We noticed a sign for parking and drove up the hill and parked next to some allotments;
How's that for an introductory offer? You can tend and rent your very own allotment for only fifty Euros a year.
I didn't notice any sheds with lumps of concrete holding down the roof or polytunnels made from plastic water pipes and covered in builders polythene, onions drying in repurposed supermarket trolleys, miserable tight wads wearing knotted handkerchiefs on their heads, sat in wheelbarrows, drinking Special Brew and eating ferret sandwiches.😊
Donkeys years ago when I lived in England that last paragraph would aptly describe my allotment apprenticeship and the verdant landscape of my pursuit. I told my mate Brandon that I was getting an allotment. He said: "When are you going on a Saga holiday and getting a purple rinse?" He was a wit and how things have changed. Nowadays there are waiting lists for allotments and people of all ages grow their own. Maybe they also grow vegetables?
It was great to see though. I have my own private allotment/smallholding but I miss the camaraderie and the laughs and jokes that you have when you rent an allotment.
Things go full circle. When I lived in Newcastle in the early 1970s it became trendy with the Guardian readers, first generation university students, brown rice, macrobiotic foodies, to have allotments. I lived with such a guy and we shared an allotment with another couple. There were waiting lists then too.
ReplyDeleteLindisfarne, Newcastle City Hall, St James Park, Newky Brown, allotments... I always like reading about your Newcastle days Rachel. Thanks.
DeleteMy sister over in England has an allotment as their garden is too small to grow much fruit and veg. She says it hss kept her sane.
ReplyDeleteWhat do ferret sandwiches taste like?
Hi JayCee. I have lost a good proportion of my veg plot to perennials and shrubs. Not that I sell many. England is a nation of gardeners. Ferret sandwiches are similar to Badger pasties.
Delete'people of all ages grow their own. Maybe they also grow vegetables?'
ReplyDeletebahahahhaahaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!
Glad you got my joke Debby.
DeleteWe relinquished our allotment for our 3 (now 4) year stint in Greece. Now you have us worried we won't get another. Our council didn't administer the site at all well and one of the holders took it upon himself to get us all to pressure for abandoned weed reservoirs to get given out to people on waiting lists. In the end they kind of handed the process over to us, so I'm hoping he knows of a corner somewhere we can grow our kale and pumpkins.
ReplyDeleteSounds a great idea to take a few years out Tigger. I am sure some farmer or someone with a neglected large garden will let you grow your own vegetables. I would if you lived near me.
DeleteMy son lives alongside some allotments but tells me that there is a 10 year waiting list.
ReplyDeleteBriony
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Gosh! Councils are supposed to provide allotments for people Briony. A lot of them are sold to private house developers.
Deletemy garden is a lot of work its derelict and over grown so much we havent found the boundary fences. its a big head ache. I am taking cuttings for new hedging, we will have to chop everything down as its about 20-30ft in from the fences.. disaster!
ReplyDeleteHi Sol. You could always get someone in with a mini digger or hire one? I have cleared hundreds of overgrown gardens in my time. My two nanny goats are clearing brambles in a corner of one of the fields.
Deleteno one seems to want the work. They are all working for the Londoners who they are thinking have limitless money. We will just clear a bit and much like hell
DeleteYes clear a bit and plant it up or sow a lawn. Potatoes are good for cultivating old ground.
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