OS gardening/allotmenteering - traditions, money saving and savvy ideas

We have three lovely butternut squashes awaiting culinary attention. The only surprise about that is that we didn't plant any... It was a "random" compost-generated seedling, which mostly don't amount to anything, but I needed some extra ground cover where it popped up so I left it. I said to OH that the resulting fruits "look almost edible" and when we tidied up the dead plant, there were 4 lovely sturdy squashes on there! One was roasted that very evening, and it was delicious. So chance-grown squashes aren't always awful; we had 4 pumpkins pop up in the same spot last year & grow along the fence, & they were very nice too.

We've had our plot, on a new site, for two summers now. The first summer we didn't start until mid-June, but were delighted by what we managed to grow, and this year we've done even better. We're not complete newbies, both having run plots elsewhere before, but our allotments are in private ownership and have quite stringent rules and not a lot of facilities. We can't have greenhouses, or poly-tunnels, we can't use ground cover membrane (or any form of plastic, or carpet) except to grow delicate crops through and it has to be removed as soon as they're done. No trees or large bushes, no animals (including dogs), and lately we've been told to stop using wooden composters; only plastic allowed. Originally children were also banned, but that's relaxed now. There is a water supply; a hand-operated pump (wonderful exercise! But not so good for the elderly) which is at the other end of the site, nearly 400 yards from our plot, but we benefit from the shelter of the hedge on an otherwise quite exposed & windy site. We're not even supposed to have fixed paths, except by special arrangement, or sheds (max 6' x 8') which have to be on paving slabs only.

It's not my favourite way to grow things & I find it a little - socially exclusive; there's no way a single mum, for example, could reliably put in all the work needed to cultivate exclusively by spade & hoe, which is what they want. We're also banned from using any chemicals whatsoever, which I do like, but no-one else takes any notice of that & it's the one thing the site managers ignore!

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to have the chance to grow our own lovely veg (and a little fruit too) but I sometimes wish we could - cut the odd corner!

Can I join in, even though I'm not really a gardener? Not enough patience! And now, too much arthritis!
But, as I have written on this forum before, I do have a lovely raised deep bed, which I am getting to know, and have astounded myself with how well it (usually) does.
It is about 2.5 x 1.5 metres,so I can reach it. I have learned what grows well in it, and especially what saves me money (salads & greens especially)
We compost everything we can, and I have not 'fed' the deep bed for about 3 years as the compost is so good. I have to say though, that DH likes flowers in tubs, and I do get the benefit of the bought compost that sometimes finds its way into the bin when he is potting out his flowers, and the grass cuttings from our small lawn.
Early autumn I put in garlic, winter lettuce, winter spinach and lambs lettuce.All winter I usually get enough spinach for 2, and lambs lettuce to add green to winter salads.
6 broad beans planted in November will give us a few feedings.
This year I think I have made a mistake. a combination of tomatoes ripening and salad leaves thriving well in to October made me late putting in the winter greens, and I don't think they had a good enough start.

We have a half plot that we took over in September. Half of it was fierce weedy but my husband has dug it over and pulled out the bindweed and dandelion roots where he could, and we have covered the whole thing with thick membrane. The plan is to keep that covered for as long as possible, we'll use that half just for squash and potatoes next year and plant them in holes cut out from the membrane. We get free manure and wood chip, so we can enrich and mulch in those target areas.

The other half is less problematic, there's rhubarb and raspberry in place already, and two long bean frames. We inherited some abandoned courgettes that were lovely, a pile of kale, cabbages, runner beans that had a last flourish and rather excitingly we found two cauliflower plants. Small heads on them but considering the plot was abandoned I'm happy! There were loads of dried out runner beans on the frames, so I spent a cheerful morning podding them and have two full jars of dried beans.

For the princely sum of £13 a year it's already paid it's own way with little input from us other than digging, weeding and tidying up.