Preparation for Next Spring

Two weeks ago was extremely wet. We had an allotment committee meeting in the still unfinished "Meeting Room", which was better than being on the Piggory (our communal, tarpaulin covered space in the centre of the allotment site). The meeting was held principally to discuss the toilet facilities on site, which currently consist of a chemical loo and for which we pay, for at least 6 winter months when the Council will not cover the cost; in addition to this the Council will not support the funding of this or any other facility for much longer as they are drastically cutting the support for allotment sites. The implication is that allotments will need to become self sufficient, indeed the cost of rental is going up dramatically from this year!

The initial proposal had been to obtain a Grant, the particular body we were approaching give a maximum of £10K for an approved project. We had the sub-committee report on the relative costs for three options, which included a plumbed in option, an environmentally friendly, composting loo or the possibility of retaining the chemical toilet. The chemical loo is not really a viable option as the costs are considerable and the toilet is less than ideal. Maintenance, although now fine, has been a major problem in the past and it is not the most welcoming of places and not very environmentally PC. The plumbed in toilet had various seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The water company wanted a huge amount of money to give us some very basic information; some investigation was required by asking some local builders how much it might cost for a fully installed toilet and it was thought that it could cost in the region of £20K. This was a guesstimate, but was probably in the right region. The general consensus was for a composting toilet. So much time was taken up with this discussion that we weren't able to talk about anything else, which meant that a further meeting was required some time soon to tackle the other issues, we would also need to meet again to discuss the toilet again but only after this has been taken to the main committee, who will ultimately have the final say.

Last weekend was fine and we had a meeting round at Sylvia's to choose the flower and vegetable seeds for the plant sale next Spring. The talk went on for ages longer than expected; but, eventually decisions were made and a further meeting with all the growers will be needed to distribute the jobs.

My friend's son has volunteered to help me on my plot in return for teaching him how to do it. He met me outside the gate at three o'clock raring to go. I hope his enthusiasm doesn't wane too quickly. I taught him how to dig and we turned over quite a large bed where I had grown my sweetcorn. The ground was fairly easy to turn as it was nice and moist but not waterlogged, as my heavy clay can often be. I also asked him to try to tackle my horseradish patch; something I have rarely tried to do myself and am increasingly unable to do. He is a fit young man and has much greater physical strength than I do for such a heavy job. Melanie had dug up her spuds and offered him some to take home; so that might be some incentive for him to return, at least I hope so.