How Quickly Does Albendazole Work?

[surferdog]

OH just called - letter from council today offering us an allotment plot

 

Have told him to phone up now and accept it (300+ people on waiting list so can't afford to be fussy!) Can't wait to see it and at least now we can get some prep done before the main sowing season.

Edited January 22, 2009 by Guest

[chickencam]

Great news, here's to a productive season

[SAB]

Congratulations!

[Snowy]

Hurray!! When I got my letter I drove straight round with the cheque and letter

[Guest]

well done! Exciting isn't it

[surferdog]

Hurray!! When I got my letter I drove straight round with the cheque and letter

I know exactly what you mean! We phoned the council and accepted immediately. The allotment chap has already phoned us and we have arranged to go and see it tomorrow. I will take my cheque book with me!

(DD has now added talking about allotments to the 'banned' list along with chicken chat so it's great to be able to come on here and share my excitement. Yaaaaaay! )

[Lesley]

How exciting!! - all these allotments

[mostin]

Well done , share your excitement with all of us.

[Redwing]

Thats so

 

Lucky you!

[Tara.F]

That's fantastic news!

and at exactly the right time of year too!

 

Remember when you go to see it, you can clear it little by little so don't feel daunted.

And as soon as you make a wee bit of space...bung some broad beans in. They are quick and sturdy, don't mind the weather and it will be so encouraging to see them sprouting up as you work

 

congratulations

[TheGirlsMum]

Conratulations, lucky you, not having much luck here

[surferdog]

Conratulations, lucky you, not having much luck here

Make a nuisance of yourself! I was advised to do this by the allotment holder that collected the chicken poo as it shows you are seriously interested. So phone or email the allotments dept at least once a month. Not sure if it helps but this time last year there were 40 people ahead of us, last week we were told we were third and yesterday the offer letter arrived! So whether it was a natural progression or if they were just sick of us, not sure but at least you'll feel like you are doing something. Good luck.

[Guest]

I think it works to keep reminding them that you're keen We even went round taking photos of plots that looked unused and asking if we could have them. I also phoned and e-mailed a few times and it took us 8 months

[Guest]

When I first got mine - I drove down to the council offices and had my keys within half an hour!!!

 

Have fun!

 

Louise

[TheGirlsMum]

We havent got an allotment officer because we haven't even got any allotments locally. I have got on the waiting list for the National Trust allotments but don't hold out much hope.

 

I have contacted the local Town Clerk to ask if I can take over some waste land behind my house but haven't had a reply yet.

[Guest]

.....

I have contacted the local Town Clerk to ask if I can take over some waste land behind my house but haven't had a reply yet.

 

Is it definitely owned by the council? If so, I'd be tempted to just go ahead and do it

 

If you don't want to do that, find out if this person is in and then go down to the town hall and ask to see them in person. People find it easy to ignore correspondance, especially local government officials

 

We havent got an allotment officer because we haven't even got any allotments locally.

 

I thought it was the law that local councils HAD to offer allotments

Edited January 22, 2009 by Guest

[Guest]

here we are....

 

Did you know?

All councils in England & Wales (with the exception of inner London) have to, by law, provide allotments? Any group of adults over the age of 18 and registered on the electoral role can group together to request the council provide.

 

and...

 

Q2) There are no allotments in my area, what can I do?

Each allotment authority decides for itself how much of its resources to devote to allotments. However, if an authority believes there is a demand, it has a statutory duty to provide a sufficient quantity of plots and to let them to people living in its area. If local people feel there is a need for allotments which is not being met, they can get together a group of any six residents who are registered on the electoral roll and put their case to the local authority.

 

http://www.nsalg.org.uk/page.php?article=463&name=FAQ

[surferdog]

Here's what we've inherited - not too bad at all so should soon be able to knock it into shape. It's just over half a plot and very long and narrow. The chap that had it before has moved to a larger plot on the same site and they think he is leaving the framework. If he does we plan to stabilise and resite it (have to squeeze round it at the moment) and convert it into a polytunnel.

 

The water trough is right outside our plot, so no carrying heavy watering cans too far, and the council have provided every plot with a compost bin. We have to wait for the council to send us the tenancy agreement and apparently will have to chase them as they 'forget'. I think I too will drive down and pick up the key!

