Early Spring Bits and Bobs.

[oldherbaceous]

A lovely post Mr Fallowfield, and please keep us posted on how things alter with your garden and plot!

[retropants]

I have 5 sprouted supermarket spuds that I am planning to plant for no other reason than why not! Is it too early? Their shoots are nice and green & healthy. I only have a small plot at home now, so I can cover them easily if need be. It's a few years since I grew spuds, and I can't remember when we used to put them in at the allotment.

[Shallot Man]

retropants. Go for it. You have nothing to loose.

[retropants]

Thanks Shallotman, will do!

[Geoff]

Good to see the pond 'boiling up' today with frogs and spawn.

[Westi]

You used to see Bob Flowerdew on TV quite a bit & he had some great ideas in his garden. I'm quite surprised his shows weren't rolled out again during lockdown. Strangely I never bought any of his books, might do a google! Thanks for the prompt.

Anyway that's transgressing from why I popped on to write which is I have the definitive evidence that Spring is here!

IMG_6204.JPG (3.73 MiB) Viewed 1557 times

And there was nobody down there to share with & I was bursting to! Another bonus was the pup has cottoned on to my constant probing for rat runs - she followed one across 2 beds & down the side fence, shame her digging is a little enthusiastic but I did manage to persuade her to leave the rhubarb alone & the rest of the beds were empty thankfully!

[Mr Fallowfield]

A lovely post Mr Fallowfield, and please keep us posted on how things alter with your garden and plot!

Thank you ! I most certainly will .

[snooky]

I know that we haven't heard from Stravaig for a while.Hope she and her family are O.K.They are/were living in Kiev.

[oldherbaceous]

I hope so too, Snooky…..scary old world at present!

[peter]

I know that we haven't heard from Stravaig for a while.Hope she and her family are O.K.They are/were living in Kiev.

Last active: Tue Oct 12, 2021 11:39 am

[Primrose]

Keeping her and her family in our thoughts.

[Primrose]

I was sad to read in todays paper that Woodbridge Town Council in Suffolk are evicting long term allotment holders off their plots so that newcomers can be accommodated. These holders have been lovingly tending their plots for years and I suspect that many new tenants will find their new hobby too much like hard work and a commitment too far and quit after several months as soon as the weed season starts in earnest and they start to realise how much work an allotment entails.

Surely at least they could divide plots in two so that some newcomers could have access and return them in total to the original plot holders if the new growers fall by the wayside. Do they really have no other agricultural land available ?

[Diarmuid]

Primrose, What reasons are they giving for this (Other than accommodating newcomers)?

Regards,
Der.

[Shallot Man]

We insisted that all plot holders had insurance[ Allotment Association } to cover this. It was shown as a separate item on the renewals though compulsory. . Came in handy when the Council wanted t build on our site.

[snooky]

"Allotment law states [councils] have a duty to provide if the demand is there."

In Woodbridge there is only one site with 10 plots divided up into quarter or half plots on a rolling one year contract and 28 people on a waiting list.
It has been decided that 18 of the sitting tenants have to go to reduce the waiting list.Three of those to go do not live within the towns' boundaries,several have houses with large gardens so it has been deemed they do not need an allotment and a five year rule has been introduced and if you have been there for this length of time or more then you too have to go.
If you are lucky enough to get a site then you will only be allowed to use it for five years then you are gone.Some of the people on the waiting list have been for years and I wonder if they have found out about the above Allotment Law and have been putting pressure on the Council to find them somewhere,which the Council say that they have been unable to do and have come up with the cock-eyed five year plan and worse still a community garden where you will see the same old faces doing the cultivating and no one else showing an interest.
I wouldn't be interested in either idea but if I was amongst the 18 to go I would try and persuade to go on the waiting list so that the Council is back from where it started and agitate them to provide me with a plot and be pestering my local Councillor until he/she becomes fed up to the back teeth with me.