RobD1

They started charing to go in after the historic gardens suffered vandalism. Given they pay to maintain them seems reasonable to charge and it's only £1.50.

Depends on your site, our Association takes out public liability insurance for our site.

Wouldn't have thought they needed to belong to an association to buy the produce, but as you can see the whole idea is as clear as mud: http://www.nsalg.org.uk/uploads/article463/To%20sell%20or%20not%20to%20sell.pdf And I'm sure most of us know the odd person who sells stuff for their own pocket rather than any Association.

Starbucks always used to give them away - at least the one next to the children's hospital did. Not been in for a while so not sure if it's still the case.

Try this one: http://community.hortweek.com/blogs/peterseabrook/archive/2010/08/09/changing-times.aspx This article is from last year though so is it still the same now? Chelsea sold out faster than ever by all accounts and Hampton Court also sold out.

How are you defining a 'decline in popularity'? Ticket sales for Chelsea, Hampton Court and Tatton are apparently all up, which is probably why they can get away with continually putting the prices up. Maybe there are less horticultural exhibits (I don't know, I don't go to them), but maybe this is what the wider public want?

Well for the longer term option, you probably can't beat fruit trees. See the edible Todmorden map and info: http://www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk/blogs/orchard-map but when it was suggested to plant an orchard in one of the parks here there was a great deal of moaning and the plan had to be shelved Otherwise, salad leaves, radishes, herbs are all quite easy, although you can get problems with slugs.

Leave them netted all the time until you pull them out the ground!

It's probably a bit late to get anything off them this year as most strawberries are ripening around now - there's a reason why they were cheap If they've got any flowers on them you might get some off them but it'll be better for the plant if you take any flowers off them to allow the plant to develop and therefore get a better crop off them next year. And as Strix said, take off any runners this year.

Get yourself down to the farmer's market in town tomorrow and go to the Red Hill Farm stall - http://www.redhillfarm.com Not cheap, but worth every penny.

Only you dig the soil to plant them in the ground, then hoe them up a couple of times as they're growing and then finally dig them up when they're ready. It's not the potatoes breaking up the soil

What he said! The rain we have had hasn't really penetrated the ground so they won't have had enough water yet, best thing to do is give them a really good soaking but slowly to allow the water to get deep enough into the soil. The other thing is not to dig them up when you think they are ready, but to gently dig with your hands or a trowel around the potatoes to see how big they are so you don't dig them up too early.

Yep, kick off 10am 'til about 2ish - depending on how many plants we have and how busy it is.

If you don't want anything more than 3 foot high I'd have thought that would count out a tree, and possibly many of the others too - currants and raspberries are usually a bit taller than this, but not too much. Raspberries will also spread from where you plant them. But if you really don't want anything more than 3 foot tall you're probably looking at strawberries. As always, what fruit do you really like, then look for plants that would fit in that space. Blueberries in pots for another suggestion.

Our waiting list (Hagg House) was 20 at the beginning of April and the person at the top of the list had been waiting 12 months. I'd speak to the allotment office and ask them about the various waiting lists for the different sites in the area, they've cleared quite a few in the last 12 months and the inspections are a bit more rigorous than they were in the past which also helps free up plots.

You do realise this is unlikely to work? They may have a duty to do this but there is no limit on the length of time it takes to provide the land. Just how many new sites have been created in the city or around the country despite huge waiting lists? It'll be quicker to join a waiting list - they're less than a year on a couple of sites around here now (Hagg House and Hagg Lane). Don't know about the other sites.

Where does it say that then? They intend to remove the statutory duty to provide allotments when 6 or more people request them in a local area where there are no others - a duty largely ignored or bypassed by local councils. To sell them off requires consultation with the plot holders of that site, approval from the Secretary of State (who has to take into account if the site is being used, is there a waiting list, etc) and provision of an alternative site. This is not being changed. OK, this is something that's worth being aware of but is being blown out of proportion by the media.

Independent goes for 2 + 2 = 300,000 There was some obscure rule the Government was going to scrap, which was already all but ignored by councils, regarding the provision of new sites. This appears to have snowballed into all allotments are being sold off...

Over watered them? Not enough water? Not enough light? Don't really know to be honest, but what you can do is gently move the soil to see if the seed is showing any signs of germination. Courgettes do tend to germinate quite quickly though, and despite the weather there is still time to plant more seeds if you need to.

And give it plenty of water - it's probably flowering as it's been so dry recently

They don't have specific allocation periods, they offer them out as they become available - it's just they tend to have more to offer out around now when people give them up at the end of the year they have paid for them, or get kicked off for not paying, etc. Probably nothing, but you run the risk of being kicked off and losing everything with no notice at a guess when they notice you. Or worse still you clear it all and they let it out to someone else.

Isn't there a sticky at the top of the group with all this stuff in?

Check out the plant sales thread in the stickies, but there's one on Hagg House Allotments (Bole Hill Road) on 23 April.

Pretty much yes, although it would probably have to be charges for facilities provided by Parks and Countryside Department. It's also worth remembering that actual rents are proposed to got up between 50-70% for two years - it's only because they include water in the overall costs that the actual percentage looks much lower. They're not allowed to make a profit on the water element of the bill.

Ring up the allotment office and ask them - I'd also check how long the waiting lists are for each site.