Sunday 6 February 2011

Stormy Weather ...

So my big plans for the weekend didn't quite pan out as hoped.

After my foray to the lottie last week I've been toying with hiring a rotivator all week. I know I know, I can hear you all shouting in horror, don't do it. But my main constraint when it comes to the lottie is time - I'm a weekend gardener by necessity. I work full-time and have a daily commute of 2.5 hours, so time is a really precious commodity to me.

I have several things I want to do this season, the main things being:
- clear the last remaining bit of the plot
- change the layout of all of my beds
- manure the whole plot
- erect the new greenhouse.

So my plan was to hire a rotivator for the weekend and rotivate the right hand side of the plot (as you look from the door). There is a little bit of bindweed on this side, coming in from the hedge, but otherwise it's creeping buttercups and dandelions. OH was going to help me take up all of my paths. Then when I'd rotivated the other side and taken out all of the old strawberries I'd planned to put the paths back in, but instead of having beds leading off the main path as they are now, I want to have long beds running alongside the main path (make any sense ?? LOL).

Then next weekend I thought I'd have some manure dropped.

Well that was all fine and dandy until the voice of doom spoke and informed me that the weather forecast was for stormy weather this weekend.

Oh how right that voice was ... but not so much about the weather, even with the battering of heavy rain and gales on Friday and Saturday. No, the worst definitely came today. Not weatherwise, but in the form of a committee meeting !

I've been a member of the committee for a couple of years now, but am getting seriously disenchanted it. Like most committees it consists of a mixture of people - some in this century, some still in the last century, some who who seem to end up taking on all the work and one or two who like us to listen to the sound of their voices.

Today we should have been reviewing the shop business plan - actually we should have reviewed it last month ... but instead, we've now had to set up a third, special, meeting and give up an evening to hear it - it'll probably be a pile of cr*p - the signs are there. We've had small cracks forming for a few months, but now war lines are being drawn and it's all very disillusioning.

How about this for a laugh - our Chairman doesn't even have a plot ! or our Treasurer/Secretary come to that. You'd think that would be a pre-requisit for being on an allotment committee ...

I have spent six hours today on committee business and it looks like next week I'll be giving up more of my precious time to help to help empty our dilapidated society hut that is at the point of collapse - it'll be the same faces I'm sure that turn up. I have much better ways to spend my precious time ... tempting.

There may be trouble ahead !

10 comments:

  1. Our Association had a three hour meeting today. We got around to talking rents 10 mins from the end. Was I wise to join?

    The AGM day loks like a barrel of laughs - Committee Meeting followed by AGM followed by barbeque. How does anyone get any gardening done? (I'm another weekends only due to work commitments too in case you couldn't tell, Ducky)

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  2. What you need is a plot on our site. None of that fussy committee rubbish with us, hello pub! OK so we have the usual politics to deal with, but the demographic is somewhat younger and we have more of a 'can do' attitude, without getting bogged down with red tape. Oh and we use a shop on another site rather than have our own, which helps!

    Yep, it's usually the same faces who do a lot of the work as ever, but I hear the secretary is hugely efficient and what he doesn't know about the weather... ;>)

    Rob (aka Voice of Doom)

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  3. As far as I know, our committee never meets!

    Bliss...... everyone just gets on with life and digging.

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  4. Oh how that rings bells of remembered horror in my ears. I was chair of our association committee but resigned. Things just got far too unpleasant and to be honest it was the best thing that I did! It was as you said the ones who didn't want to do anything to help were the ones who caused all the trouble and stirred things up! Since that point our association has just died a death as no-one wanted to take on the bullies!

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  6. LOL, decided to delete my last comment as it was a bit ranty. I'm feeling very annoyed still !

    and breathe ..... !!!!!

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  7. Hi Michelle... Our allotment committee has been going for a couple of years. I'm secretary, and yes, it is quite a bit of work but fulfilling.

    Last Sept in just 6 weeks we revived the St Ives Flower & Produce Show after a gap of 15 yrs. It was a great success and we got lots of plaudits for getting it going again.

    I've just published our on line quarterly newsletter... about half the content gets written by me, the rest from a few trusty contributors. You can read the winter newsletter at http://hraawinter2011.blogspot.com/

    Fortunately we all get on well, although there have been a few challenges. If the committee members don't get on together it must be neigh on impossible.

    Regards, John

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  8. oh thanks for that John - actually I've read your newsletters before, I came across them when I was looking for inspiration when setting up ours. It was very useful and I like your site a lot.

    Here are our newsletters - the last 5 haven't been added for some reason yet: http://heeley-allotments.wikispaces.com/Newsletters

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  9. Might be worth sticking around at least for the blood-letting; that could be fun, if emotionally wearing!!

    It sounds very much as though your committee are stuck in the past and need some heavy-duty challenging. Couldn't agree more that if they ain't got a plot they shouldn't be on the Cttee. That's a bit fundamental! Does the Society have a Constitution? You might find something in there to help you get 'em bang to rights.

    Failing that, I quite like Rob's approach (and haven't forgotten about a Sheffield bloggers meet)

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  10. oh Woody don't get me started on the constitution. Seems it is one of Pats (Allotment Federation) that was adopted, but nobody actually read it to ensure it made sense when they'd butchered it - we've muted changing it, but I guess we'll need at least three more committee meetings before it can even be considered for discussion .. god forbid we rush into anything LOL

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