Our other allotment's blog

The brassicas continue to get bigger, and we continue not to have anywhere to plant them. All of our plants were pricked out about a month ago, and they were all approximately the same size. The following picture is of various plants - kale, calabrese and cabbages - that were planted out in 100% home made kitchen waste compost.

This tray, on the other hand, was planted out in chipped bark compost:
That's a fairly substantial difference; an abundance of rich growth against stunted yellowing plants. Either way, both sets now definitely need planting out - before one dies of starvation and the other gives up from overcrowding.

We're still completely out of room on our plot. We have space for a few plants, and we could get creative - planting between onions that will be coming up soon, for example - but essentially there is no obvious place for everything to go. So, it's time to think radically. It's time to get an overflow allotment.

We're on Bristol's Ashley Down allotments. The site representative has got a plot he can let us have, but it needs a notice to quit served on the tenants. They've let it become overgrown with milk thistles and other weeds, but it is mercifully free from couch grass. Unfortunately a notice to quit takes a long time. Even worse, half of the plot is full of Japanese knot weed. In itself, that's not too much of a worry. We don't need the whole plot, so we could just give it a wide berth and leave it to its own devices. The worry is that Bristol City Council are currently on a bit of a mission to eradicate knotweed from all sites, which means they're spraying it with some pretty unpleasant chemicals. What's bad for knotweed is certainly bad for cabbages, and I doubt it's great for an Allotmentboss either.

So, it's time to look at other sites. We have plenty to choose from locally. My cycle home from work takes me past a cluster of sites that are about half a mile from home - roughly the same as our current plot. Tonight I made a recce, as follows (includes blurb from the Council's allotment website):

Dovercourt Road
Number of plots: 30
This level and vehicle accessible site has seen a decline in recent years but has great potential. The site has a water supply and a new parking area.
I couldn't actually get in, because the site is well protected by a fence and barbed wire. There were clear signs of life on this site, with lots of plots in cultivation. However, the unused plots seemed to be mostly covered in metre high grass - far too much of a challenge at this time year, and a sure sign of chafer grubs/leatherjackets ready to saw off anything planted there. There's also a high voltage power line running along the back of the site, and it's the furthest away of the sites I looked at.

Downend Road
Number of plots: 6
This site is adjacent to Horfield B allotments and is level.
The site description says it all. This is much less of an allotment site than it is a strip of land to one side of an access road to a line of garages. Three plots appear to be in good use. A further three are covered in black polythene, although there's no way of telling if that's council polythene or if the plots are already rented.

All in all the site is in very good order, and is probably the closest to our house, but the lack of any sort of security fencing is a worry - especially given the site is readily visible and easily accessible from the road.

Horfield B
Number of plots: 33
The site is almost fully let following recent site improvements that have included the erection of green palisade security fencing. The site is flat with a good water supply and an active site representative. It is hoped to install new haulingways in the next few years.
This is clearly the place to be, with ready access, lots of very tidy plots and water butts. It also has good security fencing. Maybe this is why there's a very large sign on the gate saying "Fully let with a waiting list". That'll be a "no" then.

Horfield A
Number of plots: 16
A medium sized site that currently has only a few tenants. The site is level and has water.
Utter madness. Enchanting madness, but madness nonetheless. To get to this site you go past the well trimmed order of Horfield A, round a very large bush blocking your path, and set off down an overgrown path. On your right is a waist high gate that leads to a field of shoulder high brambles. There are occasional signs of life here. Someone's mowing paths through the site, and there are half a dozen locations where people have dug blocks a few metres square and are successfully growing potatoes, onions and cabbages. Strangely, if you wander all the way through the brambles you get to a large area that appears to be a very well kept lawn.

While this site is no quick fix, it is utterly enchanting simply because it's so difficult to get to and so derelict. Also, as the grainy photo shows, I wasn't there alone.
It's madness, it's pure folly, but the romantic in me is hooked.