Help MBE grow his dinner 2012

Drea

dogstarheaven wrote: »

did i read that right - £20 per MONTH??? that's way too expensive for a lotti. I know most places have their rents increased by double, but this can't be right. Can anyone in the Cardiff area with lottis confirm that's the average/reasonable amount for your sites please?

I pay £57pa for a 572 sq yard full sized plot in Nott'm but it's going up by a third this year and more next year

The council ones here are around £6 a month but with 10+ years waiting lists the £20 ones are run by a garden centre here, I know it's expensive but I'm really tempted...

annie123

dogstarheaven wrote: »

did i read that right - £20 per MONTH??? that's way too expensive for a lotti. I know most places have their rents increased by double, but this can't be right. Can anyone in the Cardiff area with lottis confirm that's the average/reasonable amount for your sites please?

I pay £57pa for a 572 sq yard full sized plot in Nott'm but it's going up by a third this year and more next year

Near me in London there are a few left at around £100 pa, but many are well over that, £200 is common with one fighting the council as the rent increased from £120pa to £275pa in one year. At those prices it becomes an expensive hobby.
But this is London and I wouldn't expect Cardiff to cost that much.

annie123

Drea wrote: »

The council ones here are around £6 a month but with 10+ years waiting lists the £20 ones are run by a garden centre here, I know it's expensive but I'm really tempted...

Maybe practice at home for another year first?
A lottie is easier to keep up with if you have some experience otherwise it could put you off GYO if it becomes a chore.

dogstarheaven

Drea wrote: »

The council ones here are around £6 a month but with 10+ years waiting lists the £20 ones are run by a garden centre here, I know it's expensive but I'm really tempted...

and for how much space do you get with that? have you thought of Landshare.net? I've joined some years ago, and didn't get anywhere with that, but recently with the lotti to manage on my own, I'm almost resigning to sharing it.

dogstarheaven

annie123 wrote: »

Maybe practice at home for another year first?
A lottie is easier to keep up with if you have some experience otherwise it could put you off GYO if it becomes a chore.

i agree, as gardening is by no means easy, more the opposite. you need to be VERY COMMITTED from the word GO and you'll never have a week off from it in the growing months. If you put in the effort now whilst the soil's wet, you can structure it for the rest of the year, and next year you can grow stuff. Reason why I'm saying this is there's not much you can do with the weather like this, but to toil the soil (altho' you're not meant to) and get rid of the weeds, make the beds, order in fruit for the aut - winter planting, and come early spring, start sowing. that is, if you're anyone's got a new lotti now, or are thinking about getting one.

mumof3plusoh

wow £20 per month does seem expensive. I think that I would way up how much I think I would save by buying things over the yr. Or you could look at it as probably the cost of a months membership at a gym and think of the exercise benefits of gardening on a lotti.

I am lucky as have 3 raised beds in the garden. I get a bit fed up with them expecially when it is carp weather and am not motivated to go out and work in it. I know I wouldn't be able to keep up with a lotti.:eek:

Some people open their gardens up to people to grow veg etc, maybe worth doing some research before you commit.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.;)

Drea

Maybe I should wait a bit. It's just that I have to grow in containers here so I'm limited, and I'm not a patient person at all

Skint_Lynne

Just come out of lurkdom to let you know that my lottie costs me £5 a year for half a plot, 40foot x 20 foot. I live just outside of the Glasgow city boundary. £20 a month is excessive methinks.

Lotus-eater

I remember reading about those garden centre run allotments a few years ago when they were launched. A very expensive way to GYO.

I wouldn't do it.

annie123

Drea wrote: »

Maybe I should wait a bit. It's just that I have to grow in containers here so I'm limited, and I'm not a patient person at all

Look what you can grow in a small spot in containers:


http://www.container-gardening-for-food.com/

scroll down a touch for before and after pics.