Allotments

[Jane]

Just wondering if anyone here has allotments? If so tell us about yours If not then tell us about your garden or wherever you grow stuff if you do

We have two allotments, they're both next to eachother so it's easy in that respect. At the front we have two greenhouses - one is an aluminium one and one is homemade, we didn't make most of it, it does look a bit...not good but it works great. We grow looads of stuff...Potatoes, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, brocolli, brussel sprouts, peas, beans, tomatoes, cucumber, pepper, mushrooms, beetroot, onion, garlic, leeks, spinach, kale, watercress, rocket, lettuce, strawberries, grapes, raspberries, some other berries I can't remmeber the names of, rhubarb...probably some other stuff too but my memory isn't too great at the moment!

At the bottom end of our allotments we have chicken pens - originally one, then we built another, so had 2 seperate ones but the door was open so they could have both pens, then another, and then another..so basically we ended up with 4 seperate pens - 6 hens and 1 cockral had 2 pens, and 3 hens had the other 2 pens - of course this wasn't really fair, so we mixed them all together - now we have nine hens and one cockral all living together nicely. We pulled down one wall (not literally pulled down ), so that made it 3 pens - then we opened the other twos gates, and took out another wall too... Okay I'm making no sense here so I'll shuddup.

We also have a kitty on their called Meow - not sure how old she is, we suspect about 7ish...we've been on there about 3 years now, and apparently she lived under the portacabin for about 2 or 3 years before she found us She has a cat flap in the greenhouse (well, a hole, she wouldn't use a flap ) and we feed her twice a day etc. She's lovely and affectionate - surprising really seeing as she never had a proper home as far as we know. Oh by the way she's spayed - there were a feral/stray colony on there who were all spayed/neutered and she was one of them. She hardly ever goes off our plot She's a good little mouse/rat catcher but she grossly leaves remains of their bodies around. This evening when we went she was acting all funny, yeah, she had a dead rat infront of the tomatoes who's head she'd bitten off (and presumably eaten ) and then she was acting all strange behind the tomatoes on the other side and she had a birdy I shouted her (not at her, said her name) and she came over so I picked her up for a cuddle whilst dad got the poor thing out. Ewww.

So yep, that's us

Next?

Janeeeeeee

[Tom]

I think Dinahsmum has one

[Mags]

I don't have an allotment unfortunately but my daughter and SIL do....

They grow ......potatoes, cabbage, sprouts, Carrots, broad beans, runner beans, peas, sweet corn, parsnips, pumpkins, courgettes (long), courgettes (round), butternut squash, tomatoes, peppers, onions (different varieties), lettuce, cucumbers, beetroot, radish, leeks, spinach, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, rhubarb.........

No greenhouse, just a garden shed. They have also got the water trough alongside their patch.

[Jane]

Oooh cool Mags I forgot about our pumpkins and courgettes

[dandysmom]

I wish I did have an allotment! Just a small City yard, where I grow a few tomatoes, hot pepper, basil, oregano, thyme and onions...not to mention catnip for Leia! Some years I've grown zucchini and borlotto beans, but they take up too much space.....

[dinahsmum]

Hi Jane. yes, I've got an allotment. Think I grow all the usual things. My pride and joy is my asparagus bed, which has just setttled in and is well productive now. Such a luxurious veg.
We've also got a large communal polytunnel with twelve bays, of which I have one. That allows cropping of green salad veg, carrots etc for the majority of the year, and provides space for a tub of very early new potatoes.

It has been a sad sad summer with so much rain. Everyone has lost their potatoes and outdoor tomatoes to blight and some have even lost their broad beans.

However, we have 10 dry days forecast. I will be off to the allotment later, to battle with the weeds which have enjoyed the warm'n'wet and do a general tidy up.

PS - how great is it to eat stuff you have grown yourself? Our Sunday lunch was a piece of local lamb, which I had to buy from the butcher of course, then everything else was from the allotment - potatoes, cabbage, carrots, garlic, rosemary, herbs in the gravy and raspberries. Yum