Requesting some patient education please...

[Mustardseedmama]

Hi all, I have been on youtube this evening and very much enjoyed some videos of allotments, but now I have some questions. Begging your pardon in advance, please keep in mind that I have never been out of the US, and have no idea what it's like trying to garden anywhere except right here in the midwest.

Could someone please explain this whole allotment thing to me? I think it must be a little like what we refer to in cities as a Community Garden", where people rent space or spaces and grow some of their veggies (?).

Who mostly applies for these allotments? Would it be mostly apartment (flat ?) dwellers? How large is the average allotment? Is there water available on site? Are there a lot of rules that must be followed?

I saw one guy who had been on a waiting list for two years before he got one, and then it had a huge amount of trash/junk/debris on it that he had to pay to cart off! Why was it allowed to stay vacant for so long (long enough to become an overgrown trash pile) if so many people are wanting an allotment? Am I just naive?

Thanks very much!

[MKG]

This may help a little ...

http://www.allotment.org.uk/grow-your-o ... ts/history

Mike

[Green Aura]

Anyone can apply for an allotment but they are in short supply in many areas so have long waiting lists - 2 years isn't that long compared to some areas where you have to (almost literally) wait for someone to die.

They fell out of fashion, somewhat, during the 80s and 90s and many Local Authorities saw this as a great excuse to raise some cash by selling the land off for housing development etc. More enlightened Councils passed them over to User Committees rather than selling them. These tend to be the ones that have thrived and have huge waiting lists.

My understanding is that Local Authorities have a legal obligation to provide allotments if sufficient numbers request them but of course that's not well publicised.

[FaeMelusine]

Hi,

To shed a little light on the vacant plot/waiting list thing - I'm kind of in the middle of that now.

I share two quite small awkwardly shaped plots with a friend, I'm on the waiting list for my own plot however I'm number 14.
There are a few plots available, however the first 13 people have to be offered the plots first, turn them down, offer to the next on the list, turn them down again... it goes on and does take a while to move up the list.
And its very true that plots are limited.
Land is expensive, and the councils often only give over land that can't be built on for allotment space.

People need a little time to decide if they're happy to take a plot - I guess there are considerations on the soil/light/water situation of the plot, and also how much work it will take to be usable.
Personally, I'd snap up any plot and make it work for me unless it was dangerous for some reason.

[Mustardseedmama]

Thank you very much--that was quite interesting!

[pdblake]

I have recently taken on a half plot, just a couple of weeks ago. It is 150sq yards and costs less than £12 a year to rent. I have waited three years to be offered one, so took this one on without even seeing it. As it was it was overgrown but not a complete wreck. I consider myself lucky. A second list I was on would have seen me waiting at least 91 years (91st on the list with only one plot going a year, some years none).

I only got my plot because the previous holder fell ill and was unable to work it. It really is a case of dead (or seriously ill) men's shoes in some places. My local council is splitting any full plots into two half plots as they become available, such is demand, and yet I still see derelict plots, unworked and unsed, but with a tenant who somehow manages to keep hold of it.

[gregorach]

Thankfully, our local council has started being a lot more pro-active about kicking people off their plots if they're not maintaining them to reasonable standards. Sure, there's quite a lot of leeway for people's circumstances and the "reasonable standards" actually are very reasonable, but an allotment is a privilege - if you're not going to use it, it should go to someone who will. Derelict plots bring the whole site down.

[pdblake]

I've taken mine on on the understanding that it will be inspected after three months, then again after six and nine months respectively. If I'm not doing anything with it then they can terminate the tenancy. I think that's fair enough, though I'm not sure what yardstick they measure by. Some of the plots look as though they get the bare minimum done to them.

I don't understand it really. If people don't want to work a plot, why on earth do they want to keep hold of it?