Rethinking the Plot

As we're in the middle of National Allotments Week, it's an appropriate time to bring you up to date with happenings up at the plot. After a great deal of thought, sadness (and much growing of weeds), I've finally decided to give up half of the plot. Our distance caring responsibilities have increased enormously this year, plus I've gone back to work part-time, so I have to face up to reality and I can see that I can't keep things going in the way they should be.

I've written to the allotment committee and we'll be getting together shortly to discuss which half I'm keeping and the arrangements for handing over the other. I have the whole 10 lugs until the end of September, so there's lots of work to be done before my new neighbour (I hope they're nice!) comes in.

There's pros and cons to each half, so I'm swithering over which one I'd like. Not only that, there's trees to be moved and I'm hoping that not only can I delay moving them until they're dormant, I'll also be allowed to transfer them to my half of the plot. We've just had an amnesty on keeping existing allotment trees so long as they're kept to 2 metres in height, so I also need to get cracking with my summer pruning. Thank goodness I won a spanking new Felco pruning saw when I was in Seattle!

Irrespective of that decision, I also need to build new supports for any trees allowed to remain. The arches I've trained the trees over or have used for cordon/espalier training have finally collapsed in a heap. Some serious allotment ER is needed.

To help with my deliberations over my plotting future, here's the most important features I'm considering:

Left hand side (as you're looking at the picture)
  • already has space at the top of the plot ready for manure delivery
  • has the largest compost bin (720 litres and it's full)
  • has a slightly larger growing area since the demise of the nettle patch last year
  • has a great fennel 'hedge' which provides me with all the seeds I need for a year's supply of fennel tea
  • has 3 of the 7 most productive apple and pear trees, plus cherry (with canker), plum, damson and gage
  • 9 trees to move
  • has the raised bed (though easy to move)
  • 1 grape vine to deal with (work is needed anyway as it's sprawling over the ground)
  • 30 strawberry plants and a globe artichoke to move (this was going to happen anyway)
  • has a patch of bindweed and an absolutely dreadful patch of couch grass that won't lie down and play dead
Right hand side
  • has the TARDIS like shed
  • has the water butt (and it's nearly full - 220 litres)
  • has 4 compost bins (mainly full - approx. 1,000 litres of compost)
  • has my prize winning raspberries, plus rhubarb, gooseberries, more raspberries and some tired strawberries
  • the main (and prize winning) raspberry patch needs to be moved or replaced if I'm to have a manure delivery this autumn
  • has the cold frame (woeful success with melon growing, so considering abandoning)
  • has 4 out of the 7 most productive apples and pears, including our favourite and the best keeper (Saturn)
  • 7 trees to move
  • 1 grape vine to deal with (work is needed anyway as it's sprawling over the ground)
  • has a voracious and vicious self-sown bramble amongst the gooseberries
Hmm, writing that little lot down hasn't helped me decide at all. Do you have any thoughts?

Whilst there's a lot of hard work ahead and I hate the idea of giving up half of the plot, I have a sneaky suspicion I might be quite a bit more productive up there next year...

Comments

  1. Chris11 August 2011 at 09:09

    Right side definitely, VP.

    I had the same problem earlier in the year but, incredibly, nobody took it on!

    Ended up taking it back as the weeds were rampaging!

    Hope your new neighbours are Monty Don and Pippa Greenwood!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Helen/patientgardener11 August 2011 at 09:15

    I think you have made the right decision. Its been apparent to me that the allotment was more of a chore than a pleasure to you especially after the struggle with it last year. Half a plot should be more than enough with a bit of planning.

    I would go for the right hand side as well - only plus on the left area for manure delivery. Do you really need that as it only happens infrequently. Left hand side means moving a shed etc which you would have to find room for on the other side and probably would mean losing the manure delivery area which I think is a luxury.

    Hopefully we will have some rain over the coming weeks which will make the moving of trees easier

    ReplyDelete
  3. Susan Tomlinson11 August 2011 at 12:10

    I think the right side has a bit more going for it. It has plenty of compost bins, fruit trees, etc to keep you going, PLUS, the Tardis shed and water butt. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

    It is hard to give things up. We have an innate tendency to hold on to things that are good, even when we don't need them. Something inside says, "But that big compost bin!" But the reality is that even if they are nice things, we don't really need them. When that happens, keeping nice things really becomes more of a burden than a joy. (This is something I'm wrestling with myself right now in re cleaning out my house...)

