New Neighbours and No Safaris

Continuing our series of articles from members of the Association, we caught up with David Ling, ardent West Ham and Chelmsford City fan (has a lot to put up with). David has had a plot for in excess 10 years, and especially on a Saturday morning (pre COVID) you can catch him dashing in and out to ensure he makes it to the City Stadium in good time for kick off.

When I was a lad, we had a big garden and my dad had a vegetable plot. I remember getting a great thrill digging up the potatoes and seeing how many spuds had been produced from one small tuber. It was those memories which drove me to try for myself. I am now in my 11th season as a plot holder and I have seen many changes over the years.

Like new tenants today my plot was to say the least unkempt when I took it on. I had just retired and spent many hours turning it into something resembling an allotment and I can't have done too badly as I won Best Plot in 2012. I had no specific plans other than to grow fruit and vegetables, nothing exotic just traditional crops which is still the case today, I might have been a tad more adventurous but circumstances haven't left me the time to do so. It seems a little odd, but have a long pencil shaped full plot, two halves which span the mid section of the site. This is due to the plot immediately by the sides of my first plot were taken, and took the second half which naturally butted on, so long and narrow.



The site has had changes not least the facilities which we now have and praise has to go to Tony for that and latterly to Karen and Ray. Also many of the old allotmenteers have left the site or sadly are no longer with us. As a novice I received much advice from the likes of Stuart, Cyril, Doug and Arthur and I'll be eternally grateful to them. The new tenants seem much younger these days, probably because I'm getting older, and it's now me giving out advice. My advice to newcomers would be not to take on to much but do little and often - it's no good spending all day on a plot then leaving it for weeks. Crops need 'nursing', it is hard at times but very rewarding when you harvest fresh fruit and veg.



It's not all plain sailing though and there are some crops I've struggled with especially cauliflower and turnips - in fact I've given up the ghost on those and buy them in the market. Other frustations are the climate whereby Essex has the driest weather in the country which means lugging many cans of water around during the growing months. Also the wildllife especially those black and white fiends which is already well documented but they are a damn nuisance and the council are as much use as a third handle on a pot as I often tell them but they haven't evicted me yet so i'll carry on. Pigeons love brassica's and if you don't protect them immediately all you'll have left the next day is a few stalks. All in all though having an allotment is a very rewarding experience,

After a significant period of time, maybe 7 or 8 years, I now also have neighbours. I am not quite sure what to make of this, as they have both made great starts to their plot, and I am going to miss drafting cryptic messages to the council in terms of the state of the adjoining plots, complaining about the chest high grass and weeds encroaching everywhere. I even suggested on one occasion the committee were advertising Allotment Safaris on the plots - it was more like a savannah than an allotment!



My top tip to newbies (and experience members) would be that if you attend the christmas coffee morning in the hut don't take your car because Tony's excellent mulled wine is a tad potent!!! Indeed i don't know why it's called 'coffee morning' as i don't recall ever having coffee!!!

With grateful thanks to David Ling for sharing his thoughts with us. If you would like to participate and share your Allotment exploits with us, please don't hesitate to contact Ray Lawrence, project 63 or via the contact page on the website.