The ideal Allotment Site, what does it have?

[bubblewrap]

Be carefull Peter with the dump area people tend to bring stuff onto site it is easier than going to the tip and waiting in a que.
You would be surprised what was dumped before we stopped having a dump area....jacob

We have a skip provided on our site as bonfires are NOT allowed.
Yes it does get abused but not too badly.(site surrounded on 3 sides by houses & on the 4th by a large factory.)

[Snadger]

We have a skip provided on our site as bonfires are NOT allowed.
Yes it does get abused but not too badly.(site surrounded on 3 sides by houses & on the 4th by a large factory.)

Committee organise a skip. Comittee don't let others know WHEN and IF skip has been ordered. Committee fill the skip. Others arrive after work to be confronted with a full skip! (Then get wrong for taking useable stuff OUT of skip!)

PS Sorry Peter, not very constructive but hey ho!

[binley100]

We have a dump for metal which gets collected by a scrapper. Every so often we have a glass skip and a skip for stuff that we can't burn but it is locked so you dump at the side and whoever's in charge puts it in. Asbestos has to be double bagged and taken to the local tip by appointment. We can have bonfires but only weekends and bank holidays or after 6pm.
Phew!! It seems a lot of rules but seems to work.
We have a website if anyone's interested in taking a look :-
London Road Allotment Association Coventry

[snuffer]

Are sheds/ greenhouses a given?

Our site doesn't allow either, and the lockup thingy is only open on certain days, between certain hours whenever the moon is in Jupiter and rabbits are seen wearing duffle coats.

You must be slipping HeyWayne. You just mentioned allotment sheds without the old 'permenant erection' gag.

[Matt.]

If you aren't near mains water access what about arranging to have a few boreholes drilled and hand pumps built.

[HeyWayne]

You must be slipping HeyWayne. You just mentioned allotment sheds without the old 'permenant erection' gag.

It took everything in my being not to.

[StephenH]

I've just applied for a Council allotment. Apparantly, Dacorum Borough Council's allotments are apporx. 125 sq. metres (five poles) in size, which is half a standard allotment, and is fine by me - a full-size one would be a bit daunting, but 5 poles is still big enough to grow a lot of veg. on. I might have to wait a few years, though. I don't know whether any of the sites have toilets on them - a composting one'd be a good idea. At the moment, I pee into a one-gallon plastic bottle, and then dilute it with water to use as compost activator, and will no doubt continue doing so on the allotment when I get one. The nearest one to my house, which I've put down as my first choice, looks good in most ways - the one drawback is a very large tree rather too close to one end of the site, which might cast too much shade and rob the soil of nutrients through its roots. How much of a problem that would be would depend on which end of the site I got my allotment on. However, the nearest ones seem to be thriving, so it's probably not too much of a problem. OTOH, the tree will provide lots of leaves for leaf-mould. There's a bit of waste ground ajoining the site which is covered in weeds (bindweed and nettles, mostly), which will be handy as a source of compost material.
I'll jump in where HayWayne failed: You're not allowed to have an erection on your site without permission.

[Jeanied]

My lottie has a large tree growing along the fence line nearby - it is an ash tree and casts lots of shade - fortunately it is at the north end (my plot runs N-S ish) and it protects parts of my plot from frosts and gales. And working the plot on a hot day, it helps to have a bit of shade - so that's where my lottie bench is!

[miffy]

Wildlife area and perhaps a 'shop' to sell cost price essentials.
Also would be fab if there was involvement from extended community i.e plot for local primary school or for sheltered housing or people with learning difficulties to gain all the amazing benefits growing your own gives you.

[StephenH]

Re. wildlife areas: one of the allotment sites I've applied for has a pond specifically created for that purpose, which I helped to create a couple of years ago, as a member of Hemel Hempstead Conservation Volunteers. When I had a nose around recently I was glad to see that it now has thriving damp-loving plants growing there. Hopefully, it also has a colony of frogs and/or toads and/or newts.

[mogs]

........ a kettle EVERY time!

