Opportunity
In my short 2 and a bit years of allotmenteering, I've read a load of books, watched a load of content and subscribed to all sorts. I've learned a hug amount already and it's clear that the learning will never stop. Perhaps one of the earliest things I learnt was to always be on the lookout for an opportunity. Owning and running an allotment can be as expensive as you want it to be. Be it spending hundreds or even thousands of pounds on anything from sheds to tools to greenhouses or at the other end of the spectrum, spending as little as possible on the essentials such as seeds and second hand tools from the local car boot sale.
I place myself somewhere in the middle of that scale, so I am still always on the lookout for something laying about, looking for a new home that I could use on the plot. One of the very first things we did when we got our first plot was to build a shed. We didn't want to spend money on buying a new one and any of the freebies on offer in the local market place pages didn't look like they would even stand up to the move, let alone the weather on an exposed allotment site. Then, along came an opportunity. Fortunately, at the same time as we were thinking about a shed, I came across a skip at a local business that was being filled with various timber and old pieces of OSB board. The firm were in the process of a refurb and were knocking down some stud walls to open up new office space. After checking, I started going through the skip and before long had everything I needed to build a very sturdy and weather proof shed. The only thing I needed to spend money on was some shed paint, a piece of felt for the roof and a couple of hinges for the door. All in all, probably only around £30.
Most recently, during a bit of maintenance, on the allotment site, I came across a piece of old Haras fencing, left down the side of the site's equipment shed and covered in bindweed. For a while, I'd had an idea about how such a piece of fencing could be used. After checking that it wasn't being used, I dragged it out, cleaned it up and took it up to the plot. It's quite large, but already I am thinking that I can cut it down into more manageable pieces that can server a number of purposes. On the growing list for next year are cucumbers, squash and climbing french beans, all of which need support to varying degrees. There's a load of work to do on the new part of the plot in the coming months, so I don't need to rush into things, but now I have it on the plot it'll be ready and waiting to be used.
That's it for now, so until next time - Cheers 😊
