Just applied for my first Lottie

[Wren]

I have just applied for my first Lottie today, it has a awaiting list ( not sure how long yet) but now i have made up my mind to go for it i am all excited
I am fast out-growing my kitchen garden, i love it but in truth i need more room to spread out and grow the quantities of veg we need as a family .

I started growing veg last October and have been determined to give myself a full year in my kitchen garden before deciding on if to apply for Lottie or not. I wanted to be sure i wouldn't be just one o them things that seemed like a romantic idea , and that i could hack a full year of it without throwing in the towel.

This last year has been a pleasure and a sanity saving blessing for me . 11 years of being a busy retail manager has taken its toll, stress, being treated like a donkey and having to put up with abuse from stroppy Joe public customers/ drunks/ shoplifters/ higher management had taken me to the point of hermit ( or i would have punched someone),in between high profile and being a gold standard manager. My Kitchen garden became my sanctuary, my head space, a place where i could lose hours and feel like i had run a marathon, yet totally cleansed, as if the land absorbed my stress with each trowel full of soil i dug.( does that make sense?).
My back is trashed from all the years of lifting stock but thanks to you guys i have found all these ways to grow veg using a no dig method an my daughter is more than happy to dig some just to get me started in the first place.

If you had told me a few years ago i would be growing my own veg to feed my family , i would have laughed in your face. Now i am all excited about applying for my first Lottie after a year o cropping my kitchen garden

I will keep the brassica's close to home in the kitchen garden where i can keep an eye on them and use the Lottie for crops that don't need quite as much a close eye on them once they are off. On the Lottie i will grow my onions an leeks, tatties and beans and squash , the lower maintenance stuff that needs more room.
6 main crop seed potatoes is a easy start but it only equates to 2 dinners worth o mash potato. I want more next year.

I had to resign in my managers job after 11 years because my back was trashed, but i dont regret it.

Life is too short.

Time, and dogs, an growing your own veg heals.


Wren

[Stacey Steve]

Yes I think there are more than a few here that treat their plots that way.

Never mind "Dig for Victory", now it's more like "Dig for Sanity"

[FionaH]

Couldnt agree more. Lost my pony 18 months ago, then my mum died, plus the usual life stress factors. The garden then veggies has reduced the aargh levels and increased the serenity. Give me a couple of hours outside getting covered in muck and the rest of life looks so much more manageable.

Still only grown enough to feed a small hamster but thats really not the point is it ?

Good luck with the lottie wren

[Nicos]

Well then!!!

Good for you...it's a whole new world now at (ON!!!) your feet!

Have you done the ground plan yet!!!!!??????....it's just so exciting waiting in anticipation....go on..give them a ring and find out how long the waiting list is.
Is your name down for one specific site - or any in a locality?
If it's the former- pop down and get your face known by the others on the site- it can only help!

[Alison]

I've only recently managed to get my own plot and it still needs a lot of work but we'll be growing on it next year. I'm intending to use the back garden beds as seed beds and for herbs and salad stuffs that I want close to hand which will enable me to do the rotation thing at the lottie. Which brings me to a potential problem with keeping your brassicas at home, you'll need to rotate them around otherwise you'll run the risk of ending up with disease building up in the soil. However, good on you, as said above, give them a ring and see where you are and also look around to see if there are other sites you can sign up for. I'm not on my original first choice and hadn't even realised that this site existed until I made a few phone calls. It's only a small site but close to home and very much a live and let live place so I'm happy. Good luck!

PS - I too use it for stress relief, something very satisfying about getting back to basics.

[Noodles]

I've just done the same thing! I've been growing veg in the garden this year and that has spurred me on to want more space to grow more. No idea what the waiting list is near me (waiting for them to get back to me) but keeping everything crossed!

[Wren]

Well i emailed the lady asking if there were many hundreds of people in front of me on the waiting list and her reply was that... "there are 36 people in front of you on the waiting list, but not to be put off by that as peoples circumstances changes all the time so you could move up the list faster than you think. its a large site and the plots do come up quite frequently but I can safely say you will not get one before March of next year".

Bum, bum, bum 36 people in front of me!!! but there is more than one way to skin a rabbit so if they all fall ill via witchcraft next month an withdraw i will be first in line

I have crops in the ground here in my kitchen garden...spose i can hang on until march if i have too...grrr.. there is not much doing at this between then an now , an i can dream an plan *impatient face*

Have you done the ground plan yet!!!!!??????

HOW DID You KNOW THAT!!!!!. might have started on a rough draft or two...lol

I did choose a specific site as it is reasonably close to me and it has good security and a south facing aspect. it has a loo too so that is always a bonus, plus it has good gated parking. I was sort o looking for the whole allotment experience where i could pick the brains o the ol codgers and become one o them too.

Unfortunately i can't get my face about in the mean time on site as its fenced an gated an all i can do is press my jealous looking face up against the gate bars an look longingly on as the ol codgers go about their business.

Site fee's are just going up this year to £2.21 a rod with a water charge of .78p per rod and a rod is 30.25 sq yards here. So for a half plot o 5 rods it will cost me £14.95 per year an that is inclusive o the water charge.

Sounds like a bargain worth o stress relief to me!! .

Which brings me to a potential problem with keeping your brassicas at home, you'll need to rotate them around otherwise you'll run the risk of ending up with disease building up in the soil.

I been thinking about that bit Alison, i knew someone here would pick up on it.

I just need to get more confidence an perfect my brassica husbandry skills me thinks. Once i am happy that i have mastered the art o keeping the flippin caterpillars away with netting , i will be a happy bunny an move them on to the lottie, but it might take me a couple o years to perfect so in the mean time i will keep them here in the kitchen garden with me watching over them. It will give me a chance to see what is happening at the lottie in regards to other critters wanting to eat me veg in that time too.

I am sure my kitchen garden can hack a year or two o brassica continuous planting if i grow from seed, and keep the soil fit an healthy without the dreaded club root setting in, an eventually i will do same as you i think an turn them into seed beds for the Lottie. Good idea hon, thanks!!

Thanks for all your reply too. If your a hermit like me its great to get some feed back when you finally poke you head out.

Ta muchly,

Wren

[Hazel at the Hill]

Well done, Wren, for not being put off by the length of the list!

Suggest you offer yourself as odd job bod for site clearing/maintenance stuff at the site. The commitee always find willing helpers thin on the ground - and it'll get your face and name known. Also ask if there's anyone who would like a hand for their winter digging....you never know, you may be able to share a plot sooner than you think.

[chuffa]

Good on you Wren, this waiting time will give you time to organize, plan what you want to grow, how to grow, source materials like tools, compost, seeds etc. Also pop down every now and then and speak with the person on the lottie in the know about waiting list times, they will always make sure they inform people of your keenness to have a lottie and will be ready to help you when you eventually get one.

[Wren]

This is so frustrating.
I want my Lottie!!! Not fair, not fair....grrr.
All i can do is peer through the gates longingly , or try an get a look at the plots from the path round the side by peering through the gaps in the fence as the gates are fast locked and nobody in sight of them to ask for a proper peek.

Is it my turn yet! let me in please

Wren

[zazen999]

Hi there.

It was this time last year that I applied, and finally got one in April. Much weeding has occurred since!!!

i couldn't wait to get the brassicas onto the lottie; they took up far too much time and space and I have more fun with the tender stuff being closer to home. Yes, I've had caterpillars but keep on with the chilli and garlic spray and eventually they do stop coming.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that the other 36 people move away or get bored of the idea as soon as possible.