From Guidance To Rule Book

 

I have been working on this for a while but as the weather has not been great and I have been having my stairlift and hospital bed serviced over the last few days I have been working on getting the London Borough of Sutton Allotment Gardener's Guide converted to a more Rule Book style format. 

Some may ask why are you doing this? Basically it was acknowledged at the last site reps meeting that the Guide needed some attention and it was more guidance about how to grow rather than what the rules are. 

The format and language needs to be more clear on what is and isn't acceptable and idverde have produced a number of more concise documents outlining the expectations in the first three months of ownership where an inspection will now take place to see if the new plot holder has achieved at least 25% cultivation of their plots.  They have also introduced different forms of notices as a result of the site inspections, and have better documented the practices, procedures and protocols.

These documents need to be incorporated into the current guide and a name change to Rules is a more accurate description of the new format. Information about crop rotation and gardening has been removed and its now more focused on allotment rules and allotment plot management and expectations from the site inspections. 

Jane from idverde does not have the time to merge all the documents she has produced into a new version where each section is numbered and each paragraph or rule is referenced. I updated the old guide when the London Borough of Sutton first appointed idverde to manage the allotments in 2017 and I'm happy to undertake this task as I'm now retired and have the time.  

I handed the source document over too the Parks Department in 2018 and they had done very little to it other than broaden the role of site representatives. They did make minor alterations during the Covid years but there were not discussed at the annual meeting or voted on buy all the stakeholders or their representatives. 

Various topics were discussed briefly at our 2024 meeting and minutes were produced but no formal vote or specifics were ironed out. A couple of years ago the council could not even be bothered to produce minutes.

I feel that all site representatives should have an opportunity to be involved in any modification to the document and thus I have created a closed Facebook Group specifically for all the London Borough of Sutton site reps and Jane from idverde so that we can discuss and make modifications to the document, before we offer it to the London Borough for a final review and rubber stamping.  

The format of the new version of the AGG is such that each section now has a unique number and each clause has a reference, for ease of reference when discussing and using the document. 

Below is an example of the new format 

The rules are in Black 

Guidance is italic and in Mauve 

Bedding In The Paper Dalek

A visit today to complete bottoming out the excavation for the next Paper Dalek and laying Magic Cardboard in the bottom then backfilling with woodchip from the pile in the car park 

Clearing the Raspberry canes from the Boundary Beds in front of the climbing frame greenhouse then getting mulch quality woodchips and filling the four beds to the top. I can now tick that task off my list.

Dalek & Leaf Bin

A visit to the allotment in the afternoon to top up the leaf bin and to excavate to formation level to bed in another Dalek.

I have filled the last Dalek I installed with shredded paper (browns) from my office clearance works I have been doing the last week.

I have two black bin bags of shredded paper in my car that needs a home until I use it with greens this year to make compost.

Bricks placed in the excavation so I could stand in the work area to shovel the humus material out to form a foundation for the Dalek to stand on.

Nearly got there, but not quite, I just need to level off the excavation, add magic cardboard and then backfill the excavation with woodchips, then the two large sacks of paper can go in it.

I decanted the leafs from the overflow leaf cage into the main leaf cage as the levels had dropped

Main Leaf cage after topping up from the overflow leaf cage

Filling The Shredded Paper Dalek

I've been sorting out my old office and shredding lots of old files, which is generating a huge amount of browns for my composting efforts. Another five sack loads of paper dropped off today.  

Paper Dalek before I placed a couple of bricks on the top sack to help consolidate the paper sacks such that I could get the lid back on the bin. I have a shredder's worth of paper to be processed at home so next visit I need to excavate the humus material from the location for the next New Freecycle Dalek  a formation. 

Excavating plot 16

An afternoon visit to the allotment to bottom out the trench started yesterday then to slip in a separating plastic flashing and backfill the void with woodchips. This will allow me to dig another trench of humus material that will be used in the top level of the new raised beds that will replace the old ground level framed bed.

Trench at the end of bed 16 bottomed out and the two square flower buckets removed after a plastic shutter was slipped in between the flower buckets and the humus material in the rest of the bed

Trench backfilled either side of the centre flower bucket with woodchips and consolidated by walking on them. The centre flower bucket removed and the middle of the trench filled with a second wheel barrow load of woodchips

Backfilled trench left uncovered but sack in the square flower bucket for weeds covered with small plastic table to keep rain out of the sack as these weeds will need to go home for the rubbish collection.

