife Stephy. Skip diving is a must!

[Martin H]

Hi Magpie and Bill and Stephy, welcome to the vine! We'd love to see pictures of your plots...

[Greenleaves]

Welcome to the vine, enjoy the benefits of the advice and humour

[Bigmallly]

Hello Kieron, Bill & Steph................Welcome to the Jungle.

[bearded bloke]

Hello & Welcome

[veggiechicken]

Hello and a very warm welcome to you all
You can't beat a bit of skip-diving

[Snadger]

With a thread title of ding dong, you are either an Avon Lady or your second names Bell!

Welcome to the vine, Magpie and Stephy!

[Alison]

Bill has MS and I have mental health issues and find our allotment a big part of our life therapy and it's true what they say, the soil is good for the soul. We have made loads of raised beds to keep the workload down as much as we can, even made our large shed and pollytunnel out of scrap wood etc. Our rule for the allotment is everything must be free or under £5 in total. Hence I'm nicknamed Magpie by my beautiful wife Stephy. Skip diving is a must!

Being out in the open is good for many health issues both physical and mental so glad to see you're both getting the benefit on your plots as well as he bonus of healthy and fresh fruit and veggies. I too like the make do and mend approach to allotmenteering and despair at some sites negative attitude to this, pleased your site has its priorities right and doesn't have the rather snobbish belief that everything should be shiny, new and uniform across a site .

[Kieron75]

Unfortunately as I'm sure many plots have, we do have one or two holders who we nickname the Clipboard Police who make a point of going around and tutting and huffing at other plots. Even had one of the guys measure my large shed to ensure its not breaching the permitted sizes. However I don't give a damn and just let it ride over me as the majority of the holders are fab guys and support each other when needed and leave each other alone to how we do it.

[Scarlet]

Hello and welcome to the vine Kieron, I agree - you can't beat a bit of the outdoors to improve your health and wellbeing! Getting food to the table is the icing on the cake! I love your nickname .
Photos would be lovely.

[Guest]

Hi and welcome to the vine

[Verinda]

Hello, welcome to the forum

[Bill HH]

Welcome, even scrap wood and stuff can be knocked up to quite impressive structures, much nicer to look at than plastic or metal sheds in my opinion. Keep up the good work.

[Lumpy]

Hello, I am glad that you and yours have joined us. Like you many of us grow on a tight budget so any tips and ideas we have to share with each other will always be good.

[Jay22]

Hello and welcome Magpie, hope you enjoy the Vine!