[Alison]

My starter for ten is:
1. Sheltered and relatively level site, with good topsoil, any down slope being to the south or west, not a wind tunnel or frost pocket.
2. Secure fence at least 6’ high surrounding entire site.
3. Water troughs around the site, about one per 50 rod.
4. Vehicle access to site, with a farm track either, up the middle from the gate with a turning point at the opposite end, or a loop round the perimeter back to the gate.
5. Some parking space within the site, car equals crèche for young families and mobile tool shed for others.
6. Clearly marked plots with corner posts separated from their neighbours by two foot six inch wide paths, i.e. wheelbarrow sized, preferably mown grass.
7. A native hedge planted inside or outside the fence to provide natural barbed wire, blackberries, sloes, rose hips and wind shelter.
8. A site apiary for up to five hives.
9. A secure shipping container or site office thingy, either for the site agent, or with the addition of secure internal divisions making up optional rentable store cupboards.
10. Dump area in two parts, incoming for manure or compost, outgoing for non-compostable waste.

1 - Couldn't agree more, would be a right pain to be on the side of a mountain!
2 - We don't have this and don't have any problems on the whole and to be honest the problems we have had would probably have happened if we had a fence.
3 - We don't have water either, I find it easy enough to use my water butts which are obviously on my plot so very little carrying of water.
4 - We've usually got vehicle access to one end of the site (sometimes blocked by local cars) and it's on a bus route and close to an off road cycle way. The farm track down the middle of the plots is a dead end and blocked before my plot with a large bag of set concrete which the parish council are trying to get rid of but it's taking a while.
5 - No formal parking but space near some old garages.
6 - I don't understand why you'd want dead space between the plots, our butt right up to each other so we are both responsible for weeds etc right up to the boundary.
7 - Do have native hedges round the outside, very nice for picking berries too!
8 - Who looks after the site apiary?
9 - A site agent? What? Who?
10 - Round ours the dump area would be used for fly tipping but the idea is good
11 - Loos, can imagine they could get a bit manky so I'll stick to my bucket!

[gojiberry]

We don't have any water on our site and there are no sheds, greenhouses, trees or animals. but it is still a good well tended site.

Ian

[Peter]

6 - I don't understand why you'd want dead space between the plots, our butt right up to each other so we are both responsible for weeds etc right up to the boundary.
8 - Who looks after the site apiary?
9 - A site agent? What? Who?

6 - Just the way ours are and always have been.
Personally I like it as it gives access to fences and with recent sub-division of 10 rod plots down to 2.5rod it also means everyone can get to their plots.
8 - Whoever keeps the bees within it, just set aside space for anyone who wants to keep bees at the allotments, Apparently membership of the British Beekeeping Association gives you insurance, so that is likely to be one of "our" conditions for keeping bees, join the local society, which is affiliated.
9 - We are council run, so no committee, the council appoint someone at each site, normally a plot holder, as their "Site Agent", basically a cross between a shop steward and the workshop foreman. Enforces the rules, fixes little things and gets the council to do bigger stuff.
The bad bit is that he is usually the one who has to kickstart eviction under the "non-cultivation" rule, as in "Over the last couple of months I've dropped some hints, said it politely and then been blunt, but it's still knee high weeds and no cultivation, so please start the eviction process with a letter.".

[StephenH]

My list:
1. A position right next to your house, like a jammy workmate of mine, whose back garden backs on to the site his allotment's on.
2. Lots of weeds nearby, to use as compost material. The above-mentioned site has a patch of waste ground adjoining, covered in nettles, willowherb and bindweed.
3. A high, sturdy fence and gate.
4. A level, sunny site, with no nearby trees.
5. A shed and water supply provided.
6. Permission to plant small fruit trees.
7. A clear, ready-to-sow plot when you move in.
8. Friendly fellow allotmenteers, practising organic methods - I don't want non-organic sprays drifting on to my crops.
9. A position away from busy roads or railways, for peace and quiet.
10. A real-ale-selling pub nearby.