Bed 15 has consolidated and there was at least a 25mm (1") difference in level. The decomposed woodchip path material that I excavated between raspberry beds 1 & 2 was deposited on bed 15 and leveled out

Soil leveled out and re covered with the debris netting, I need to make some spacers for the hoops for this bed the cut the netting to fit better.

Decomposed woodchip path between raspberry beds 2 & 3 weeded and decanted into the square flower buckets on raspberry bed 2, as the buckets were now empty. As I find path quality woodchip in the pile or we get a fresh load dropped off the paths will be renewed.

I still have four boundary beds to mulch with mulch quality woodchips from the pile in the car park.

Excavating Bed 16 First Trench

It's been a few days since its been dry enough to actually get something done on the allotment, but it was dry enough to visit and show a new tenant the vacant plot and to get on excavating the good humus material from the end of bed 16 into square flower buckets today

7 square flower buckets of soil excavated from the end of bed 16, with 4 buckets around the bed and 3 in the excavation, and bindweed, couch grass and mares tail roots removed.

Aim of the next visit when working on bed 16 will be to bottom out the trench and backfill with woodchips and then take another flower bucket width to a spades depth from that end.

End of bed 16 covered with the large trays and a trug and bucket of weed roots covered with small plastic table to keep the water out of the bag.

Support Our Farmers

Hundreds of tractors are expected to descend on London for the third time since the autumn budget - Today Monday 10th February Back British Farming.

Mosquitoes and Midges.

 

Bed 16 Exposed

Another couple of hours on the allotment this afternoon, I swept the weeds and debris off the weed membrane and then took the weed membrane off bed 16 to expose the soil

0.9m wide scaffold board laid for visual reference of where the new raise beds will go and the possible need to tweak the location if I need to rebuild the half 0.6m beds to 0.9m

Digging and weeding at the end of the bed nearest the boundary path with plot 2. Soil bulking and breaking down as turned with the fork.

Lots of couch grass, mares tail and bindweed roots removed, thankfully no snail or slug eggs encountered so far.

View down the allotment looking where I've been working to improve the infrastructure the last three months.

Strips of heavy duty water proof tarps that I've had for the last twelve years, laid over the bed to help keep the bed dry-ish whilst I dig weed and excavate.

Small table placed over the black rubbish bag inside the square flower bucket that is half full with weeds and the debris that was removed today to prevent it filling with water should it rain.  

Next visit I will be excavating the soil to a spades depth and decanting it into the many flower & spud buckets I have then filling the hole in the ground with rotting timber, branches, raspberry canes and other materials I have been gathering with the woodchip back up the ground level then building the beds ready to also fill up with similar material half way and then return the decanted soil on top.

Removing the Framework To Bed 16

A couple of hours on the allotment this afternoon dismantling bed 16 and find out the timbers will be no good for extending the narrow beds half beds between plot 1 and plot 1A so I will need a little rethink on that one.

I used a pile of brick as a pivot point and the garden fork as a fulcrum and levered up the frame and placed bricks under until I had it high enough so I could lift the fame on its side to unscrew the timbers.

Michelle who was also on site today came over to help me lift the frame and held it stable whilst I unscrewed the timbers.

The timbers that framed bed 16 have rotted too much to be used to extend the half width beds that denote the boundary between plot 1 and Plot 1A, and are now resting on the narrow bed and will be ripped up and used to line the bottom layer of the two new raised beds on the bed 16 footprint in a similar way as I did on the last bed 15 raised bed.

Bed 16 now frameless and ready to be uncovered and excavated into square flower buckets and potato buckets, to be then used to back fill the top half of the raised beds once constructed.

Square flower buckets stacked and ready to be filled with the excavated humus material from the bed 16 footprint starting at the rear end of the bed in this photo. The roots of the bindweed are visible in the void left from the removed timber framing and they will be weeded out as I excavate the footprint. 

Selma from plot 6 has stacked a load of rotting decking boards next to my plotting shed that I can used under the new raised beds, and in the bottom layer.

Raised Bed 15 Completed

I wasn't expecting the heavy frost and ice on the roofs, pavement, road and the car this morning when I woke up.

So a late trip to the allotment, after the sun had melted the ice off the car to unload the timber and stack it then I built the next raised bed frame It's an art learning to get these raised bed frames assembled on your own, when you don't have the strength in your hands and arms you once did, and arthritis in all your joints. It takes time and planning but is very satisfying once you have managed it. 

