How big are allotments?

[DahlisMarie]

Pardon my ignorance, but I was interested that allotment gardening was still being done.
Do you rent them from Council? Have a set term lease? or are they divvied up amongst certain areas?
How large are they usually?
Sorry about all the questions, but I would like to be able to picture what & where they are like these days. I only remember seeing them in old B&W British movies and of film during and just after the war. My husband is Welsh, but his mother was from Liverpool and all his cousins were there and he remembers visiting Liverpool very often and can remember allotments as they were then.

[The Grock in the Frock]

hi d/m what a cool mother in law you must have coming from the pool.i have a plot and it is rented off the council,i pay 40 quid every january.i started with half a plot...dont ask how big it was ,i got a U for maths,told the mother U stood for a university degree .i now have a full plot,which is half a garden with flowers and a lawn(the kids play there)the other half i grow veg and fruit in raised beds.what part of liverpool was your m.i.l from?

[DahlisMarie]

Hi. When she was young I know she lived in Lime Street, off Scotland Road.

[Mike Vogel]

Dahlismarie, the standard plot is "10 pole". This being a medieval measurement which seems to survive only in the measurement of allotments, I can tell you that it means 30 metres by 8. I'll try to take a picture of mine and put it on this forum, but don't hold your breath, as my skill with computers is about on a par with a fish riding a bike. I'll proably have to put it in an email to you.

mike

[Mike Vogel]

Sorry, I forgot to add that most of these allotments are rented from the council, but there are some areas of privately owned land which are let out for allotments. The council ones are properly protected with fence and locked gates and have a reliable water-supply; the private ones are left to the allotments committee to organise water [from pumps which usually last about ten minutes] and fencing [usually rudimentary]. You can guess which one I've stumbled into, but it's 10 minutes walk away from home and that was its main attraction.

mike

[DahlisMarie]

That really is a good size. Larger than I was imagining. Would love to see a photo if you can manage it

[Chantal]

Mine is apparently (although no one is sure) around 300 square yards. Our plots are either 100, 150, 200 or 300 square yards and no one knows what they are in rods. We have an allotment association which rents a triangular patch of land from the Council for the princely sum of £100 per year. Because the site is triangular measuring the site is not so easy as all the plots are different sizes. Mine costs me £19 including water and we have one stand pipe between the 30 plots. There's no security but very few problems as we're not allowed sheds so there's nothing much to nick or vandalise.

[Weed]

I have two half plots adjacent to each other..one is 224 square yards the other is 226 square yards...the cost is around £30 a year

The size when I took on my first half plot was daunting but I divided it up into what I call 'bite sized chunks'...(a well know gardening technical term)and it suddenly became much easier....to be honest now that I am organised it is a piece of cake

[Weed]

This is a picture of my second plot (on the right) when I took it over...the one on the left was my existing plot




This is a picture of the same plot eighteen months later almost sorted

[oldherbaceous]

Weed my dear fellow, you certainly have done an impressive job on your allotments, and in such a short time as well.
Thats really going to cheer the people up that are struggling to get theirs under control. Only joking.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.

[chrissy]

Weed that is very impressive. Tell me how many hours per week does it take you to keep it all looking that good?

[DahlisMarie]

I really am amazed at these allotments and the system. Absolutely wonderful set up.

Chantal, having your water included in your watering makes it seem incredibly reasonable. Does your allotment association have a waiting list or is it first in first served basis and once you have one you have it forever?

Weed,
Your allotment looks fabulous! I am so, so, envious. That you did all that in 18 months?? It looks lush and so productive. You seem
to have managed to organize it to fit in so many varieties.

[Chantal]

Our water is included but bear in mind we're not allowed hosepipes and haved to lug it all from the stand pipe so not too much is used. There is full occupancy on our site for the first time in over 30 years and yes, there is now a (short) waiting list. Once you have a plot, provided you cultivate it, you can have it for life. There's always people coming and going for various reasons; some take one on for a year and give up, others give up for health reasons or move house. They'll wait a long time to get mine back!

[Weed]

Thank you all for your kind comments...I have a simple philosphy in life..if there is an easy way to do something without compromising the end result ...find it!

I used paving slabs to divide both plots into easy to do sections this way I can dig a section in about an hour and it is done...finished...Trying to dig a whole plot is daunting and can be off putting.
I spend about six or seven hours a week on the plots but I have to admit that about a third of that time is not gardening..more socialising....My nearest and dearest hasn't twigged on to that yet

Two greenhouses take up some of the plots...they allow me to grow from seed and also grow greenhouse crops...fruit bushes also take up digging space and need very little attention...I love fruit

As you can see the intense gardening areas are significantly reduced....told you I was ....I think the word is lazy

[Belinda]

Our plot is 250sqm - which means very little to me. It's approx. 20 feet wide and 116 feet long, we paid £28 the first year and it has increased £1 each year since, this year it was £30. We are now being allowed a shed (specific size and shape) and some plotholders have been allowed greenhouses or small polytunnels.

Although our area is currently under a drought order we do have mains water, 2 standpipes between 20 plots in the section where our plot is and there is also a large communal shed where some people store rotovators or mowers. There is one toilet on the site, but some more are available a short walk away across the main road.

There is also an Allotment Association (£1 per year) and the retail outlet is on the same site as our plot which is very convenient. They sell a very good range of items - tools, seeds, pots, compost and lots lots more besides, and always at very competitive prices. More than once I've kicked myself when I've realised that they have the same thing I just bought at a garden centre but cheaper.