Hi from the UK

[Marcus]

Hi Everyone

I always get stuck what to say when introducing myself but here goes.


I like in Bradford West Yorkshire England I have had my own allotment for just over 4 years and I have been the Chair person of the allotment association for 1 year. Unfortunatly our plots have had a big speight of vandalism over the last year and I was starting to think about giving up but Patti's Videos and this site reminded me just how much I need to keep it and not to let the vandals win. My Grandfather was a very keen gardener who grew all his own food and my mother was always a very keen gardener too untill she bacame too ill to continue gardening so I guess the green is in the blood and I'm continuing a family tradition.

This year I have started to convert a lot of my plot to raised beds (again thanks to Patti's Videos) I have always grown in rows before and I am looking forward to seeing how raised bed growing works out for me.

I would love to own some hens however the deeds to my house say I am not allowed to keep livestock (I'm hoping to get around that by saying they are pets) and I would also love to keep bees but that is further down in the pipe line.

anyhows thats me! so I look forward to meeting you all around the forums and sharing my experiences and learning from your experiences too

Take care all

Marcus

[gardengirl72]

Welcome Marcus! I'm so glad you found the site. Just an idea here, but maybe if you got the garden written up in the paper or had frequent gatherings there, the vandals might just leave it alone. Please post some pictures for us.

[Sinfonian]

Welcome Marcus! Sounds like you have a lot to teach us. I hope we can collectively inspire you to continue to fight the goof fight.

I for one have never had any ties to England. However, that all changed once I found out that my climate in Seattle is closest to that of the UK. Now I can't get enough of learning from your countrymen.

Welcome again!

[ecogirl]

Thank you so much for coming!!! Yay! Another one from UK!!!!!

[Marcus]

Hi and thanks for the welcome ;o)

The recent vandalism was reported in our local paper we have built a garden with seating that the public can use with a nature pond in hope of getting more local people interested and invlolved . the last set of damage was quite bad but one of the other plot holders distubed the vandals while they were in his polytunnel 2 ran away and the other tried to jump over his hedge there is a ditch behind that and he ended up breaking his leg (some would say poetic justice) unfortunatly the police say there wasnt enough evidence (no prints etc) anyways I better stop going on about that now or move it to another thread since this is the introductions section :)

I will take some pics very soon to show the work in progress etc

Thanks again for the welcome I look forward to learning from you all too

Marcus

[boyd3]

I've got family still in the UK (4th generation american here :) )

I'd love to see how your gardens look. Boo on the vandals!!!! My Aunt Lucy would love this, if only I could encourage her to read this, cuz she doesn't understand computers at all!

[Marcus]

thanks for the message Boyd3 I will get some pics done asap :)

where in the uk are your links?

[boyd3]

She's in London, although I've never visited there :( I hope to someday, when I am rich and famous.

[ecogirl]

I live in south yorkshire Marcus! And you live in West yorkshire am I right?

[Blossome]

Welcome Marcus.

[plantoneonme]

Hi Marcus and welcome. Could you explain what an allotment is? Is it a portion of a community garden or you own backyard? Kim

[Marcus]

Hi Kim

I guess the best description for an allotment would be a protion of a community garden. I rent it from the council and it is a good sized piece of land. Where I am there are about 30 plots unfortunatly a few years ago Allotments had lost a lot of interest and our site had fallen into neglect and disrepair. An association was formed by a group of enthusiasts there and we are working on improving the whole site we have built a community garden with a nature pond and at the moment are trying to get security fencing around to help stop the vandalisam/stealing unfortuanatly we are only managing a raise money for one section at a time ;( but hey we are getting there !. Allotments are becomming more popular again now and we now have a waiting list of people wanting a plot it makes a great difference when they are all occupied.

a good definition of allotments is on this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allotment_(gardening)


take care

Marcus

[MoniDew]

Welcome to the boards, Marcus. Looking forward to hearing more from you.

[Marcus]

Thanks Monica


take care

Marcus