BY POPULAR DEMAND

On Derby’s Ashbourne Road and District Allotments there seems to be no end to the demand for small spaces for newbie allotment gardeners to put down some roots, as Potty Plotter Elaine Crick explains

- Elaine Crick

Having completed their year on thestarter plots, our new gardeners arenow ‘battle-hardened’ and raring tomove on to full-sized allotments as and when they become available.

It seems these former Starter Plotters are limitless in their energy, for rather than putting their feet up over the cold winter months to grab for the seed catalogues and dream, they have been busily clearing the little starter plots in preparation for more newcomers so that now they are clean and tidy for the season ahead.

Caz and Michael Joyce are two such newbies, now fully qualified allotment gardeners who have been clearing their new full-sized plot and preparing it for spring sowings. Their handiwork is clearly visible from the pathway: the rubbish has gone, the once overwhelming couch grass has been cleared, and suppressant has been laid over the bare soil.

What of their Starter Plot? “We’ve never had such brilliant parsnips,” gloated Mike. “We’ve still got kale, sprouts and more parsnips on there,” he continued as both go on to share their plan to clear their Starter Plot, enthused after seeing the beginning of the work by the volunteers on the ‘new new’ Starter Plots.

The creation of the site’s next set of Starter Plots is underway to meet the demand from enquirers to the site. Time is of the essence, so yet again the volume of noise has increased and the team of volunteers is back at work. As they crack on, the Howcroft family are busy next door clearing their Starter Plot (as the additional rules stipulate in their tenancy agreement).