All I Want for Christmas... An Allotment - The Perfect Gift!

Autumn is a great time to get your name down for an allotment. How you do this varies from area to area - sometimes you need to see a member of the site's allotment society, sometimes you need to talk to an officer in the local parish or district council and sometimes you'll need to contact a land agent that represents a private landowner or church. The best way to find out is to visit the site and have a chat with a few of the existing plot holders. Even if they're not the people who can put you on the waiting list themselves they'll know who you should be talking to. After all, they've got a plot so they've probably been through the process themselves and are paying an annual rent.

A chat between the bean poles can also be a mine of handy information that you won't necessarily get from a phone call to someone sitting in an office. For example the local plot holders will be able to point out plots that are either already vacant or which have plot holders who are struggling (either because of illness, old age or just too hectic a lifestyle). You might even find someone who'd be prepared to share a large plot with you and be able to short circuit any waiting lists! You'll also be able to find out about soil types, what plants grow well on the site (and which one's don't!) and any particular issues that the site has (Does it get waterlogged in winter? Are there problems with theft or vandalism? What sort of site-specific rules and restrictions are there?). Getting your face known around the site will also have benefits in the long term - you won't be a sudden ‘new kid on the block' and you'll already have several contacts on site whom you can ask questions, swap plants with and share a cuppa in the shed with!

But why is now a particularly good time to get on the waiting list? There's two simple reasons. Firstly many allotment sites have their rentals paid a year in advance and the early autumn is a common time for the rental payments to be made. This means that late September and early October is when more plots become vacant - either because plot holders have died, are too ill to work the plot any more, have moved away from the area or just don't have the time required due to changes in circumstances. Some sites have waiting lists stretching years ahead (especially in crowded city sites) but quite often there'll be less than a dozen folk on the list so you stand a reasonable chance of getting a plot quickly now.

Secondly if you do manage to bag a plot now, you'll have the rest of the autumn and winter to work on the plot before the hectic seed sowing and planting out season in the spring. This can be really useful, especially if the plot you're taking on is heavily overgrown as you'll be taking out the nasty weeds at a time when they'll find it hardest to grow back. Even if your soil turns out to be heavy clay that isn't workable for the cold and wet months of the winter, you'll be able to do lots of ‘infrastructure' jobs like getting a shed sorted out, laying paths, errecting bean frames, etc. You'll be surprised how many allotmenteers you'll find on their plots over the Christmas holiday period!

So don't delay - apply today!

By Jim'll