Saturday 15th April, 2017. I had a terrible cold and a slight hangover (the results of two consecutive nights out – it was Easter weekend) when the phone rang. It was the site secretary from an allotment I’d never even heard of.
Well, one I’d forgotten I’d ever heard of. I’d put my name down on the waiting list, so I must have seen the name of the site at least once. They had an allotment up for grabs, and did I want it? In my excitement, I agreed to meet the secretary at the site in a couple of hours. It was only after I hung up that I realised I had no idea where the allotments were.
After Google-mapping the allotments and discovering they were about a 10-minute drive from our house, we set off to view our plot. I’d never been on an allotment before so had no idea what to expect. If pressed, however, I probably would have told you I’d expect to find a slightly overgrown plot with a rickety shed and possibly a little greenhouse.
What we found instead was a scruffy wasteland with a smashed greenhouse at one end, lots and lots of rotting wood, and absolutely no signs a shed had ever stood there. It did have a cherry tree, which was in full blossom, and several other trees we couldn’t identify.
Not gonna lie – the cherry tree was a big selling point!
Needless to say, we took the site, and were handed the keys to the gate. It all seemed so quick and easy!
Of course, this was before we discovered the dreaded mare’s tail…
Allotment 22 