What a difference a day makes

Well yesterday was a complete washout. Though it did brighten up in the afternoon. Today started out as brilliant blue skies and plenty of sunshine. Just the sort of weather to be wandering all over the site inspecting the plots.

MAGA has 150 10 rod plots. But a lot of the have been subdivided into 5 rod plots due to the popularity of allotmenteering. Altogether we have about 250 plots and about 180 tenants. This popularity has partially been driven by celebrity chefs (such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of River Cottage fame). This tends to give the impression that growing your own food is all simplicity and delightfulness. They show immaculate plots with not a weed in site and people expect the magic allotment faeries to grow all the food for them, so they can just walk out and pick it ready to eat.

Sadly it's not like that. Having an allotment is generally a lot of hard work. It takes time to build up your allotment to a working state, especially if you have inherited an overgrown plot. People take on plots without realising just how much of a time commitment is needed. So by the time they get round to actually doing stuff, their plot is overgrown and unwelcoming.

This is what we are trying to overcome. Now it's not just simply a case of "You're not growing stuff therefore you are out." Each case has to be judged on it's merits. Some people on the site have been ill and haven't been able to work their plot. Others simply chose not to turn up for ages. But each plot needs to be individually inspected for signs of stuff growing.

There are two possible options for a plot. (Well three if you count the fact that they *are* growing stuff). These are either a full blown "Non-Cultivation", or a simply "Tidy Up". A Tidy up notice is just simply the fact that we have noted that they are growing stuff but their plot could well do with a removal of weeds or debris. Nothing the hire of the strimmer or mower from the shop and an afternoon couldn't solve.

The biggest issue we have is with the non-cultivators. This can often get into a tricky and protracted argument. However we have to act in good faith on behalf of Merton Council. We are a self managed site so it falls to us to police our own.

So today four of the committee set out in pairs to inspect every plot. We had thought to make a note of every plot that did not have a plot number on it. But it turns out that it's actually better to make a note of every plot which does have a number. This made for some tricky reasoning to determine which plots were which.

By my rough calculations there were about 30 Non-Cultivations, and about 12 Tidy Ups. That's rather a high number. And given that we have about 50 people on the waiting list then we'd really like to get a few more people involved with the site. People who are willing to actually knuckle down and get things sorted.

But in the meantime, I have to consolidate these assessments and start sending out letters to those who have let the weeds grow.

So, how grow the weeds on your plot?