Allotment Time Commitment: Advice please!

[thesuze]

Hi there everyone,

I am new to the site, so I hope I am posting in the right place.

Having lived in a big city for quite a few years now, me and my boyfriend are planning a move to somewhere a bit more rural to have a bit of a quieter life. And to be honest, I cannot wait!

I am planning on putting my name down for an allotment, as I am really very interested in getting into growing my own food as much as I can. The town we are moving to has quite a lot of allotment space by the looks of things, so whilst I don't know how long the waiting list is, I am hoping that I would be able to get some sort of plot at some point.

My question is this: How much time do you need to spend on allotments to make them worthwhile?

I ask this because I have a long commute to my work in London (almost 2 hours each way), so I certainly wouldn't be able to spend hours there during the week, perhaps just an hour here and there while the evenings are light. I would hope to be there quite alot at weekends. I would hate to take on a plot, and find I couldn't cope, as I wouldn't want to deprive someone else of the opportunity - I know that plots can be hard to come by.

Could some experienced allotmenteers give me some advice on whether it is possible to maintain a decent functioning allotment, and a challenging full time job and commute?

[janeyo]

I have a book that says you need 2 hours in the week twice, and 4 hours at the weekend.

janeyo

[Paul Wagland]

I would say a full day at the weekend, and ideally a trip during the week for an hour or two is a minimum...

Watch out though thesuze, I quit my job for my allotment!

[Tigerella]

Hi

If there are 2 of you that will be doing the work, it will be a lot easier.
Or at least one, fully supported by the other.

If you just want to grow your own food, it is just as easy to buy it.
It is better if you believe it is important for the environment to grow and eat local food; reduce your carbon footprint.
It can be hard work at first, untill you know how things grow, and to clear the plot.
Healthier food for you children?
Exercise, we all need more?

T

[Hans Mum]

you could consider a 1/2 plot lots of sites are letting them to meet demand, then you should be able to manage easily with weekends and the odd evening

[thesuze]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Hans, thanks for the tip, I will make enquiries about the possibility of finding a half site. To be honest, being a newbie, there is probably so much for me to learn that I suppose a half site is more than likely to keep my hands full.

Tigerella - my boyfriend assures me he will lend a hand when he can, and I have some friends who live nearby who sounded interested when I told them my plan - so I may yet have some help. And also, I should say that I did somewhat oversimplify my reasons for wanting an allotment - it is about significantly more than just growing my own. I just toned it down, as I reasoned I was preaching to the converted!

[Nicos]

Hello - and welcome to the Vine!
I reckon 7 hrs a week for a standard lottie- if you have the time ..( hols??)...to create a few raised beds, then 4-5 hrs a week should do it ( esp if you grow 'easy crops')
You will need to pop down during the week to pick the crops ( once should do it) but that doesn't take long.
We had 3 lotties when I was working more than full time and 2 young children, and between us we coped fine-actually it was a lovely place to escape to with the family.
The only time it was hard work fitting in the time was after a holiday as there would be loads of weeding and cropping to do.
( chatting to other plot holders is VERY time consuming!!!)
With 2 of you, and a bit of planning , you'll never regret it!
Go for it!!

[chuffa]

I agree with Nicos on the raised beds. I for one, have gone potty on raised beds this season, donating all of my plot to ten raised beds. You could erect two this season then two more each season until you have what you want. Try not to complete your plot in one year, but try to look at it, what it will be like in the future, as they say, 'Rome was'nt built in a day'.

[lottie dolly]

hello and welcome to the vine,once you start on a lottie,the bug will bite,and you will just WANT to be there,not to work,especially when it's nice weather and others around,get chatting and pick up tips,a great way to relax,i don't look upon it as work,more of an escape,just one point,when you do start to grow,the plot suddenly shrinks and yes,you want a bigger plot.have fun and enjoy.

[Eyren]

The suggestion to get a half-plot is a good one - I have a third of a plot, and it's enough for me, with a bit of help from my OH. It can be hard work to begin with, especially if you are allocated an abandoned plot and are unused to digging! However you don't have to dig every year; if you use a no-dig method, you should only have do it once - ever!

Two books I have found useful - they will keep you occupied/salivating whilst you wait for your allotment:

• "The Half-Hour Allotment" by Lia Leendertz
  
• "Organic Gardening: The Natural No-dig Way" by Charles Dowding

(Had the first one for a while, and it's ideal for first-timers with not much time to commit; I just bought the second one yesterday and I'm totally hooked!)

[heebiejeebie]

I spend about a couple of hours a week on general stuff e.g. weeding, watering, sowing & planting, and extra time for bigger jobs as required. This means 4-5 half-days of forking in early Spring, sowing and planting can be done as necessary. However, I'm lucky that my lottie is very close by and I can pop down there for 20 mins and get useful stuff done.

although I do seem to enter some kind of time-warp when I'm there...

[seasprout]

Watch out though thesuze, I quit my job for my allotment!

Thought your job WAS on your allotment..?

[ConstantGardener]

I keep my allotment going on 1/2 an hour every weekday, plus the occasional hour at the weekends (I don't often get there at the weekends as there always seems to be something else going on - I have a very busy family...) It's probably not quite as neat as the old boys' allotments which are primped and preened for hours each day - but to be honest I'm not that bothered if my grass gets a bit overgrown.

So that's 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours a week for me. I really don't think you need to bust a gut over it. It's more important to get there regularly than to spend huge amounts of time there.

One tip though - I do my 1/2 hour every day even over winter (weather permitting), since I find that's when all the structural stuff (building raised beds, double-digging, putting up sheds) gets done. If you don't keep going during the winter, there's too much to be done all at once in spring and you'll fall behind too much to catch up again.

[newtogardens]

Congratulations on thinking about taking on a plot.

Last year I was also pondering the same decision but I decided to go for it because I thought I would regret it if I didn't. Since then I have not looked back. It was a freshly ploughed peice of earth (small plot I am told) so we started off right at the begining. We planted simply stuff (potatoes, cabbage, beetroot, leeks and onions) and tried out how much time we could spare. This year we are more aware of what is required and try to get down there for 3 -4 hours each weekend with the odd plant check up half hour during the week. Our main work is completed at the weekend when the two of us work very hard. As mentioned before, chatting to other plot holders is very time consuming but required to pick up rewarding tips and feel part of a friendly community. One established plot holder told me growing veg will teach me patience. How right he was.

Good luck!

[heebiejeebie]

aaaahhh - that's it! There are only 3 plots where my allotment is and I rarely see the other plotholders! In fact one doesn't speak because apparently he wanted my plot. But that's OK - I just talk to the robins instead.