I probably haven’t mentioned the allotment once in the entire year. I am disillusioned and disheartened by the fact that this year has been a complete wash-out. This is partly because, with my knee problem, I haven’t been able to do very much (try weeding when you can’t bend your knees!); but mostly because of the crapness of the site, down in the corner under heavy tree cover. We get no light, and no water. Things will only grow along the edges. Even the runner beans didn’t bother this year.
We’ve had it for two years now, and the rent is due. This year I’m not convinced we’ve had £32 worth of food or education from it, and now that I find it depressing to look at, very little pleasure. Is it time to pack it in?
The reason I don’t just throw in the towel and go back to the greengrocers is that there are a few long-term crops in there, including two-year old asparagus that ought to give us some food next year (it’s in just about the best position on the plot). The rhubarb and strawberries were the biggest successes of the year, and I don’t much want to give those up. Strawberries could possibly be replanted into the garden but the rhubarb is a bit big.
Our back garden is not big, and it’s packed with rambling, unidentified shrubbery. I have this vague idea of digging out some bushes and creating a terraced veg patch. It would be south facing and right outside the back door, so then there would be no excuse for beetroot that never swell up and cabbages with no hearts. But we don’t really have room over here for the fruit bushes or potatoes, and there’s nowhere to put a compost heap. And what would happen to the asparagus I’ve been waiting for for two years?
It seems to me that you know the answer to your question already. Ditch the plot. Your garden sounds like a much better place to be growing plants and there is no reason why you can’t move the asparagus and rhubarb once they go dormant after the first frosts – just lift them with as big a root ball as you can manage (top tip: slide them onto an old compost sack that you’ve cut open to make a big plastic sheet – you’ll find it easier to lift into a wheelbarrow for The Pete to push home, and there is less risk of the rootball breaking open and disturbing the roots. And (whisper it) it doesn’t matter that much of the root ball does break open, provided you wait until the plant has gone into winter dormancy and you make sure that you keep it from drying out when it starts growing in the spring). I rather suspect that you’ll get far more enjoyment from fruit and veg outside the back door than nondescript shrubbery and it’ll be great fun for Bernard. Also, with you both having to work, I’ll make a small wager that you are more likely to do stuff outdoors if you don’t first have to gather equipment and Bernard and transport yourselves to the plot, even though (if I recall correctly) the plot isn’t far away. And, as an added bonus, there is an opportunity for The Pete to thrash around manfully in order to remove the boring shrubbery, which will be very enjoyable. AND, extra added bonus, assorted vegetable plants tend to attract a more diverse range of wildlife than a bunch of three boring shrubs. Give up on a compost heap and get a Dalek-type composter (more space efficient and tends to get warm on sunny winter days, so tends to keep composting when normal compost heaps shut down for the winter) – although, if you’re like us, you’ll need two Daleks. Ours live quite happily behind the shed, shouting EXTERMINATE to passers by.
South facing is perfect.