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Allotment

We’ve Been Offered an Allotment!

May 8, 2026•Traci Cornelius
Allotment 6

I genuinely cannot quite believe I am writing this but… we have been offered an allotment.

The email came through on Wednesday and honestly I have been ridiculously excited ever since. I have wanted more space to grow for so long and suddenly we have actually got it!

Today we went to see the plot properly for the first time and I am not even sure where to start because there is so much already there and my head is absolutely full of ideas.

We have a shed. We have a greenhouse. We have water butts. We have compost bins. There are established beds, fruit, herbs, flowers and things already growing that I am still trying to identify.

And we have SPACE. Actual growing space!

After trying to squeeze as much as possible into our garden at home, I cannot tell you how exciting it feels to stand there and realise that we can actually grow proper amounts of food here.

Our new allotment

We took a tape measure with us because obviously I needed to know exactly what we were working with.

Very rough measurements put the plot at around 11.6 metres by 10 metres, so approximately 116 square metres.

I know that probably does not sound enormous to someone with acres of land but right now it feels like the best first proper step to sustainability.

I was walking around looking at every bed thinking, what can go there? What can I put along there? Could that be fruit? Where will the beans go? How many squash plants could I fit in here?

My brain has already completely run away with me.

Allotment 1
Allotment 2
Allotment 3

What is already here?

This is one of the things I am most excited about because we are definitely not starting with an empty plot.

We already have:

  • a shed
  • a greenhouse
  • rainwater collection
  • composting space
  • established growing beds
  • paths
  • rosemary
  • lavender
  • rhubarb
  • fruit bushes and canes
  • flowers
  • plenty of plants for the bees and other pollinators

There are also several things I need to identify properly because I was basically walking around taking photos of everything so I could investigate when we got home.

There are plants everywhere.

Some will stay, some will probably move and I am sure some will eventually come out but I really want to work with what we have before making huge changes.

And of course I have already started planning

 

I mean, there was absolutely no chance I was going to stand on 116 square metres of growing space and calmly wait a few weeks before thinking about what to plant.

Allotment 4
Allotment 5
Allotment 6

We already had planned what vegetables would be growing at home and how many tomato plants. So, I am immediately rearranging and thinking about where everything can go.

Potatoes, onions, beans, tomatoes, courgettes, squash, sweetcorn, carrots, beetroot, greens…

And then obviously there is fruit.

And herbs.

And flowers.

And things for preserving.

And things we can save seed from. I may need slightly more than one evening to work this plan out 

For now though, I want to get everything roughly mapped out, work out what is already planted where and see which areas get the sun before we start moving too much around.

This is exactly what I have wanted

One of the biggest reasons I am so excited about this is that it gives us the opportunity to grow more than just a few token vegetables.

I want to know what we can realistically produce for our family.

How many potatoes can we grow?

Can we grow enough tomatoes to eat fresh and preserve?

Can we grow enough beans to freeze some?

Can I grow pumpkins and squash that will store into winter?

What can we grow that genuinely makes a difference to what we need to buy?

That is the bit I really want to explore.

 

Not trying to pretend we are suddenly going to become completely self-sufficient overnight but seeing just how much more we can provide for ourselves with the space we now have.

Allotment 7
Allotment 8

Our first allotment harvest… sort of

And technically I have already brought something home.

Dandelions

There were some still growing on the plot and I was absolutely not wasting them, so they have come home with me and will be dried for tea and other uses.

We haven’t even planted anything yet and I am already bringing things home from the allotment!

I feel like that is probably a very good sign.

So… what happens next?

First, I need to turn all of today’s scribbled measurements and approximately nine hundred ideas into some sort of actual plan.

Then we can start working out what needs clearing, what is staying, what is already growing and what we can get planted this year.

There is so much I want to do and so much I need to learn but right now I am just ridiculously excited that this is ours to grow on.

Two days ago I was reading an email telling me we had been offered an allotment.

Today I was standing in it with a tape measure planning where to grow our food.

HOW AMAZING IS THAT?! ❤️

And yes, there are absolutely going to be a lot of allotment posts coming. 😄

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