Is it worth keeping my allotment?

rosie383

It may seem a strange question, but I just am not sure what to do. We have to pay the rent on our plot due next week. The grand sum of £13.50 for the year! Anyway, I am just not sure whether it is worth it financially.
Eg, I paid about £8 for my seed potatoes and got a yield of around 35kg. I could buy a 25kg bag of spuds from farm shop for £4.
All of our broccoli, beans, peas and courgettes were eaten by deer, and we would need to pay for a fence if we want to avoid this next year.
The only things that survived were potatoes (hours and hours of digging for not great yield), onions (both red and white were golf ball size!), tomatoes which I have in the garden anyway.
It has been nice being there with the kids, but they love mainly playing in a 'den' they made in the wooded area at the side which is all being cleared anyway.
By the time we pay out for fencing, seed potatoes etc, we would not be any better off for it. But I also loved the peace of being up there just getting my hands in the soil and growing my own. I think if we were going to be living in the area for many years to come, then the financial investment would be worth it, but we may move within the next year, so may have to leave it all behind.
Sorry it's a bit of a ramble, I just can't get my thoughts together on this one.

spadoosh

Your total spend cant be much more than £50, so even if you dont get any fruit from your labours your paying about 15p a day! how many hours do you spend there last year?! Work out if you could occupy yours and your childrens time for less cost. I think you'd struggle. Keep it unless you arent going to use it in which case let someone else have it

valk_scot

If you think of it as a leisure activity, like taking the kids out for the afternoon to the cinema or swimming pool, how does that affect your costings? You don't get many childrens activities that cost £13.50 for a year's worth. Anything else on top is a bonus.

If you're not sure you're going to leave or not I'd keep it on for next year but not invest in fencing just yet. Try growing more underground crops like baby turnips etc and scavange in a few skips for scrap wood etc to fence off a small area for salad crops etc. Make deterrents out of canes, plastic bags and bottles, prickly branches etc, use cast off, unwashed clothing (ie smelling of human) to make a scarecrow, plant a hedge of tall quick growing shrubs from cuttings mooched from neighbours. Etc. I never buy anything for the allotment if I can beg, borrow or scavenge it.

As for seeds, seed potatoes etc doesn't your allotment buy this sort of thing in bulk together? Ours does and my seed potatoes are about £2 for a 2kg bag.

rosie383

Thanks. That is some food for thought. I suppose I just got disheartened as a lot of our veg got munched. Our neighbours had put fencing up, and some paid out a lot of money to deer-proof their plots and I couldn't afford to do that.
I suppose it does keep me fit, and I could find out about seed potatoes from the allotment shop. Our plot isn't where the office and shop are, but I could find out.
The kids could help make a scarecrow, and I could look at growing crops that maybe wouldn't be eaten.
Apart from turnips, what would be good to grow? I would use the odd bit of turnip in soup, but it it wouldn't be a food my family would enjoy.

warehouse

There will be a long waiting list, so if your heart isn't in it then let someone else have a go.

(can you tell I'm on a waiting list for a lotty? )

valentina

You could try leeks, garlic, any root crop (e.g parsnips)
Jerusalem artichoke makes a good "fence" although you should dig up the tubers (eat them) and replant some of the best ones every year, or you get an allotment full of them!

rosie383

I know there are a lot of people waiting for a lottie. I suppose I just don't want to give up after 1 year. After all, I was so excited to get it. I think it's just that my dh questions every single penny that I would spend on it, and then when things get chomped............

zarazara

Yes do keep it. for at least another year. I now only grow new potatoes as maincrop are really cheap to buy. Can you grow flowers for cutting for the house? could you keep chickens on the allotment. Its such a good stress release I find. Personally i have begun to take the attitude that I wont get much of a crop of anything,then when it does grow I'm thrilled to bits. Its taken 4 years to get a small veg plot to a reasonable productive level and we are increasing it this autumn. I find growing herbs worthwhile. Basically everything will grow here but the slugs and snails gets most things then theres rabbits,deer,badgers,mice............................... I nearly gave up this spring,but have persevered. As aI said,digging and weeding is stress realeasing so just try growing a bit of stuff,i find gooseberry and currant bushes [birds permitting] are good. I suppose with the deer is a matter of fencing. what does the allotment committee say about this? could they get a rant for deer fencing?

rosie383

Thanks for your encouragement. Between the woods and the allotments, there is a fence, but the deer always seem to get through it. And, like yourself ZaraZara, what the deer don't get, the rabbits, pigeons etc are queuing up for!!!!
Our plot is the one at the very bottom of the hill by the fence, and very quiet compared to further up the hill where the car parking and lots of people are.

zarazara

have you tried deterents? Like putting shiney CD disks onto thin string,attaching to sticks and letting them blow in the wind. Large plastic birds of prey can also deter other birds. you need to move them around the plot or the birds catch on that they arnt real. Things like plastic bags,coal sacks,sturdy plastic, cut intostrips and tin foil can deter wild animals too. Mind you this wont stop the greenfly and cabbage whites. I had some fantastic -just-exactly-in-the supermarket-but-better cauliflowers. they were fine for a couple of weeks until the little critters came and layed eggs. the rest had to go on the compost heap. ho-hummmmm.

rosie383

Wee b**gers!!!! Couldn't you just see them far enough?
I will talk to dh again, and see what he thinks. I'm leaning towards keeping it now. Should really pay it a visit tomorrow and start clearing out the old plants and if I decide to keep it, start digging it over, or whatever i'm meant to do before winter.