Allotment Growing	Friday 29 August 2008 Allotment Diary

Vegetable, Fruit & Herb Gardening

Finding an Allotment - Some Help

How to find a vacant allotment?

Your first and best port of call will be your local authority - they will manage allotments in their area and will know of privately run allotments outside of their control.

I've put a list of council web sites below so you can try their web site first. If not - try telephoning them or try your library - they can usually help you find an allotment. It might not actually come under "allotments" so try looking for Parks, Recreation, or Leisure Services.

Once you have tracked down the site, it's well worth visiting it first to check out the facilities on offer, such as an on-site shop, parking, toilets and running water. Have a chat with any plot holders you meet to find out what it's like there. Unfortunately some sites suffer from vandalism and it's worth finding out what the risk is like in advance.

If there is a waiting list, as there is with many allotment sites, have a chat with the site manager or representative. If they know you are keen and will make something of your plot, it's surprising how quickly a site can come vacant.

You might consider seeing if there is someone on the site who is struggling, perhaps getting older and finding it hard to keep things in order. Offer to share and help. You benefit from advice and the owner from younger muscles.

This list of councils is as accurate as I can make it but I haven't checked them all so you will need to see for yourself what they have to offer. If you find an error please let me know via the contact page.