As The Workhouse Approaches....How To Do Everything To Avoid It, the Old Style Way

ceridwen

True that there will have been an element of allotments having been "saved" from developers in the past - which is obviously a good thing.

But - we will have to agree to disagree - as obviously everyone who has an allotment (whether an existing holder) or someone trying to get an allotment in the first place is "dependant on them for food". One is already dependant on them and the other one needs to be and is trying to start growing their food in the first place.

There may be an element too of those with plenty of land to grow on possibly not doing things in the most "space efficient" way - because they have plenty of space. So - maybe they could get nearly as much food out of a smaller space if things were planned for "maximum value" from a space?

Perhaps any concerns re whether a 2nd plot would be cared for properly could be alleviated by specifying who was to be the person who got the "given away/taken away" 2nd plot - ie by choosing a suitable friend/neighbour and unofficially giving them the 2nd plot?

GreyQueen

Morning all, I checked in earlier before going to A$DA and am back now and find myself in agreement with both Ceridwen AND Greenbee in their previous posts.

Greenbee is absolutely right that allotments were at serious risk of being lost to developers not too many years ago, due to lack of interest, and those gardeners who punched above their weight in terms of running more than one are to be lauded. We all owe such people a profound debt of gratitude.

I am also sympatico with Ceridwen in the matter of some individuals having multiples of things (in this case allotment plots) whereas others are desperate to have even one.

To my personal knowledge there is a person in my city who has 8 adjacent lottie plots, on which he cultivates with a small tractor (they are unfenced) and on which he grows either potatoes or cabbages. When challenged by a succession of allotment officers over the decades, this (now) pensioner insists that all this tonnage is for the exclusive use of himself and his immediate family.

Do we believe this? Not me!

Also, to my personal knowledge, another individual has formed a mini-farm on another site by having several adjacent plots in his own name, his brother's name and putting their respective wives' names down as co-workers on other adjacent plotholders plots so that, when these people give them up, the wives have rights to suceed to the tenancies. And they do, but you never see them cultivating. What you do see early on weekends is the mastermind of this de facto smallholding loading his van with plants (typically herbs and flowering plants) and taking them off to bootfairs and coming back empty.

Another old boy I know grows flowers exclusively and commercially on his lottie. He has done so for decades.

Growing crops for sale is expressly forbidden in this city's allotment tenancy agreement, btw.

These are just the ones I do know about personally and I expect there are a lot more even in this city which I don't know about.

So, there are abuses going on, and I think it would be worth any allotment officer keeping a close eye on the multi-plotters to check that they are not seriously taking the p*ss. However, my personal bugbear is, and always has been, the plotholder who tenants but doesn't use their plot.

Flitted into my lottie briefly on the way to the shop and found yet more seedling grass coming up where it has dropped from the 3 foot tall meadow next door whose occupier has not been seen for 12 months and has not done a stroke. Grrrr!!! She's a nice enough woman but she's creating a lot of extra work for me and depriving someone else of a chance to garden.

Honourable mention to tessie bear for the heads-up re the tinned tommies and beans in A$DA, from whence I have just come. Came back distinctly faster than I left thanks to the slopes being in the favourable direction and a considerable kilo-age of tinnery on my back and in my bicycle baskets..........:rotfl:

In my shop they were 20p a tin for tommies, both whole and chopped, and also in the KTC brand they had misc varieties of canned beans at 28p a tin. I can do better than that on kidney beans elsewhere but did buy 5 x KTC chickpeas. The signage wasn't clear as to whether they were 28p or 20p but I was happy enough even if the higher price so bought them and they rang up at 20p plus I have a multi-buy discount of 80p of KTC tins.

:j:o:j I love a bargain! So sad but so true.

Today's cunning plan will involve a few hours at t'office earning my daily bread and coming home to create a h.m. pizza as I find myself blessed with several non-tinned tommies which are softening up a touch and won't keep much longer. Flour and yeast and cheese and dried herbs are all on the premises so it'll be cheap.

Pizza is my signature dish and the second time I took it into the office and casually mentioned that I had done so, I had the great pleasure of watching some colleagues RUN to the far end to get it before the others scoffed the lot. :rotfl:

Hope everyone has a good day.

EDIT. Ohh, that is soooo gross, one of my neighbours has just come out of her flat to puke all over the collective walkway. Why on earth can't she use her WC or her washbasin on a blinking bucket fer crying out loud!

Softstuff

I've been spending again, may the Gods of OS forgive me. Partially practical though, one thing I bought was a wire airer thingy to screw to the wall where we removed the tumble dryer from. Because this area is in a cupboard where the hot water tank is it gets pretty warm, and I thought it was a good idea to harness a bit of that heat to dry bits when it's raining or just to air towels. I just need to drill holes for it without lighting my ears up.

