Happy Planting!

About 4 years ago, I became the keeper of a local allotment plot.  I know what you are thinking.  How can someone who says she has no time or sticking power ever even consider getting an allotment, never mind keeping it for 4 years?

Well first of all, I never wanted it.  Having a fair sized garden already, I know how much work goes into taming plants.  It was the teenage child who pestered and pestered for it, then retired grandparents came on board and said that they would support it as it would give them an opportunity to get out more.  So plans went ahead and in the late summer, we secured a lovely plot,15 minutes walk away from where we live.  

The plot had been abandoned for some time, it was like a jungle out there but we were excited for the challenge!  The challenge wasn’t just ploughing through the amount of weeds that were there, it was also tackling the amount of carpet that previous tenants had put down to suppress those weeds. There was more carpet there than there is in my entire house, piles and piles of the stuff!  It clearly didn’t work, because it had been left for ages, weeds were growing on top with their roots embedding into it, welding it to the ground.  Have you ever played tug of war with a piece of carpet embedded into soil?  I spent a lot of time doing this, but the carpet won every time, so we had to get the stanley knife out and cut the blighter out piece by piece.  This was a test of endurance but yet we didn’t give up.

Then there was all the broken glass.  Someone in their wisdom perhaps thought that scattering broken glass around the plot would deter pests and snails.  No chance!  I collected buckets full and i’m still finding it even now!

There was also a fair amount of crap that previous tenants had left, some useful like a very small corner bath that looked like it had previously been used to collect water and some not so useful like bags of plastic, a gas canister and a lot of old netting that when caught up in, it would wrap around your ankles and trip you up.

There were some glimmers of hope though. We decided to sink the small bath into the ground to create a pond after lining and filling it with pond plants and with every session we spent down there toiling and clearing away, we started discovering where previous tenants had laid out their beds and the shape of the plot was forming.  We were making good progress which spurred us to carry on.  And it was already giving back as the plot had an existing well established plum tree, rhubarb and lots of healthy raspberry canes that were producing fruits for us.  

So the first year was very much about clearing the plot, stripping it back and seeing what we had but then the pandemic hit.  When the nation was in lock down and travel was restricted, we were thankfully still allowed to go to our allotment as it was local and outdoors.  This was a godsend for me, we were working at home so it gave us a purpose to get out of the house and walk there everyday, even if it was just to go and feed the birds.

As the grandparents were isolating and the teenage child’s enthusiasm was starting to wane, it was becoming apparent that it was just me who was now spending the time grafting down there.  Husband declared that it would be ‘better if we got a shed’ as this would provide shelter from the rain and cold and give them an incentive to go down more.  So because we couldn’t go on holiday, we clubbed together and bought a small shed and a greenhouse.  

This delighted husband as the tape measure was coming out a lot and the power drill was allowed out of its box to be put on-charge in preparation for their arrival. The planning, preparation and construction kept him occupied and before long, they were up and being used.  

I had visions of the shed being like a little log cabin for us to use as a home from home and for me to be like ‘Heidi of the Mountains’.  My mother in law made some lovely gingham curtains and I put  some battery powered fairy lights up, a small table, our camping stove and even a mirror! The only thing we didn’t have was a mountain goat!  In reality though, we never used the shed to sit in, it soon became just a typical  ‘working shed’ for tools and a dumping ground for all the things that I was now buying or taking down to use. My ‘Heidi’ vision was shattered but nonetheless, at least we had a shed!

I was soon to discover that maintaining a plot is just one part to being a successful allotment owner, the other part is actually having something to plant and grow.  So I did what I do best and went out and bought several books and magazines on the matter. 

There were many books that I religiously poured over on an evening, gaining inspiration and hope for all the lovely vegetables that I would grow and enjoy.  

The books made it look so easy!  These were obviously written by people with years and years of experience, it’s probably their ‘full time job’ they probably have a lot more space to grow than just an allotment plot and they probably have a team of gardeners and growers working with them.  

So although the books were highly helpful and I still refer to them regularly, they can also give a bit of false hope because in reality it’s really difficult to consistently grow vegetables especially organically unless you have lots of time, patience and the right growing conditions.  I quickly learnt to just take what was practical for me and not to be jaded by what I couldn’t do or what wasn’t working.  

I was also drawn in to buying the magazines which contained packets of ‘free’ seeds.  At first I loved this.  When you opened the magazine you never knew what you were going to get and it was so exciting!  It was like being a kid again when I collected Barbie stickers for my sticker book back in the 80’s.  The disappointment though when you opened a packet to find that you already had the ones in there and wondering who you were going to do ‘swapsies’ with when you got to school!  Well the ‘free’ seed packets were starting to become a bit like this and so the excitement was waning, it was so potluck what you were going to get that I soon stopped this as I was giving away more than I was keeping.

Over the years, i’ve seen many people take up allotment plots, start clearing them, plant a few things and then abandon them.  I get why this happens because there are so many reasons why you would just give up.  The weather (late frosts, too hot, too much rain, not enough rain), slugs, pigeons and squirrels destroying the lovely seedlings overnight that you’ve nurtured for weeks (and why you need netting!) And then there’s the weeds that are just relentless, no matter how much you ‘hoe’ they come back with avengence, especially over the summer.

But despite all this, the allotment has now become just part of my life, it’s a safe, peaceful place surrounded by woodland, with a river running along the back of it, with nature and wildlife in abundance. It’s my outdoor gym, where I get my regular ‘dose of nature’ so I can’t imagine what life would be like without it now.  

Yes it does my head in a lot and there are times when I just can’t face it but I soon get called back and all is forgiven.  I’ve also managed to start growing vegetables to eat now too which is a bonus and another reason why I carry on.

Last year I started recording in a notebook what progress I was making, but also what didn’t work and what I would need to do differently during the next season to help improve my growing potential and enjoyment.  I decided that I was going to do this again from the start of 2024 and so I created my own Planting Reflections Journal with help from the husband.   

It’s important to be able to record and reflect on how things are progressing because for much of the time, things don’t go to plan mainly due to the reasons mentioned already.  Take the weather for instance, we can’t control if we are going to have a hot spring or later than normal frost that will just wipe out your newly planted seedlings that would have normally survived if the weather had been ‘normal’ for that time of year.   When you can put pen to paper and record this, it helps to process and accept it for what it is, it helps you to be able to plan and do things perhaps differently for next time without judgement or feeling like a failure.

I designed the Planting Reflection Journal with this in mind, there were so many journals and planners on the market that provided hints, tips, space to design your plot, growing schedule spreadsheets etc and this is fine, but too hard core for a relative beginner like me who has only a small amount of time to spend down there.

The Journal can be purchased from Amazon its called – Grow & Bloom – My Planting Reflections Journal

Do you own an allotment and can you relate to the trials and tribulations of just trying to grow a potato? Do you play ‘seed swapsies’ with your allotment neighbours?  Or are you thinking of getting an allotment but not sure if you can cope with the commitment?  Over the next year, I will be writing regularly about my progress so keep coming back for a realistic but fun account of what it’s really like to be an allotment plotter!

Happy Planting!