Just got an allotment (Merged)

Lotus-eater

debih wrote: »

I do also intend on taking the children to the allotment but know that I wont be able to do it everytime I go - I dont think their boredom threshold will allow it.

Give them an area to do what they want to. They want to grow pink flowers, no problem, strawberries? no problem. Anything they want.

daveyjay1

Hi all

I have just got myself an allotment after about 2 years of waiting!! I am so excited about it. I am going to be mainly cycling to the allotment so will not be able to carry all my garden tools with me so I am going to need somewhere to store them (there is no shed). Does anyone have any good ideas for something I could use as a tool lockup?

I am not going to have any 'power tools' kept up there so it doesn't have to be really secure - just somewhere to leave my stuff so I don't have to carry it with me each time.

I would prefer to buy something rather than attempt to make something myself.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Davey

mrs_baggins

congrats on the lottie. I am lucky in that my site hasnt suffered to bad from vandalism but it has ocasionally. On mine I have a small aluminium type shed. Its not huge but its big enough to keep some very old spades and forks in along with gloves and stuff but luckily i was able to buy it off someone else at the site who no longer wanted it so it may be worth asking at the site in case they know of any

FunkyFairy

We leave our on our allotment laying on the ground under a wheel barrow. Have done this for 3 years with no problems.

Congrats on the allotment your life will never be the same again. You will always be thinking about veg!!!!

frugallass

out of interest, who generally 'owns' allotments?

Hubby is always talking about getting one, but I wouldn't have a clue where to start enquiring

thanks (sorry to jump on this post)

FunkyFairy

The local parish council owns ours. Would be a good place to start.

moneysavingfamilycomp

local council owns ours aswell
well we now have something resembling a fence halfway across top doesnt look to bad and it makes it secure there was a huge old shed on the site which we pulled down so we managed to reuse the wood slats from that to make fence dont know what we going to use for rest of it though. :rotfl:
i also managed to get a huge old plastic bin that was being thrown out at work so we now have our waterbut. i have insisted we secure some wire mesh across the top so birds etc cant fall in and drown ( saw a documentary about owls ) we were intending to burn rubbish everytime we went but so far weve only managed to do it once as everything is too wet :mad: . after weve finished the fence the next job is to dig it all :eek: and make some raised beds. i feel aching muscles coming on

Sporticus

Hi

my dh and I are interested in getting an allotment. We're on the waiting list for a council one (2 year wait ) but this weekend we spotted a sign saying allotments for rent. I spoke to the man who owns them and he said that they should be ready in a week to 10 days. :j . He's putting in a car park and other bits. These appear to be private rentals. Is there such a thing and what do we need to be aware of? How would I check that he has the right to rent out this land as allotments - there is only a mobile number on the board?

This has been a great thread to read - loads of advice and links. I think a few late nights will be in order as I try and read up on everything!

TIA

Primrose

Sporticus - I think you will need to ensure you hae some sort of written contract and check what the notice period is. The last thing you want to have happen is to rent it and find you're given two weeks notice just before all your crops start ripening so that he gets the benefit of them. You also need to reasure yourself that the annual rent is less than the value of the crops you are likely to be growing, otherwise there is little point in going ahead. You might want to ring your local council and find out what their annual rent is, just for comparison purposes, and possibly leave yourselves on the Council waiting list anyway, just in case things don't work out with this one. You could possibly also contact your local council's Planning Department and check whether any application has been made for it to be converted to agricultural land. I'm unsure whether allotments are classified as agricultural land by planning departments but if he's putting in a car park, he possibly had to have planning permission granted for that and other work as well. If you have the post code for the allotment land, you can possibly do a search on your local council's website. If the work is currently being undertaken, any possible application for the land in question may be listed there.

spotties

New allotment holder too. :T
Actually got allotment for our 10 yr old son whos grown carrots, beans and peas in troughs this year with tomatoes in baskets at home and thought how good it would be on a grander scale.
We've put 'wanted' ads on freecycle and been grateful for anything offered but also looked on ebay for local things that go cheap.
Managed to get slabs for £1.04 and a compost bin for a £5. :j
Noticed how you look at things and wonder if it could have a use on the plot!!
Think this is great for tips and advice-please keep it up:beer: