Kitchen Garden Forum

Down at lottie today 4 plots around me were overgrown and
deserted and have not been touched for weeks. I spoke to
the secretary and letters will go out but each one of them
belong to newbies this year. They haven't even harvested
the crops which are just rotting. The secretary also advised
there are others looking deserted in other rows.

Made me think someone else could have had them and enjoyed
nearly a full year and in view of the national shortage thought
maybe there needs to be some sort of questionnaire to vet all
prospective newbies who apply. This would whittle out people
who are just jumping on the bandwagon as it is trendy to grow
your own and reduce the waiting lists as well I would think.

Our site just takes names and works through them in order - does
anyone's site actually do something like this? When plots are left
there is a knock on to others with weed seeds and pests
migrating to all the other nearby plots giving us all more work.

Westi

Our site sounds much like yours Westi, just a list- a very long list- of names that are offered plots in order.Like you've we've seen plots given to folk who arrive with shiny spades and lot's of ideas ,mostly recipes of how they'll cook what they grow and then thy're gone quicker than a row of lettuce seedlings when you forget the slug bait One of the saddest things is when really good plots fall into the wrong hands and they are allowed to become so overgrown before finally the plotholders are written to,by the time the "procedures"are followed any new tenant has a real jungle to contend with.I think new folk should be given temporary tenances say 3 months at a time when notice (short notice )can be given

It's much the same on ours as well. I walked all round the site recently and there are about 20 half plots overgrown. Yet they say there is a long waiting list
Many of them have been started and then abandoned again. I think a lot of people are expecting it to be easy. Just like wot it is on the telly

When somone asks to join our waiting list, we send out an application form/questionnaire. Among other things, the questionnaire asks what experience they have and how much time they expect to spend on their allotment each week. Although we basically offer plots in waiting list order, we try to fit the plot to the applicant - although that might mean someone who is third on the list getting a plot before the first two. We have split plots so that we have quite small "starter plots" and also have a three month probationary period written into the tenancy agreement. The new, inexperienced gardeners usually get through the probationary period but then the initial flush of enthusiasm wears off and we see less and less of them. Then it is a familar story of abandoned crops, overgrown plots, warning letters and finally eviction.

We have a chap that has been playing the 'get a warning letter - dig a bit - get another letter' game for two years, he has had no produce off of it, why does he bother....these folk are in fantasy land!!!

CoMpO

Compo why does he do it ???
Because he can !

We - well the council - just offer to the top of the list or to someone who bangs on his desk a lot and complains. We have the same problem with new people thinking it is easy. Now the plots have all been cleared form their overgrown for 20 years state they really shouldn't take much knocking into shape but new people complain that it is hard work!

Most of us had to clear brambles over head height and we have stuck to our plots but those who are allocated a plot with a few weeds and soil that needs digging just seem to do a bit and give up so that the weeds catch up with them even on half plots.

What is even more annoying is when people complain that those with multple plots that are fully productive and well kept are being unfair on those on the waiting list. I'd say now we are at the stage where half of any new plot holders just have a little go and give up.

It then takes lots our council allotments officers ages to actually do anything about it!

This is a difficult area and I think it would make an interesting study for a behavioralist. (Not sure of my spelling there.)

My own observations at my site, on Hertfordshire clay, with a Council maintained 1st come 1st served list, are that:

When on the waiting list people are keen but mostly quiet and prepared to wait their turn. Some don't like waiting and some of those grumble about weedy plots or people with multiple plots blocking them.

When offered a plot and looking at it some realise what they are taking on and change their minds. A few bite your arm off, but the greater number quietly take what is offered.

The majority start work fairly soon and this is where the differences really appear.
About 10% blitz the whole thing and do it well.
A similar number talk about hiring a rotovater and have to have explained how hard the uncultivated clay plot of couch will be for the machine and how well couch regrows from a 1" long bit of root.
Again around 10% spray weedkiller, 80% of these use prediluted spray packs, so end up using too little for the area. Even those who use an adequate amount are unprepared for the inevitable regrowth of stuff that will require a second spray.
Generally after some advice around 80% to 90% will start out by digging to clear weeds and an area between the size of an armchair and a kingsize double bed gets cultivated during the first working visit, with most of the taller stuff cut down. If the second working visit actually takes place the following week steady progress is made. Otherwise it is often left long enough for a good regrowth in the cleared area, which, instead of being used as an opportunity to get roots out of soft soil, demoralises them.
If no second visit happens within a month they have given it up as too much like hard work.

I reckon on a 60% success 40% failure rate and that is at the top of an improvement curve of three instant blitzers who liked hard work.

What I think is needed is a realistic briefing when showing people the available plot(s), the underlying issues are simple. There are three.

1/. Most, about 80%, want to be green or organic, call it whatever you want but it boils down to the fact that they don't want to use agri-chemicals, but (and it is a big BUT) they do not appreciate the amount of hard manual work required to remove couch and bindweed from heavy clay soil by digging.

2/. About 40% have seen raised beds used on TV, or read about them and think they can be plopped down on any weed-infested bit of uneven ground and filled with bagged general-purpose compost. Faced with a plot they then work out how much it costs and blanch at the amount. Additionally I have yet to find the elusive scaffolding firm everyones aunts, uncles, girlfriends, nanny uses that gives away usable planks for free.

3/. In inverse relationship to age the majority have no first or second hand experience of gardening, so while not bothered by the prospect of manual labour they do not realise the amount needed each week to "run" an allotment. Someone in their late fifties probably watched or helped their Dad or Granddad in the garden, someone in their early twenties may have only seen gardening on TV.

What I now do is ensure that each prospective plotholder from the council list comes to view the available plot(s) and while doing so I chat to them about how much gardening experience they have and go from there with what sort and how much advice I give them. They also get a walk around the site so they can see the different plots and be told what method was used on each. This sounds negative now I've written it down, but bear in mind I'm trying to weed out the hopeless cases.

Dear Peter, far from sounding negative, i think it sounds very positive.
If all allotment sites took this attitude people might get a real idea of what allotments are all about and how much work is involved.

Ever thought about writing a book called, An introduction to allotments.

Our allotments are on privately-owned land. We have had an energetic secretary, who has weeded out the ones who simply want the plot so that they can stick their rubbish in the shed there. She has attracted young couples who are not just keen but also active, so the plots are looking well tended. The site has never looked so extensively cultivated since I strarted there 6 years ago. We'll see how things develop over the next year or two, but I'm optimistic that they will stick with it.