Very surprising letter arrived...

Assuming you get to pick a site that has been well worked in the past (if not the immediate past - don't be put off by overgrown with brambles - more work to clear, but if you dig a hole with a spade and the earth is a marvel of loam), then you are on to a winner from the moment the scrub is cleared

There is no way that I can do any sums that say that "Saved rainfall = irrigation requirement for the summer" Whatever you can store will help, but I expect you have a water butt at home already and know how quickly it is empty when there is no rain for a week or two ... and that water butt is probably being re-filled form the whole area of your house roof - off a greenhouse and/or shed roof on the allotment you will only get a tiny amount each time it rains :(

Mulching with compost etc. will make a huge difference to the retained water in the soil, and the crops that you can grow successfully, but if it is sandy soil (rather than clay) that would bode badly.

I think you'll just have to put up with really dry years meaning poor / disastrous crops, and perhaps avoiding things that need a lot of water (or growing them at home, rather than on allotment, if you have that option?) Courgettes / Squash for example.

If the allotment is close to home you could get a H2Go bag and barrow water (and tools?) to the allotment site

 

Thanks for your comments Kristen, this site is 10 mins drive from home. I will have a good look at the other plots to see what solutions they are using and the general condition of the plants. We have had a week without rain here, and the forecast is for another dry week to come. I very much doubt I could collect enough water off a shed roof to get through a dry patch like this. I won't be put off by some overgrowth, I would rather deal with vegetation than the tons of concrete I had to shift to establish my garden!

 

Yes, our plots total something like 0.75 acres and there's no water supply!

1) You'll never harvest enough rainwater water from a shed roof for all your watering needs.
2) Buy some 210Litre (ex-juice) barrels from ebay for £10 each.
3) Acquire some 20/25Litre containers, not from camping shops @ £20 each, but the likes of ex-carpet cleaner fluid for about 50p each.
4) Keep filling the barrels every time you visit/pass by.
5) Keep bailing out water from those barrels filled from shed roof rainfall into other barrels.
6)

 

like these?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CARAVAN-C...ervan_Caravan_Accessories&hash=item3a9227a98d

How heavy are they when filled?

I've just found the answer, 20 Kilos! At least I won't need a gym membership anymore.

 

That's the sort of thing I was thinking of.

 

I wonder if a Bowser that fits in the car is practical? Scrungee's 20/25L containers are definitely an answer in case helpful 1L of water = 1Kg

I have mine joined, by daisy-chain, using a bit of hosepipe which behaves like a siphon. Better still is if the first one being filled is raised up, above the others, and has a tap. Then you can put a hose on the tap of the first, higher, one and loop that over all the top of each of the others and when the first tank fills above the top of the others the hose to each of the others will self-prime as it overflows into them, and thereafter will syphon - so will maintain level (albeit slowly) as you empty from just one of the tanks.

IME connectors to properly join them all, at the bottom, cost WAY more than the cost of the 2nd-hand containers in the first place. If per chance they all have taps on them then connecting all the taps by hose is better, and will maintain level in them all

Empty them in winter, because if they freeze in really cold weather they may burst , but start filling them early enough, in Spring, that they are all 100% full by the first day that you need some water

 

And get a nasty crack in your butt.

 

Hi Yvonne

What great news surprised they haven't filled it with houses , if me try and get a plot not on the x building site part too much ruble and aim for the playing field

Hope you have a choice of which part you will end up with

Spruce

 

Update:

Met with the council official this evening, this story gets weirder! The site has been allotments for years, it has approx 50-60 possible plots but only 7-8 are actively worked. There is at least 20 available plots which haven't been worked for years yet the council have a waiting list and they took a year to offer me this?! Is something fishy going on or are the council just incompetent? He also told be the site had been cleared of all the asbestos board, the previous tenants had used as fencing etc. If I do come across anything of concern, they will come and clear it. Should I be worried about this?

I'm allowed chickens ! I have picked out a plot in the centre of the site which I can drive right up to. That will make water management a little easier. The rent is £60 per year.

What do you think?

 

@Spruce,
I was completely wrong about where the site is Spruce, as the letter said a "new site". The chances are the school site will go to a developer after all !

 

Try and speak to one of the existing plot holders to find out what has been going on. Or check on your Council's website as to whether there's been any planning applications or site search as to whether there's been any other interesting stuff going on there.

Most roofing sheets had relatively low/nil levels of the really nasty types of asbestos, plus if in the ground it will be always be (relatively) moist (it used to be acceptable to smash up corrugated asbestos roofing sheets if you hosed them down, but the regs may have changed since then). It was mainly about dust from drilling or cutting sheets, or from exposed, flaking material. If you find a piece, put it in a plastic bag.

For what size plot?

 

A number of possible scenarios - hoping to evict the final few tenants, and flog the land for building ... but the tenants won't leave / someone threatened to kick up a stink

Or they wanted to move the allotments to a new site (which was in some way more suitable)

Or they were clearing asbestos or somesuch ...

I wouldn't be. Asbestos sheet is only a problem if it breaks (and consequently releases "dust"). If you come across any and are bothered then damp it down - so there is no dust flying about - whilst you get someone to come and sort it out.

 

Thanks for the advice Scrungee

Looks like approx 250 metres? The plots were all marked out with poles in the ground but not always easy to see because it's so overgrown.

 

@**Yvonne**

Scrungee and Kristen are right, the asbestos will only be a problem if dry.
Don't worry yourself over it.

For £60 per year, it's a bargain even for a small plot.
You're lucky to get something from the council, round here all we would get is a kick in the pants, quickly followed by an invoice for services rendered.

 

I did have a chat with one of the longer established tenants who said the lack of water was a pain but he had a lovely plot on the go and the soil looked lovely, dark loam, just as you said Kristen and there was a healthy crop of potatoes on all of the cared for plots.

so, should I go for it? My garden at home is pretty established now, I have plenty of greenhouse space here to start seedlings off and the site itself should be a piece of cake to clear compared to skip loads of concrete I dealt with last year. I so want to keep chickens but I can't do this at home now so an allotment is the only option.

I will update my garden thread soon, I'm thrilled with how its come along :-)