We got an allotment! Well, we've got the chance to go and look at one and decide if we want it. Incidentally, are allotments a UK-only phenomenon? I have no idea. Anyway. We've been on the waiting list for an allotment for over two years, and although the timing could be better (newborn? Wedding? Whatever), it's a great opportunity to grow a bit more of our own fruit and veg and (hopefully) save some money on the food bill. I'm really looking forward to going and checking it out as soon as possible and hopefully sign on the dotted line. Long time readers of this blog will remember that it originally began as a record of our journey towards a greener lifestyle, and getting an allotment (in the absence of earning enough to afford a house with a big garden) was always a part of that plan.
Since our family has grown a little and priorities have shifted a little here and there, I also have other allotment ambitions: I'm hoping it will give me an easy destination for trips out as we get used to venturing out as a threesome during the week, and will be a great experience for Teddy. Any toddler gardening tips? I'm thinking of giving him his own little patch. My mother also had the inspired idea to make a teepee or den to have up there so it's also a play space for Teddy. I have no idea if that's 'allowed' (some allotmentts have pretty strict rules), but hopefully we can figure something out.
Oh, and that book? It's fab. My sister bought it for me a while back from some National Trust bookshop or other (maybe at Chartwell? I'm sure she'll remind me). I'd been after a gardening book that basically gave me a week-by-week idiot's guide to vegetable growing throughout the year, and when Charlotte saw this reprint of a World War II gardening guide, she knew it was exactly what I was after. I love the vintage adverts mixed in with a year-round planner for the average allotment holding Brit in the 940s.
The potatoes are basically there to make this post look more horticultural. We're a bit late getting them in the ground this year (have I mentioned the newborn?), but I figure we're bound to get some kind of a crop.
