All my life I wanted to have a small holding but sadly its never happened, mainly of course due to finances so I put my name down for an allotment about 15 years ago when I realised I would never own one. I had long given up ever being given one as I knew there were long waiting lists when out of the blue I received a phone call to say due to some error my name had been over looked for years and t
hey just discovered this. I jumped at it even though I spend so much time in bed now I was not going to let that stand in my way of having my own piece of land to grow things. I of course did not tell the allotment committee about my health problems as I know they would have offered it to someone else as they would have felt I could not use it and other families need the land. I doped myself up on my painkillers -no not overdosed just took max I can and got to work. I was blessed with a plot that already had a shed with a small greenhouse attached and beds already laid out on half of it. It can be rather wet as the soil sits on sandstone so when it rains a lot there is no where for the water to go. No heavy digging just tarpaulins over the overgrown beds and after a few months or so it was easy then for me to clear them bit by bit. Was hoping to put some crops in to overwinter but it started to rain and rain and rain non stop so nothing was planted sadly. Didn't achieve any crops that first year. Having chronic illnesses does mean I will not get there as often as i would wish but am hoping to slowly change the shed (or if can some find the money add another one or an extension) to not only be a place to hold things but to be a home away from home so I could go and spend the day there and potter around when I am able. It might be small - a half plot and might not be the small holding I had always dreamed of owning but its my little piece of land and I want to grow what I can for as long as I can - even if its just flowers but I hope to grow far more. Just hoping my health will let me hold on to it, my lifelong dream at least in part.
