Allotment

I don't have an allotment as I've enough trouble looking after my garden at home, but they are more popular than ever, as people try to grow their own.

They don't get any tidier though. You have the usual mix of well cared for ones, those where you have to search for the cultivated plants, and those that are plain abandoned.

I think a lot of people have an initial burst of enthusiasm, not really understanding that constant care is needed to keep down weeds and pests, and quickly give up when they realise the work involved.

One of the plots had been carefully dug over this winter, a dozen raised beds constructed but never filled with topsoil, and then just left. Absolutely nothing done! Why, after all the initial effort? I know there may be a genuine reason, but it does happen rather a lot.