Pumpkins!!!

An essay from Dani

I have been reading Laura's blog, in which she has posted about why she has returned to Vegetarianism.  This has got me thinking as to why I got an allotment. 

I don't actually remember what first drew me to considering an allotment;  I have never liked gardening or been very 'green-fingered' at all.  I think it may have been from the fact that the year before last I took up knitting and found that I do actually enjoy having hobbies and interests, instead of lounging in front of the TV.  So I bought three books from Waterstones to see whether I could have a go.  Looking though these books really inspired me, so I took an impromptu trip down to Eliot Road allotments to see if there were any plots free.

I met the site manager Trevor, who said that I would have to apply to the council who would put me on a waiting list.  I filled the form in online and a couple of weeks later I got a letter through, which said.....

'Unfortunately, Eliot Road Allotments are full at present, however some other sites in Stevenage have free plots' 

I then had to consider whether I should wait it out for Eliot Road, or get another plot which would not be a five min walk away.  I decided that I really should have an allotment I can get to easily, so I declined the other allotments and went on the waiting list for Eliot Road.  I then had a wait of about 4-5 months.  It was during this time I got cold feet.  Thoughts of 'you're not fit enough to be able to maintain it' and 'you never stick at anything, it'll last 5 minutes' were going around in my head.  But somehow, I never got around to removing myself from the waiting list and one day in June another letter popped through my letterbox.  A plot had become vacant- it was mine if I wanted it.

I again met Trevor at Eliot Road who showed me the plot.  It was an absolute mess, the weeds were as tall as me.  I accepted it though.  For these reasons:

How would I know if I was any good at it if I didn't try?  Surely as as I began to do it, my fitness levels would increase?  It would be fun to try something new.  I also wanted to prove (to others and myself) that I could stick at something.  Perhaps growing our own would save us money and help us be more 'green'.    It was the same week that I texted Helen to tell her I had an allotment.  Her reply was 'wow, I'd love to do that!'.  So I asked her to join me.  I must say it did feel better to have someone else on board.  Someone who knew as little as I did, but was as enthusiastic.

That brings us to the first ever post we did on 29th June 2007.  It's now 21st June 2008.  Nearly a year has gone passed...so what have I learnt about allotments and what about those niggling doubts I had?

Well I suppose I can strike the doubt about sticking to things straight off.  Yes, it's only been a year, but the amount of digging we have done was enough to put any person off.  I have no intention of giving the allotment up.    I feel proud of myself that I have managed to learn so much about a subject I knew nothing about, and I did it on my own.  Obviously, I did it with Helen, but we both have made our own personal journeys too.

I also feel very proud that myself and Helen have managed to accomplish what we have almost entirely unaided.  We have had a few people help out on odd days, but all the planning, digging, lugging and even strimming we did by ourselves.  

As for becoming more healthy, that I'm afraid that has not totally gone to plan!  I'm still unfit but I believe I have got health benefits from doing the allotment.  I used to have back ache when I stood for too long ( for example on a train journey or at a gig) however this has dissapeared since doing the allotment.  Also I feel better for getting a bit of fresh air and sun.  I even found I had proper muscles in my forearm the other day, which definitely weren't there before.  

I have also found that growing veg is so much fun!  It's almost addictive.  There's something new to look at every day you go down to the allotment, and often there's a new challenge that comes with the changes, such as weeds going mad or slugs eating EVERYTHING.  I have found I can now recognise most veg plants just from their leaves.  I know what family they come from and what diseases they are prone to.  I have also found that I am more willing to try new vegetables myself.

Another positive aspect are the people.  Our allotment site is very small so we are familiar with almost everyone who has a plot there.  We have recieved many donations of plants for our plot such as Fennel and Strawberries from Tony (Laura's dad), French Lettuce from Ernie (who has also allowed us to use any of his tools), Kale from another allotmenteer.  We have also had helpful advice from nearly every allotmenteer down there, as until recently we were the newest people there.  All this advice has been very encouraging, which kept us going.  Not so long ago I went down to the allotment one evening to find that because of the rain, the weeds had gone mad and the plot just looked a mess.  I obvioulsy looked down-hearted, so the lady from plots 1 and 13 took me aside and showed me how she had overcome problems when she first started.  Morris from plot 7b has helped both me and my parents with various things.  He even sorted out an ants nest for us - we didn't even ask him to.  When I couldn't get the strimmer working the man from plots 4 and 5 tried to help me, even though he suffers from chronic back pain.  I could go on and on about how kind people have been.  Unfortunately this sort of kindness doesn't tend to happen as often in other areas of life, so it's wonderful that you can go to a place where people care about each other, even though they don't even know each others' names.

Having a veg plot certainly doesn't save you any money!  It's easy to be carried away with cloches, seeds and other things, which cost way more than your average weekly supermarket veg.  But I've come to learn that that's really not the point.  You do it because it's fun, rewarding and the veg tastes better than any supermarket fare.  It teaches you where veg comes from, and how it grows.  I thought a loofah came from the sea, like sponges.  They are in fact gourds which are grown in warmer climates!  It also makes you more aware of the planet and how we should protect it.  I can't say that I am great at recycling or re-using, but I certainly am trying to improve.

Overall, I can say that although there has been ups and downs, keeping an allotment is definitely a positive experience.  And when people look surprised that two 20-somethings like to spend their weekends on an allotment rather than the usual stuff, I can say to them that they should try it:  they might like it.

The Garlic Story

DSC00499, originally uploaded by funkylittledani.

We planted our Garlic in October last year - 'Overwintering' it's called. I think we have a few pics on another camera of them in various stages of growth, so we hope to have them on here soon. We were really pleased that they seemed to be growing more or less unaided ( we mulched them sometime in early spring and that was about it). However a week ago I saw something that made me panic..........the garlic had started bolting. Not just one bulb, but ALL OF THEM. How could we have missed it!!? Now, I knew that this was not a good thing. But instead of being rational and waiting until I got home to calmly set about find out what to do in one of my many allotment books, I freaked. I dug one up and went to the lady down the end who I knew grew garlic on her plot. I don't know her name, but I know her dog's name (oh dear!). Anyway she told me that it wasn't anything to worry about, it just might not store as well and that it was nowhere near as bad as an onion or a leek bolting.

We dug them all up anyway! But they looked great, and some of bulbs were really huge. As you can see, it doesn't look half bad and we were really proud of the first veg that we planted ourselves to have a successful crop.

They are now busy drying in our shed.....

And this is the QD potato bed now!  Look at it go!!

Potatoes again

This is the QD potato bed before we planted any potatoes.....and at the far end, the disastrous Jerusalem Artichoke bed (I won't go into that now!!!)

If you're wondering where all the posts are...

We promise we will be uploading all the pictures we have along with loads more comments very soon!

A Photo with Carol Klein

Check us out! Here we are at Gardeners' World Live with none other than presenter and expert Carol Klein! We had a brilliant day and got lots of lovely veg plants, including the Sunflower you can see in the picture.