Final Allotment Harvest

I’m sure that some of you will be disappointed to read that Lucy and I are giving up the allotment. I had always treated 2022 as the true test year to see if I loved the allotment enough to keep it long term, and the answer is a confident “no”. While Lucy and I have very much enjoyed the journey of creating an allotment, we have decided that it’s time to pass it on to someone else. Nonetheless, I want to share this early autumn allotment update with you, and a final allotment harvest. Join me as I wish the allotment a fond farewell!

What I enjoyed about the allotment

I want to start off with the positives of the allotment. Firstly, it was a new challenge and a new adventure! I love gardening generally, and Lucy had wanted an allotment for years, so we wanted to give it a go! I enjoyed being out in the fresh air, and I certainly loved eating and sharing the harvest. Moreover, it was great to meet other people from the community who are enthusiastic about gardening.

Follow our allotment journey

Borage was a huge success and the bees loved it!

Reasons we are giving up the allotment

If you’ve been following our allotment journey, you will know that 2021 was not an easy year with the allotment. I started a second season at the allotment with trepidation, and with the mentality that I would just give it another go. I didn’t put pressure on myself, and I set out to simply enjoy the experience. Except, I didn’t.

The thing I found the most disappointing about the allotment is the poor growing conditions. The soil is compacted, full of rocks and debris, and is basically pure clay. Poor soil quality, combined with persistent weeds meant that we spent most of our time fighting a losing battle. We also spent far too much money on compost, in an attempt to rejuvenate the depleted soil. This year in the UK, we had record heat and a drought. With climate change comes more unpredictable harvests. For a second year, we have found that we can only grow a few limited vegetables, and they aren’t necessarily the veg we enjoy eating the most.

Another reason we have decided to let go of the allotment is the allotment’s uncertain future. The area is going to be developed, and it is currently unknown whether the allotment will stay, or if it will be moved. We didn’t want to invest more time and money developing our plot without knowing if it would remain in a few year’s time. Speaking of time and money, these are the two other reasons we have decided to move on. An allotment can be a surprisingly costly and time-consuming undertaking. We simply want to spend our precious and limited time and money on other things.

Even though this is the end of the allotment content, it won’t be the end of my gardening updates. One of the things I’m excited about with our decision is that we both want to focus more on the home garden. We’ve got big plans, so stay tuned!

So, cheers to you allotment, and cheers to us for giving it a go. I will cherish the memories as we move on to the next big adventure!