After assembling a U shape, I laid it down and put the last side in place insitu, then filled it up with another wheel barrow load of woodchip so the woodchip was about an inch over the butt joint of the two frames.

Tack screwed top frame to bottom frame and then emptied the flower buckets of soil excavated from the footprint of the beds and the path in between. Topped off with two bucket loads of coir and compost that I grew spuds in last year.

Empty Square Flower Buckets and Spud Buckets placed in bed 16 to dry out in the sun. If it rains it will wash down the wet soil into the bottom of the buckets, and I can tip the rain water and soil into the now completed bed 15.

I placed some hoops on the bed before coming home just to put the fox off from climbing onto it and digging for worms, I will net it next visit. 

Loading The Car

 

In the afternoon as it had remained dry, I de-nailed and de-screwed the timber that I picked up Friday from building site a few doors away. I then stacked it in the car ready for taking to the allotment Sunday weather permitting.

Timber Dropped off To Plot

Timber unloaded and stacked on a bed.

Then covered over to keep it dry until I need it.

Woodchip has consolidated in the base layer of the current raised bed I'm constructing, due to the large amount of rain we have had.

A wheel barrow load of woodchip topped it up again.

View of bed 15 and the Asparagus bed to the right. I still need to go back and finished stripping the first Raspberry bed of bind weed and mulch it, but mentally I need to see some real progress working up the plot. 

View Up the allotment.

I gathered rotting timber and branches and have stacked them on the completed Bed 15 raised bed, ready for the bottom layer of the next raised bed.

The 2.4m x 1.2m bed 16 that will be converted into two raised beds, was cleared of items this morning, the bed needs to be unscrewed and converted into a second level for the narrow bed behind in this photograph.

Planning and Reviewing February in Previous Years

Reviewing the diary over the last Twelve years for February

2013 - Infrastructure works, drying weeds for burning, burning weeds, Rain start of the month, dry towards the end, delivery of woodchip to plot, built a coldframe  
 

2014 - Infrastructure works, transplanting bluebells and daffs in comfrey bed, bought and planted fruit trees, Constructed Greenhouse Sub Frame, Seeds from Lidl I could not resist at 29p a pack or 5 for a £1   

2015 -  Allotment Winter Tidy Up, Spent tomato compost & coir dressing added to beds, Sprouts, Cabbage, Chitting Potatoes, Timber base for the greenhouse created, Onions from Seeds   

2016 - Infrastructure works, kerb stones off freecycle, Base for the shed on Spencer Road. Erecting the Shed, Trimming shaggy weed membrane, gathering compost paper & Coffee Grounds.

2017 - Infrastructure works, Laying concrete slabs at Spencer Road in the Greenhouse area , Portable Grow Station created and Sprouts sown, Grow Station 2 created, Chitting potatoes in Grow Station 2,  

2018 - Infrastructure works, Laying concrete slabs on Plot 1A, Installing the bed edging that had been brought from Spencer Road Allotment, Warming Up Beds with solar tunnels and obtaining Timber Roof Joists from the building site next door.

2019 - Infrastructure works, Frost and a couple or raining Allotment days this year. Andy brought leaves from home for my leaf pile. Burning rotted timber and dry vegetation. Painting timber joists on the plot. Attacking the Hawthorne along the wall. Purchased potatoes from Wilko and set up chitting potatoes in Space saver Greenhouse. Attended the Garden Press Event and came home with lots of  packs of seeds and other goodies.

2020 - Infrastructure works, picked up a stack of free slabs off Freecycle, Showed vacant plots and they took plot 4. Cleaned the Space Saver Greenhouse ready for the season and for chitting spuds in. The contractor converting the industrial unit to residential behind Plot 1 & 1A decided in the infinite wisdom to remove the trees that were holding the unstable wall in place and destabilise the wall directly behind my shed on plot 1A. They cut and dropped the branches directly on my shed! Not happy and informed them and the council.       

