On Legalities and Pumpkin Festivals

Today was a busy day on the allotments. But not anything to do with the Plot.
For a while now we have been trying to get self management sorted out. Going self managed means that we can have our own say in what happens to the site and we won't be at the whim of the Council. The Council have decided that the allotment sites around the borough should pay a higher rent. At Martin Way is the largest allotment site in Merton then our rent increases would also be substantially larger. Going self managed we can by pass a lot of the Council red tape and get things sorted ourself.
But it hasn't been easy.
For one there is a legal of legal work that needs to be undertaken. The existing Allotment society (Merton Allotment and Garden Association) is the wrong structure. To be a legal entity we need to have a limited liability - hence we need to be incorporated as a Company. Except we don't want to pay all the extras that are associated with a company since we're not in this for a profit. So instead we will become and Industrial and Provident Society.
Now this sounds very fine, but as I said, there are a lot of legal things we have to sort out. First is the new constitution. Fortunately we're in luck here since the NSALG have a set of model rules we can use. These can be submitted to the FSA to get the ball up and running. However the model rules are quite old and don't suit how the Allotments are run. It's more suited to old fashioned industrial companies. They require a President to be elected for one. At the meeting to discuss the constitution a few weeks back, a lot of (pointless) argument was placed on this. So it has been decided to remove this post. Did I say that each change we do to the constitution costs us money? Ah well thats what (some of) the members want. It's all over now. But there are still dissenting voices.
So now we have a new society - Martin Way Allotment Gardens Association Limited. Or MAGA Ltd. for short. Yeah, we thought we'd keep it simple for the hard of thinking.
So now the legal stuff was out of the way, it's time for the bonfire, BBQ and pumpkin festival.
The bonfire was a roaring success.

As was the BBQ.

And the sparklers I bought (last seen as the fuse to the "bomb" cake I made for last year's Guy Fawkes bake off at work) cheered up the crowd.

(Our Chairwoman - and son)

(Other half and friend)

All in all it was quite a good evening. Once the dissenters left that is. There are some people who just want to cause trouble and don't contribute to the overall running of the allotments.
And as for the pumpkin festival, there was a judging of carved pumpkins. The bat (left front) and house (left back) were the two winners.

Maybe I should grow pumpkins next year?

Digging up roots

So now I have two big piles of "stuff" on the plot, I gradually have to start clearing it. Not as easy as you might think.
Last week we made a good start by sieving the soil. This week there is just myself, and it's been raining. The soil is like glue. Big claggy lumps of it. So sieving is well and truly out of the question. So instead I opt for simply digging through and pulling out the long couch grass roots by hand. Due to the digging by the mini digger the soil is pretty loose so I can easily grab hold of the roots and pull without fear of breaking them.

But even so, it's still back breakingly hard work. And I've barely touched the pile. Guess I'm going to be doing this until spring.

Clearing the Plot - Part 3

So now we have two huge piles of "stuff" in the middle of the plot. What do we do with it?
Sieve it of course. I don't know how many tons of earth and associate vegetative matter we have, but one thing is clear, it's going to take weeks to get through it.

I managed to persuade the Other Half to come down to the plot today to help out. She's never done that before. It's only ever been me. But she was justifiably proud of the sieved pile she made. She did the sieving, I did the shovelling and carting away of the rubbish.
But there is still a long way to go.

It's about time we started on the getting the wood for the beds. But I have a nasty feeling that we will have to put down a plant root proof membrane to prevent the couch grass growing back in via the bits under the soil. We have taken off the topsoil, but there are still the odd roots showing through here and there. Guess I'll start Googling and see what other people suggest.

Clearing the Plot - Part 2

Well it's been a while since my last post. Holidays, illness and family issues have prevented me from being around at some weekends. Besides which there is only so much you can do with an overgrown plot.
Cue the "Beast".

Yes, this is the beast. The only way to clear an overgrown plot is with something big and meaty. This is a Kubota 1.5 ton mini-digger. I decided to take a day off work and get this sorted. I opted for a week day because it's cheaper than a weekend rate. So at 7am this morning I was on-site (it was still dark), and a few minutes later the delivery driver phoned me to say he was here. After a few minutes instruction on how to use the beast I was let loose.
Let me tell you, it really made short work of the overgrown bind weed, brambles and couch grass. My original idea was to keep some of the plants that were nestled in the corners and along the edges (some raspberry canes and rose hips) but buried in amongst them were bindweed, metal poles, wooden planks (rotten), bindweed, plastic plant pots, netting, bindweed, grass, old carpet and metal trellis. Did I mention the bindweed? So instead I just let rip. The apple trees, grape vine, artichoke and rhubarb were obviously spared but everything else was fair game.

The only problem with ripping up all this vegetation is that it has to be disposed of. Fortunately the allotment disposal bay is pretty close. But the only problem is sorting out the rubbish and getting it over there. So I borrowed the wheel barrow from my next door neighbours and put it to good use. Of course I didn't realise just how much stuff there was. Some of the grass that I pulled up was in huge thick big mats.
So after my 20th wheel barrow, my arms and legs were beginning to fall off.

The only drawback I found with the digger is that you can only pull stuff towards you. Although there is a blade on it (see above photo) it is way to small to be of any practical use. Certainly not with the amount of stuff I was pulling up. So I had to do some very creative dancing around the plot with the beast so that I could get it all ripped up.
But I eventually started making serious headway into the jungle growth.

So finally I have a semi-cleared plot. Semi-cleared because although the plot is "cleared", I now have two huge mounds of soil and plant matter that will have to be dealt with over the next few weeks. I will have to lay out the beds as I need them and then sieve the soil to remove the bind weed roots and get everything prepared. Of course this will also take some creative juggling because the place I want to put a couple of the beds is right where those piles are. Ah well.

Thieving buggers

So off I troop down to the allotment. There is a big bramble in the middle of the plot that needs some attention of the destructive kind. Today's plan is to deal with said bramble and to finish off the shed base. But no sooner do I arrive at the plot when I find this.

Yes that is, or should I say, was my rhubarb. Or what's left of it anyway.

But I did get some work done. I finished off the shed base.

Made a valiant attempt at dealing with the big bramble. Though the roots are going to have to wait until the digger comes in.

But in the meantime, these past few weeks of rain has done wonders for one crop. That being a good crop of slugs and snails. Meet a couple of large friends.