Also non practical - 2 photo frames and a clock, all at half price from a shop closing down. 1 was to frame a print of a stylised painting of my old British home town that I'd purchased whilst there, and the other is much larger to cover up the fuse box in the lounge (thusly removing the need to move the aforementioned fuse box, which being in the middle of a very obvious wall was annoying me).

So as penance, here's my chickpea curry recipe:
Cube a carrot and a medium potato and boil until soft, drain that. Then chop an onion and fry in oil with a sliced clove of garlic, tsp ground coriander, tsp ground cumin, tsp ginger (ground or fresh), tablespoon curry powder. Then add the chickpeas, carrot and potato, and a tin of chopped tomatoes (I know you have one spare GQ). Stir muchly. Add a little water and leave to simmer until you're really bored. Stir in a little yoghurt, or cream, or sour cream, or even coconut milk (whatever is in the fridge lurking), serve with rice. You can throw anything else in there that's going manky too - green beans, spinach, cauli, broccoli.

That's tonights dinner, so I'd better go cook it.

[Deleted User]

greenbee wrote: »

Ceridwen - you may find that those people with two allotments are the people who saved them when no one else was interested and allotments were being abandoned and at the mercy of developers.

There are always many reasons for situations, and it is important that we are not too judgemental without knowing the full facts. Allotments may be fashionable today, .

No one should have more than one allotment by right, not nowadays when many many people are struggling to live healthily. The ones who had more than one have been very lucky and they should have counted themselves lucky but those generous times are over and very rightly so. Every council has a duty to go through allotment ownership, one by one and they should do the right thing if there are people waiting on the list. We cannot live in the past

Allotments are not a fashion accessory, they are a potential lifeline

I know there are people on here with two or more allotments, I say `do the decent thing by your fellow man`

Also landowners, like where I live. Do the decent thing too and let your neighbours have a small patch to work. I was lucky here, one small landowner listened to his conscience

grandma247

We had three allotments when no one wanted to take them on and ran them for a number of years. It was very hard work and mostly down to me but we fed ourselves and our daughters families. It became too much a few years ago so we gave up the two smaller ones which were taken over by a charity teaching disabled people how to garden, mostly mentally disabled but some physically as well.
At the time there were many allotments empty and it was decided we should take some over as well as others who already had allotments just to keep them used and ready. Lots of newbies have now come but many leave because it turns out to be harder to grow your own than they imagined.
Rural science or gardening should come back to senior schools as well as primary. I can remember several schools I went to had their own land and department for gardening and animal husbandry.

mardatha

The schools here all do gardening, maybe because its a farming area and the big agricultural college is nearby. It's a great idea because the wee ones love it. Our local school even built a green house out of bottles.

Skint_but_Optimistic

I would love an allotment but I dont have time at the moment with having a tot. Id love to have one in the future though.

I am currently breaking my teeth on things like Rhubard in a patio pot, potato bags etc.

Little bits!

flowertotmum

Hi all...well i won't make any comments on the allotment thing as i have 2 ..

Ginnyknit hows your mouth today lovey..i hate the dentist too..fortunately mine is a gent and a treasure..i'm normally as high as a kite before he even enters the room...love that man(gas and air induced)...

Had a busy few days..done lots of de-cluttering and sorting girls clothes..also had to buy some new ones too...but thankfully ebay had bundles in their sizes and asda is great for undies and socks...but hopefully thats them sorted..
I am still knitting a scarf..when i get time to sit down...
Been busy baking..got a great recipe for coconut slab cakes..tots love it..freezes well too..
Have been reading about the off grid folks..its great..i have decided to research it a bit more..but definatley interesting..
Went to the CS shop toady and got a real bargain..a pair of lelli kelli shoes almost perfect for £1.50..i wasn't leaving without them thats for sure...fern will love them..
Hubby been to lotties and got lots of courgettes,spring onions,beetroot and lettuce so i feel a salad is on the cards for tea..
Have been going to CS in town too and buying thick blankets for winter..got some lovely pink ones for FIVER..when i got home i found it was 2 blankets wrapped together..they are in my blanket box already to go...
Well its fern's last day at school..yay...so am hoping the weather improves alot so we can go out a bit more...will be nice to have no routine..for a while..
Well i hope you all ok and feeling fine..
catch ya later
love ftm

VJsmum

Sorry FTM but you are not allowed to talk about yummy cake without giving up the recipe!!

It's an MSE rule don't you know?? :money: Seriously would love it if you could spare a minute to post .

I think if people took on additional allotments when there were no waiting lists then they should be allowed to keep them, but maybe not give people additional ones if there are waiting lists? I'd love one but don't have time. Like Skint but Optimistic, i am just doing what i can with my little patch and some patio pots. I am trying to go through the learning curve now, while it's not a necessity to make myself more proficient if it ever should become so.

[Deleted User]

here is a good one for browsing news and current affairs. Lots of links too

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