Over here in the UK our allotment (plot size about 60x40 feet) has produced blackberries, broad beans, French beans, pumpkins, ornamental gourds, chard, beetroot, cucumber, zucchini, leeks, shallots, plums, pears. We started the year with some reasonable asparagus too. Our tomatoes down there (it's 6 minutes away from the house, below se…
Over here in the UK our allotment (plot size about 60x40 feet) has produced blackberries, broad beans, French beans, pumpkins, ornamental gourds, chard, beetroot, cucumber, zucchini, leeks, shallots, plums, pears. We started the year with some reasonable asparagus too. Our tomatoes down there (it's 6 minutes away from the house, below sea level) were rather pathetic probably because it gets quite windy, but our dahlia collection was and is fantastic. The only problem is the water supply, which is from cisterns so you have to water with cans by hand. Nonetheless very satisfying, and we did better than other allotment holders this year notwithstanding the late start (cold and wet), the burst of warm weather at the wrong time and then return to cold and wet!
I've long since given up on any slug deterrent, organic, copper, eggshells, beer, orange rind ... two things worked. one, if one doesn't mind an untidy-looking bed, is putting all the discarded leaves from salads and cabbages round the plants: easy food for slugs and snails which then leave the rest alone.
The other is starvation: I'm now only growing plants which slugs and snails don't eat. It works, but it does take quite a few years ...
Yes, ick comes with the territory. So I use clippers on the slugs, and then get rid of the gick left on the blades as I clip/prune plants. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do...
Allotments in the UK were developed back in Elizabethan times (see https://www.allotment-garden.org/allotment-information/allotment-history/#google_vignette). Modern UK allotments are usually owned by local councils, and to get one you have to apply (there's often a waiting list). There is a yearly rent, not very large, and many allotments have their own associations with a subscription that covers insurance and gives access to a seed catalogue. There are often rules governing the amount that must be cultivated, the number of trees allowed, size of shed, dogs to be on leads etc. This last is to avoid fouling but on the edge of urban areas one gets badgers as well as cats! We are fortunate that our site is rabbit-free, but the other site in our town adjoins open fields and they get in and cause havoc. If an allotment is considered to have become derelict or seriously overgrown then the council can evict the plotholder after due notice. Some allotment sites, ours included, are statutory, which means they cannot be closed for redevelopment.
Thank you, for responding! This information is very interesting. Creating a sitting area in the allotment among the gardening, is such good information. Serenity / peace / rest.
Over here in the UK our allotment (plot size about 60x40 feet) has produced blackberries, broad beans, French beans, pumpkins, ornamental gourds, chard, beetroot, cucumber, zucchini, leeks, shallots, plums, pears. We started the year with some reasonable asparagus too. Our tomatoes down there (it's 6 minutes away from the house, below sea level) were rather pathetic probably because it gets quite windy, but our dahlia collection was and is fantastic. The only problem is the water supply, which is from cisterns so you have to water with cans by hand. Nonetheless very satisfying, and we did better than other allotment holders this year notwithstanding the late start (cold and wet), the burst of warm weather at the wrong time and then return to cold and wet!
You have blackberries? Lucky you! And dahlias! So it's not a slug&snail paradise then as it's in my (tiny) neck of the woods ...
Very early cultivated blackberries. It could be a snail paradise but for the judicious use of organic slug pellets!
I've long since given up on any slug deterrent, organic, copper, eggshells, beer, orange rind ... two things worked. one, if one doesn't mind an untidy-looking bed, is putting all the discarded leaves from salads and cabbages round the plants: easy food for slugs and snails which then leave the rest alone.
The other is starvation: I'm now only growing plants which slugs and snails don't eat. It works, but it does take quite a few years ...
Go out at night with scissors and a head lamp.
Oh, I did that as well, to the digest of my husband. Have you ever tried to remove slug remains from scissor blades? Gross - just gross!
Yes, ick comes with the territory. So I use clippers on the slugs, and then get rid of the gick left on the blades as I clip/prune plants. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do...
Stick some salt on the slugs and they will die. Leave a little while and the slime dries out, and you can remove and compost.
French beans? Not runner beans? Why?
We have enough beans without! Also our neighbouring plotholders have an excess and offer us theirs...
What does it mean to have an allotment? ( plot)? Do you rent or purchase your land? Just wandering how that works.
Allotments in the UK were developed back in Elizabethan times (see https://www.allotment-garden.org/allotment-information/allotment-history/#google_vignette). Modern UK allotments are usually owned by local councils, and to get one you have to apply (there's often a waiting list). There is a yearly rent, not very large, and many allotments have their own associations with a subscription that covers insurance and gives access to a seed catalogue. There are often rules governing the amount that must be cultivated, the number of trees allowed, size of shed, dogs to be on leads etc. This last is to avoid fouling but on the edge of urban areas one gets badgers as well as cats! We are fortunate that our site is rabbit-free, but the other site in our town adjoins open fields and they get in and cause havoc. If an allotment is considered to have become derelict or seriously overgrown then the council can evict the plotholder after due notice. Some allotment sites, ours included, are statutory, which means they cannot be closed for redevelopment.
Thank you, for responding! This information is very interesting. Creating a sitting area in the allotment among the gardening, is such good information. Serenity / peace / rest.