 

And look what else we found after this handsome chap announced his presence......... along with ducks and geese and chickens on several other plots. So later a bigger plot, a few table birds?

 

Apologies to Mods - Photobucket is playing up so photos are huge

[TheGirlsMum]

Thanks Poet,

 

I have pointed out to said Town Clerk that the land is presently only used as a dog toilet so hopefully this might swing it for me but I certainly daren't just start cultivating it.

 

I think the TC point of view on allotment provisions would be that there is plenty of farm land around so why would allotments be necessary. I'll give it a couple of weeks and if I haven't had a response I will copy the e-mail and take it in in person. (If Im brave enough).

[Guest]

good luck 'thegirlsmum'

 

 

surferdog, your council are generous with the compost bins! We are allowed up to 6 chickens on our allotment but it would be too much work, having our 8 girls here and 6 at the allotment, not to mention the security issue. I'd be worrying about the allotment birds constantly.

 

When we got our offer letter we went round to see it the next day and said we wanted it, then we waited about 2 weeks or so for the contract, we signed and sent it back the same day and waited.....and waited......and waited....after a couple of weeks I rang them to ask when we would get the key and the guy said "oh, wasn't it in with the contract?" He offered to post it out that day but I jumped in the car and went to collect it in person!

 

Keep us updated with your progress, can't wait to see what you do with yours

[Snowy]

Fantastic - and what a good size! From what I can gather a standard allotment size is 10 rods (1 rod being 5m x 5m), so your half plot should be 5 rods. On our site a full allotment is a piffling 4 rods, and mine is only a half plot That structure looks useful - I'd be thinking fruit cage for that! And you have fences! And even if you don't put chickens on yours - how lovely to have some nearby! We don't have nearby chickens but I have seen the pheasants playing in the next field when I've been there early

[TheGirlsMum]

Fantastic photos, it looks like a really good plot for a first time allotment.

 

Sorry if you feel I highjacked you thread it certainly wasn't intentional.

[surferdog]

Fantastic photos, it looks like a really good plot for a first time allotment.

 

Sorry if you feel I highjacked you thread it certainly wasn't intentional.

 

Not at all - hope you find something soon. It's very frustrating waiting particularly when you see land going to waste. Just keep pestering the council and might also be worth emailing the local allotment association (I did that too )

 

Snowy, our plot is 6.5 rods so just over half a plot but is only 19 foot wide. A good size to get started - I think an overgrown 'tennis court' might be just a bit too daunting at first! And yes it's lovely to hear the chickens without that associated 'Oh my god, she's off again, what about the neighbours feeling'

[chickencam]

Great plot, not in bad condition at all, they all look a bit ropey at this time of year

 

We were so lucky when we got our plot because it had been held by an old man who had given it up and we were the only ones on the list at the time so we got a whole plot, this was 9 years ago though. Our plot is 100ft x 30ft. We have also got a half plot next to it because most of it is unsuitable for growing crops because of a large tree overhanging it from the school grounds next door, they charge us the half plot rate but they wouldn't be able to rent it out as someones only plot. We have our sheds and a pond on the shady part of it and can grown at the other end which gives us another 20ft square.

 

They no longer let out whole plots to a single family so we were in the right place at the right time. It makes it possible for us to be self sufficient in potatoes, onions and carrots

 

The allotments are owned by the church and administered by a land agent and they unfortunately under constant threat as building land and a big building firm has an option over them which has been in place for many years, hopefully if they didn't act on it in the boom times they won't for a while yet either.

[Valkyrie]

Congrats Surfydawgy!

Looks exciting - I hope you can retain that structure. Lots of toms to go in there! Is it me or does that rooster have a tufty hairdo?

 

Is is relatively close to you? We had to go to Old Basing (great when the Cavaliers and Roundheads did their annual procession to the cemetary) because Hart DC wouldn't provide allotments here - and we discovered that allotment by ourselves. There is a little one in Hartley Wintney but when we asked they were quite s"Ooops, word censored!"by about it. We had no help from them at all.

 

Since then I noticed that someone here had started up a bit of a petition for an allotment in Hook, but he was told no, but there are some in Basingstoke and that is the "helpful" limit of our Council. They tend to ignore allotment requests here - so much for providing for the locals. Travelling a fair distance defeats the object a bit. Also quite a few of the allotments have gone near the town centre and now have tower blocks growing upwards instead.