Logically, most people wouldn't attempt to maintain two allotment on two different sites, and would keep the better of the two plots. So of course I kept them both...
Who wouldn't want a shed!
They are just a few hundred metres apart (as the crow flies) and plot no. 2 is at an altitude of over 100m higher up than plot no. 2. However, it's at the top of the hill, it's flat and the soil is vastly different. It also had a shed, a greenhouse, a pond, 3 apple trees and an established fruit bed of gooseberries, blackcurrants and raspberries, and it was a lot more accessible for the kids and Mrs D. These were all very attractive. The bindweed, ground elder and slate edged beds weren't.
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| Randomly sized beds, with lethal slated edging |
The site is much smaller (just over 30 plots) and the 'demographic' is much different. Up here I'm very much one of the younger plot holders! There's no Association and there isn't the same sense of community as there is on the site of Plot No. 1. Having said that it's very sought after and it wouldn't surprise me if the waiting list was well into three figures and many years. I waited for three and a half years and I was on the list before allotments became popular.
Bye, bye greenhouse
Since taking this plot on I've been attempting to change the layout and contend with the numerous shrubs and non-productive trees, and fight (largely losing to date) battle with the bindweed and ground elder. Then the greenhouse got burned down at the end of 2009.
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| It's worse than it looks in the picture |
After a 'polite request' to tidy up the plot from the allotment office in mid 2010, I've been re-establishing the paths and digging out the bindweed roots from underneath the carpet and re-edging the beds - this time with wood.