    Hope the downsizing makes things more enjoyable and manageable!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Janet/Plantaliscious11 August 2011 at 12:30

    Seem like you've already made the hardest decision, to downsize the plot. Am impressed you were able to see that this was what you needed to do, it is hard to let go, and to admit you can't keep the full plot going as you would like. Personally, I don't know how anyone keeps a full plot together and looking good if they have anything else to do in their life! Better this than letting it carry on be a millstone. Fennel can be re-planted, compost moved, and hey, by letting go the left hand plot you will be leaving all that lovely couch grass and bindweed behind. Interesting that the choice of which to keep wasn't as obvious to you as it apparently is to the rest of us, either you know something else that wasn't on the list or it is the letting go being difficult. Either which way I hope the plot becomes a pleasure again and that your new neighbour is friendly and accommodating.

    ReplyDelete
  5. elaine 11 August 2011 at 13:10

    What a decision you have to make, very difficult for you, once made there's no going back. Whatever you decide I am sure it will all be for the best.

    ReplyDelete
  6. petoskystone11 August 2011 at 14:00

    the right side looks the better of the two. either way, there's a lot of work heading your way! hoping you get great neighbors...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Victoria Summerley11 August 2011 at 15:15

    Right-hand side. Not that I know anything about allotments, but there seem to be more things you care about on that side.

    ReplyDelete
  8. suburban veg gardener11 August 2011 at 18:20

    That sounds like a difficult decision to make VP. But as you say, having just half the amount of space may be easier to manage and thus improve productivity so it sounds like the sensible thing to do. Fingers crossed you get lovely neighbours!

    ReplyDelete
  9. The bike shed11 August 2011 at 19:09

    You have to right side - there's a shed!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jono / Real Men Sow11 August 2011 at 22:22

    Funny, I've been thinking the same thing about my plot. I was down there one evening this week, despairing at the weeds and thinking that actually, I could grow enough for me and the wife on half a plot. That way, I'd be much more effective with my time up there.

    Certainly an interesting thing to ponder.

    I'd go for the right hand side.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anna12 August 2011 at 10:58

    Oh VP I am sure that it must have been most agonising to let half your plot go but in the long term it will probably double your enjoyment. I know all too well that long distance caring responsibilities not only eat into your time but your energy levels too. Hope that you get lovely new plot neighbours and can enjoy your plot more in the future. Another vote for the right :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Juliet12 August 2011 at 23:48

    Sorry to hear you're having to give up half your plot, VP, but it does sound as though it's the right decision.
    I'd keep the right side too.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Kath15 August 2011 at 00:48

    Right side....I have bindweend in my home garden and it drives me crazy. The best cure for bindweed is to move :-) Besides you have the water and compost....sounds good to me!

    ReplyDelete
  14. VP17 August 2011 at 09:05

    Hi everyone - thanks for your thoughts on which side of the plot to keep :) It looks like the right hand side is your clear winner! Watch this space to see what the final decision is.

    PG - I use the manure heap for growing squash too (they love it), so it does have a day to day use as well

    Janet - how perceptive you are :) I am indeed having difficulty in letting go

    Mark - of course ;)

    Jono - I look forward to seeing what you decide

    Suburban Veg Gardener and Kath - welcome to the blog!

    ReplyDelete
  15. The Enduring Gardener22 August 2011 at 19:46

    I'd opt for the right. Don't forget to take empty the compost from the left hand heap and take it with you. With a little luck you'll probably find your new neighbours open to swapping future harvests too.

    ReplyDelete
  16. VP22 August 2011 at 20:03

    The Enduring Gardener - welcome! I've just met my new neighbours and it's very exciting. Much better than I could have hoped for, so I'm right in the middle of writing about it ready for tomorrow :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Helen18 November 2011 at 03:26

    Amazing that you have so much! It's all I can do sometimes to keep my two tiny 4x8' plots going!

    ReplyDelete
  18. VP18 November 2011 at 08:39

    Helen - yes, I'm very lucky :) Apparently the average wait for an allotment in England now stands at 14 years.

    ReplyDelete

New comments are not allowed.

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter,
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi
Read more