Showing Chris the vacant plots available, he decided to take on plot 14. Storm Ciara blows many polytunnels off the plots and destroys them and light weight greenhouses on plots. Mentioned In Despatches by Waltons, National Nestbox Week 

Lots of Rain during the early part of the month Storm Dennis with many photographs of flooded allotment plots, especially in Wales and then suddenly at the end of the month, dry weather bluebells and daffs showing and Fools Spring has arrived. Won Mr Fothergills Facebook competition of Swing F1 Cucumber seeds

Picked up another free Dalek to add to Dalek Army II. Attended the Garden Press Event and came home with not so many packs of seeds but lots of other goodies, and promises of equipment to trial. The Covid -19 Virus starts sweeping around the globe, and people start to think twice about shaking hands at the Event. Still cataloguing what's in my Seed Box, need to get this done a lot earlier next year, if not by the end of 2020 

2021 - Making Warm Mushroon Trays. Chitting Potatoes, covered in the Norfolk Space Saver Greenhouse . The beast from the East II and snow. The Paved path was installed and so were the scaffold tubes to the first 3 Raspberry beds. The first SFG bed frame was installed in February 2021.

2022 - Sowing Grow With Me tomatoes, Sowing Brassicas and planting seedless grape vines against the wall. Storm Dudley came and went and then Storm Eunice removed greenhouse panels and took items on a journey around the allotment site. Laying slabs around the Plot 1 greenhouse. Grow With Me 2022 with Joe Mills Basil. Spuds in the Space Saver Greenhouse chitting. Making a new store on plot 1A at the location of the old potting table and adding the bench with roof to the new potting table behind the greenhouse on plot 1. 

2023 - .Loft extension for the plot 1 greenhouse completed and erected. Lots of time spent on the plot as I didn't want to be in the house without my wife her funeral was on the 20th February. New Spear & Jackson spade and fork set and broke the handle to my fork. Mulching the asparagus bed. Cleaning out the space saver Greenhouse in readiness for the potting shed arrival on the plot. Installing the potting sheds base. Garden Press Event attended. Review of Sophie McKays book. The boundary beds with the main path was started in February and completed at the end of the month. Well rotted woodchip was placed in the bottom of the new beds and the rotary sieve was use on my allotment made compost to complete filling the beds. 

2024 - As a result of my ongoing ulcerated leg problems, and having to learn to walk unaided, I only visited the plot a couple of times in February, I was hoping I will be able to get down to the plot a little more often with the assistance of family and friends but some of the February sowings happen in the Space Saver greenhouse at home.

My objective was to get healed enough that I can drive and get myself to the allotment in March so most of February was spent sorting out my seed boxes and what new seeds had been sent to me to trial.  

To Do List for 2025  

The plan for January 2025 weather permitting is to get as much of the new raised beds infrastructure on Plot 1 in place as possible and get both plots and greenhouses ready for the spring growing season 

Mill Green - Plot 1

• Greenhouse 1 - Currently being used to house all the cardboard to be used in the new raised beds  
• Infrastructure - Convert standard 2.4m x 1.2m beds to 2 number 1.2 x 0.9m Raised beds with a path between.
• Potting Shed - Finish tidying up the potting shed ready for Spring 2025 

Mill Green - Plot 1A

• Greenhouse 1A - Set up more Coffee to dry out 
• Daleks - Dig in the additional Daleks along the path with plot 2A
• Main Crop Potatoes  - Harvest the last 3 buckets as required
• Onions - Overwintering Onions and Shallots in weed bed as necessary. 
• Leaf Cages - Move contents of secondary cage to primary cage 
• Apple Trees - Prune & Stabilise
• Grape Vines - Prune  

February

February           Apple - plant trees

February           Apple - prune trees

February           Pear - plant trees

February           Pear - prune trees

                          Infrastructure Work

Week 1              Parsnip – Germinate in Take-a-way containers 

Week 1              Welsh Onions (D.T.Brown) - sow under glass / indoors (14 – 28 days)

Week 1              Shallot Simiane (Dobies) - sow under glass / indoors (14 – 28 days)

Week 1              Cauliflower (early summer) - sow seed indoors

Week 2              Brussels Sprouts - sow seed of early varieties

Week 2              Broccoli (sprouting) early varieties - begin harvest

Week 2              Aubergine  – sow in modules

Week 3              Parsnip – Transplant into loo rolls once signs of germination 

Week 3              Radish – Sow fortnightly

Week 3              Lettuce (Winter) – Sow fortnightly

Week 3              Potatoes- chit / sprout seed potatoes

Week 3              Cauliflower (summer) - prepare ground

Week 3              Cauliflower (autumn) - prepare ground

Week 4              Broccoli (sprouting) late varieties - begin harvest

Week 4              Celery - sow seeds indoors

Week 4              Sweet pepper - sow seeds

Week 4              Carrot Water Butt – Core out sand & Compost ready for sowing seeds