Allotment Advice Please!

shadowdragon

janeawej wrote: »

I thought sheds on allotment would be more convinient but other half wants them on edge of field! yes was going to allow chickens, and I like the idea of stipulating that 2/3 must be culitvated, I was going to give a limit to the amount of area of buildings (sheds/ greenhouses) etc allowed obviously within reasonable amounts that is, owners would have to allow me to check on any animals kept there without notice in order that i can ensure all are kept properly, do you think that is OK?

Well you cant say they can keep chickens then put the sheds down the side of the allotment. just divide the ground up into plots then let people get on with it. There are some very inventive sheds on our allotment. some are half shed/half chicken coops. some are just sheds with seperate coops. Some are factory built some are made from doors and salvaged wood.

I think people would want there shed on there plot where they want it and to a size they want. Remember you dont have to provide the sheds, the people on the plot will provide them. What you cant do is stipulate that is has to be a factory made shed ect, after all allotments are about saving money and being frugal, throwing £100s just for a shed is a commitment i personally wouldnt make.

So far i have spent on my allotment approx

£30 on Hens
£40 on Wheel Barrow
£5 on hose
£8 on Tap
£15ish on Seeds/potatoe/onion sets
£15 on Layer pellets and Wheat for the hens
£7 on weedkiller
£5 on a hoe

the Chicken coop was already there tailor made. I sectioned off the chicken run with 20mtrs of wire I already had lying about at home, I used scaffold poles that were left ont he plot for the support and built a 6ft gate from wood that was scrounged.

I personally dont want to thow 1000s of pounds at it, but some on my site have, and to me it defeats the objective of being self sufficient or frugal.

Funny thing is those who thow 1000s at the plots are those who say thngs like "Im trying to lower my carbon footprint, have you seen how many carbon miles a marrow travels" althogh they forget about the timber the green house the shed ect they have just purchased from b and q. But i digress

Also do you keep horses? free manure would be a nice sweetner to any plotholder

Ho yeah, about accessing plots, if you put it in the contract I cant see there being an issue tbh, just make sure you have enough knowlege about hens ect before you go telling someone there not looking after them ect. You wouldnt want to look silly)

shadowdragon

janeawej wrote: »

shadowdragon wrote: »

Dont get me started LOL.

Ive been an allotment holder for all of six weeksish. What i dont like, the fact that some plot holders use there plots as builders yards, someone who has a plot near me was looking after my plot before I got it. Friday I was digging a bed over and found spilled diesel and now tommorow i have to wait in for a phone call from an inspector to come look at my plot!! the guy stored fishing boat engines (and im not talking a outboard, im on a bout fishing for a living kind of fishing boat engines) on the plot along with nets/crab pots/ ect!!! :mad::mad::mad:

I wouldnt want people using it as cheap storage, and contaminating the land, thanks for telling me about that

Well thats one reason to have right of access without any notice just to check. One of the chaps down on mine was burningbuilders rubble on his plot and now fires are banned (but apparently they turn a blind eye if your burning your garden waste).

shadowdragon

This is mine plot when i first got it, its 1/16 of an acre (400sq yards i think)




And a week or two later but the bed further down is done but i have ad to stop because thats where i found the diesel spillage.



The Chicken coop and run are in the background and theres enough room for a good 20 hens in there.

janeawej

Good point about chickens and sheds down the side of the allotment! I hadnt thought of that one! I dont mind home made sheds! got a few of them myself, just dont want whole of allotment covered in sheds but your idea of 2/3 being culitvated solves that problem.

I thought of putting out bins for recycling which I would empty and asking people to use compost bins for green waste, also having a bonfire site where people could pile there burning stuff and I would have a bonfire every few months, what do you think of that idea?

janeawej

Yours looks great! I come from a farming family and have kept poultry for yrs so do know a fair bit about chickens! you have obviously done a lot of work in a few weeks! i do have horses and rent out a field to more so plenty of manure!

shadowdragon

janeawej wrote: »

Good point about chickens and sheds down the side of the allotment! I hadnt thought of that one! I dont mind home made sheds! got a few of them myself, just dont want whole of allotment covered in sheds but your idea of 2/3 being culitvated solves that problem.

I thought of putting out bins for recycling which I would empty and asking people to use compost bins for green waste, also having a bonfire site where people could pile there burning stuff and I would have a bonfire every few months, what do you think of that idea?

recycling is good (but people shouldnt generate that much waste that cant be composted.

Just becareful people dont start flytipping on the bonfire, and also you cant regulate what people are putting on (chemicals/aerosols/tyres ect).

Any good allotmenteer should be composting there waste anyway.

shadowdragon

janeawej wrote: »

Yours looks great! I come from a farming family and have kept poultry for yrs so do know a fair bit about chickens! you have obviously done a lot of work in a few weeks! i do have horses and rent out a field to more so plenty of manure!

Thanks i have hand dug all that and pulled out piles of marestail and couch grass roots (lots of them :rotfl: ) But im doing it now to save the work later, although the first bay is already sprouting weeds, im just waiting for the veggies to get more established before I attack the beds with the Hoe

janeawej

luckily the field is near to my house so i plan to keep a good eye on it and well away from any other houses, though I expect my 76 yr old neighbour will spend a lot of time noseying around!, but you have raised a good point there thanks

janeawej

The Fat Hen weed which I see you have a lot of is edible! in Indian cuisine its a delicacy cooked and eaten like spinach!

shadowdragon

really lol which one is that? All i seem to see is nettles dock leaves and those nasty spikey things!!!