Into a new world: allotmenteering

I am not, and never have been, a gardener. There's some real trauma in my teens, when after moving from my parents' apartment where I grew up and into my aunt's house which had a garden, I found myself having to weed and cut grass for the first time - and I hated it!

I never tried again. The garden of our house (as well as the houseplants!) have been firmly Mr's responsibility.

On a whim, years ago, I put our name on the waiting list for the allotments near our house. I knew the wait was long, and to be honest I forgot about it, until a few weeks ago an email came in saying there was now a plot and would I like to come view it. I thought, well, viewing it won't do any harm... and the timing was impeccable, because only a few weeks prior to this email, Mr and I finally settled in our hearts and minds that we would not be moving house (which had been vaguely on the cards for years, culminating in almost buying a house in 2022, which fell through). We are in Bristol, and in this house, to stay for the foreseeable future; certainly until the kids are grown. We have finally found a wonderful church community, we're part of a thriving home ed community, and our house is a place we all love and feel comfortable in.

So, not long after this final decision to stop checking Rightmove, in came the email that an allotment plot was available. And, what can I say - the idea of cultivating a long-term project like this, a place to get us all outside and interacting with nature, it was suddenly really appealing, and I took the plot.

It's a 'half-plot' - much more manageable than a full size, about the footprint of hour house. When plots become available, they're generally in a bad state of neglect, but ours isn't terrible: it's got long grass, but no brambles or major overgrowth. A lot of it was covered in black plastic sheeting so there's a lot of space we can just start doing things with. 

My teenage trauma is slowly resolving as I work - and see the fruit (though not yet literally) of my work, I see the impact my work has on this plot of land, and that is extremely satisfying. What's really lovely too is also that there is a good community here, our neighbours a few doors down are keen allotmenteers and are helping me already; and the kids have found other kids to play with there. This Spring, we're out there!

The plot as we got it, before we did anything

First tree planted, a plum! (my hands are blistered.)

Just some of the rubbish we uncovered

D hard at work

Some war paint as we attack the rubbish

I have no plans or ambitions to become self sufficient. Heck, we don't even eat that many vegetables! So my plan initially is to get the soil to a good standard this year, add manure, create beds, plant some radishes to rot because that enriches the soil. I've scattered wildflower seeds between the newly planted fruit trees, and will probably plant strawberries this year: that's what the kids like. The plot also came with two established blackcurrant bushes, and I might plant some blueberry bushes in containers. Also lavender at the borders, just for the beauty.

Basically, the destination isn't the vegetables, the destination is the work itself and working with nature together. I'm actually really enjoying it so far, backbreaking though it is!