Arguing the cases for and against continuing with the allotment may become an annual event, at least until the case against wins.
Earlier in the year, we had a plot I actually felt quite proud of. Approximately divided into quarters, there was the fruit/herb section, the potato section, the veg section, and the compost/fallow sections.
The veg section We had numerous little strips of vegetables: carrots, corn, brussel sprouts, borlotti beans, courgettes, beetroot, leeks, fennel (not bulbing), runner beans, psb and a cabbage patch. The shallots and garlic were harvested and I sowed turnips in their space, but the seedlings kept disappearing, even when I resorted to both slug pellets and netting. Now I have an out-of-control week patch.
The courgettes are bright yellow but not as prolific as I expected. Nearby, I transplanted winter squash, and those have gone mad. I need to know two things: 1. When do we pick them? 2. Should I pull up the ones that are starting to loom over the cabbages and cauliflowers?
We have enough brussel sprouts to live on them for the entire winter, and we’re not even going to be at home for Yule.
The corn is almost ready. How thrilling is that? I really can put the water on to boil, go and pick it, bring it back and drop it in the pan.
The fruit/herb section This is all a bit of a mess. The raspberries are golden in colour, which is a really dreadfully unappealing colour for a raspberry. I am tempted to pull them all out and replace with proper fat pink ones, or even loganberries. Their bed is full of weeds and strawberries, and also alongside them is a small patch of strawbs that we brought over from the old plot, and which have done absolutely nothing. I mean, maybe one fruit in the whole bed. Why was this? Will it happen again next year?
There are some small fruit trees, with too much grass growing around them; and three hefty rhubarb plants, one of which I intend to move.
The herb bed contains a large oregano bush, a pathetic little sprig of mint, some ailing rosemary twigs (which may pick up), another raspberry cane, some chives and about a thousand tiny alpine strawberries. These make great ground cover, but taste ridiculous. The whole area needs an overhaul, but has been lower priority than the vegetables.
Bernard’s little plot is in this area, currently bearing a multi-flowered red-hued sunflower and a small currant bush.
The potato section This year we have been away so much that we haven’t even harvested all the earlies yet. The plants have died down and annual weeds are springing up so that I can’t tell where I still need to dig. We really need to get those weeds out and start clearing and composting this ground, which will be next year’s veg section. Last year we didn’t have enough potatoes, and this year, despite sowing fewer of them, there are too many.
The compost/fallow section The old asparagus patch, which was thoroughly infested by couch grass, has been covered with black plastic, and Pete’s dad has offered to dig it out. Next year, it will be combined with this year’s veg section to host the potato crop. A corner of it may be given over to a new rhubarb plant.
At the other end there is a strip of grass and the massive, nettle-infested compost bins.
The problem We have been away so much, and there has been all that rain, that now our most prolific crop is the weeds. It looks awful and I’m expecting another letter from the council any day now. I am wondering if we should give up all or part of the plot, because it feels like a terrible obligation that I never get round to dealing with. The worse it gets, the more I avoid it, and the worse it gets. There are times during the day when I should be able to get down there and rip some of those weeds out, but Bernard finds it tedious to go down there when I actually want to do some work, and even though it’s just across the street from the house, I still feel he’s too young to be left alone there. I also have continual anxieties that I should be sowing something right now, before I miss the correct season for whatever it is; the time I spend worrying about this question could be used looking in one of my several books that would give me the answer, but no, I just stress about it and do nothing.
On the other hand, it’s still so massively satisfying to go across and pick everything I need for our tea. Yesterday we had pasta with leeks, roast beetroot, courgettes and runner beans. All my own work, except the pasta. I’m not sure it’s much cheaper than buying it, by the time we’ve paid the rent and bought the seeds and invested the time in being anxious about the whole operation. But allotments are valuable and I’m reluctant to let go of mine.
If I don’t have time to look after it, I shouldn’t have one, should I?