The Day has arrived. This weekend will be my final visit to my allotment before I give it up, and from September, Auntie will just be a Hermit, not a veg-growing Hermit. So, one last time, here's the Plot in its heyday. π± #allotments
Replies
Looks amazing and it must be a sad day for you.
aug 29, 2025, 3:41 pm β’ 1 0 β’ view
;0( Will you have the chance to grow some stuff at home in window boxes or tubs? That can sometimes be a good and more practical option, and still has many benefits.
aug 29, 2025, 8:43 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
We're not allowed to at the flats, but I might try to sneak a few pots and see if they complain. Also planning to tinker a bit along the nearby woodland path - foraging, and maybe sowing a few things, and litter picking etc.
aug 29, 2025, 8:58 am β’ 0 0 β’ view
Are you not allowed to have house plants? That sounds very harsh to me. I really hope you'll find something that works for you. Sounds like you already have some great ideas, though.
sep 1, 2025, 7:51 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
We can do what we like inside, but I'm one of those folk that just can't keep house plants - they die, every time. Might try a few trays of salad leaf stuff.
sep 1, 2025, 7:52 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
Ah, okay. I'm the same. Gardening is fine, but traditional house plants? No chance. If you like, you could try growing a potato in a large pot. That worked surprisingly well for me, I never even transplanted it. I'd love to read about any experiments you might try. :)
sep 2, 2025, 9:06 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
grow a potato in my flat? No way - and it's only a small flat, anyway.
sep 2, 2025, 10:08 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
Worth it for even just a few if they are Pink Fir Apples. Delicious.
sep 2, 2025, 1:05 pm β’ 0 0 β’ view
Nope. Not even for pink fir apples. I wouldn't be able to heft a pot without getting compost all over the floor - or get enough compost to the flat, come to that. Anyway, growing things is about being outside etc.
sep 3, 2025, 5:41 am β’ 0 0 β’ view
Feel free, having left a little corner of the world a little better than you found it. May the next hermit do the same - for if we all do, worlds can change.
aug 29, 2025, 8:34 am β’ 4 0 β’ view
Thank you for that thought. I doubt the Council Assessors think it's better than I found it, as they weren't around 20 yrs ago when I took it on, and it's been pretty good for the period they've known it. But you reminded me that even now, it is better than the abandoned wasteland I took on.
aug 29, 2025, 8:41 am β’ 0 0 β’ view
Oh that must feel hard. Wishing you a happy Hermitage... π
aug 29, 2025, 8:14 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
So sorry to hear this, and understand a little what it means. What a beautiful place, and I hope you and the allotment will continue to thrive.
aug 30, 2025, 8:05 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
ππ
aug 30, 2025, 9:03 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
I know you will miss it but there is always a new adventure for every phase in life. Ive no doubt you'll find another way to enjoy nature. π€
aug 29, 2025, 9:53 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
It looked beautiful! You must have so many memories π Allotment is about growing veg & community - will you stay in touch with them?
aug 29, 2025, 8:48 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
Probably not. At least not for a while. It would feel odd, visiting the plots once I'm not a plotter. I think I'll stick to the memories, which have been very good.
aug 29, 2025, 8:57 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
Just back from my final trip to the Plot, with my last ever fruit and veg. I am so going to miss it, but it's been a wonderful 20 years and everything has its time. πππ₯π«π₯¦π©βπΎπ± #allotment
aug 31, 2025, 10:16 am β’ 19 0 β’ view
That's a shame. It wasn't an option to take on a couple of 'apprentices' that could do the hard labour under your careful tutelage?
aug 31, 2025, 10:17 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
No. It was time to stop. I've found it difficult even getting there in the last couple of years*, and done almost no work at the plot at all - relying on our site volunteers for occasional help. *especially as our buses are now electric or hydrogen, and designed with few seats that I can use.
aug 31, 2025, 10:21 am β’ 5 0 β’ view
It was time to stop. But like many plotters, my plot has been the core of my life and my identity, and I will struggle with who I am now I'm not a plotter. Oddly, this aspect of leaving is not mentioned in these G letters, or the article they reply to. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
aug 29, 2025, 8:23 am β’ 8 2 β’ view
My condolences we are giving up our plot this year. 14 years of struggle from bare earth to now. But bad knees and other priorities have made it impractical. You will miss it greatly. It was my happy space to be alone with just nature and the plants. Grieve. #allotments
aug 29, 2025, 9:40 am β’ 2 0 β’ view
It's such a big moment, but we'll cope better for understanding the scale of the change. Do you have a garden or anything at home? Or will this be the end for you and planting, as it is for me?
aug 29, 2025, 9:52 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
I've a huge garden hence the need to concentrate on getting it straight before we downsize. If you are without & deprived of any growing space it is terrible. Access to space & the open air is rarely mentioned but its a huge benefit to those without a garden. #Allotments aren't just about vegetables
aug 29, 2025, 10:00 am β’ 4 0 β’ view
The allotments have also been the perfect social context for me. I have serious social anxiety, and find it difficult or impossible to join in group things etc and impossible to "socialise", but the relationships that develop between plot neighbours is perfect for me. So yes, not just about veg.
aug 29, 2025, 10:04 am β’ 4 0 β’ view
Sorry to hear that is the background to your loss. Maybe you could volunteer or seek out a charity that works outside with people with anxiety issues. There is a scheme which pairs gardeners with older people who can't manage their garden. Just a small space will make a the difference. House plants?
aug 29, 2025, 10:27 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
Sorry to hear that. It must be a wrench. I hope you have other (less wet and less tiring) things to fill the gap.
aug 29, 2025, 8:31 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
Thank you. Not sure anything will fill the gap, but I'm hoping to do more foraging and maybe a bit of litter-picking and sly secret gardening along the nearby path. We'll see how it goes.
aug 29, 2025, 8:43 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
It must be a sad moment. I've had my allotment for 25 years. It's on sandy soil so easy to work but hard to keep watered. There's so much more to it than fruit & veg. Wildlife, wild flowers ("weeds"), good neighbours, fresh air, exercise. But one day I will have to give it up...
aug 29, 2025, 6:18 pm β’ 1 0 β’ view
Watering is going to be more of an issue for all of us in future - I added more and more water butts and leaky-hose trailings etc in recent years. Very much Yes to you more-than - in fact I think I enjoyed my final couple of 'weedy' years more than when it was the neat plot in the pic.
aug 30, 2025, 5:21 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
Absolutely beautiful!
sep 2, 2025, 2:47 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
Maybe you could put your thoughts and allotment experiences down on paper β articles or even a book β to help others who take on turning bare or weed-choked earth into a source of food and pleasure. Or an audio book that newbies can listen to as they dig and sew.
aug 31, 2025, 11:30 am β’ 1 0 β’ view
Nice idea, but tweeting is really my metier, so I think I'll just move into the role of Ancient Buffer - and try to say useful things without boring people.
sep 1, 2025, 5:51 am β’ 1 0 β’ view