Page 45 - ALG Issue 4 2023

1. The first to appear was pretty conventional, as these things
go, but Brian and Louise later enlarged it to give a sitting area much like a conservatory. Any further enlargement will put them into Airbnb territory. It didn’t take long for this idea of re-using and up-cycling to catch on. Skip diving isn’t yet an Olympic sport but give it time! One person’s scrap UPVC windows is another’s greenhouse panoramic side wall.
DIY Sheds
at Norton
St Pauls
Allotment,
Sheffield
Ours is only a small site with 22 plots, but as it is very open without hedges and gates, we get to know everyone.
It is a Council run site, but provision of sheds is down to plotholders. A lot of plots have a shed and/or greenhouse. As good quality greenhouses are quite expensive (glass greenhouses are not recommended by NAS) and for people new to allotmenteering this can be off-putting. This being the case, some of our more intrepid ‘plotters’ have built their own.
We had an interesting morning a couple of months back, when a gang of us moved a shed from one plot to another using the Egyptian ‘how to build a pyramid’ technique with rollers and brute force. All good fun.
And that brings us up to date folks. All looking forward to a good growing year. Our second ‘picnic day’ will have come and gone by the time you read this. I just hope the weather is better than the first one.
Joyce and Fred Oldham, Plot 16
3. Dean favours
the polytunnel
and raised bed
approach. He
had a standard
greenhouse and
shed to begin
with. His tunnel
is obviously a
quality item
because it’s still in one piece after the winter gales.
4. We have just
invested in a
Wonderwall,
having seen the
ads in the NAS
magazine. In
our experience,
it takes a little
longer than two
hours to put up,
especially if you add the extra stiffening poles.
2. One plotholder, Roanna, went
for the mock Tudor look, complete with stained glass. Our greenhouse also features stained glass, but that’s because I have never got around to cleaning it! Her dad is a bit handy with the woodwork tools and soon turned a lot of potential firewood into a smart growing space. I think she may have even retained the letterbox.
5. The latest
construction is
care of Pat on the
plot next to us.
He has also gone
down the UPVC
window route
and has added
french doors,
for that extra
bit of class. His
polytunnel died over the winter and has been converted to a Wonderwall look-a-like.
Visit to Molescroft Allotments
Following our Yorkshire regional meeting in Beverley, Tony Urwin, our deputy regional representative, and I went to visit Molescroft Allotments on 3rd June.
I was quite excited to visit the site as
I had been involved in initiating the concept of these allotments on this 1,000-acre farm way back, if I remember
right in 2012.
It was a lovely site and very well kept. There was one uncultivatable low- lying spot where they had created a natural pond. I would like to thank the committee for a very informative and interesting visit.
Phil Gomersall
Allotment and Leisure Gardener 45
Bev at the Rotherham Show