Plot 33: A new community 'forest garden'

Nancy Reading wrote:That's great news Ac! - pat on the back all round I think!

Its good to hear, for sure.

Nancy Reading wrote:
Some thoughts:

- When do you have to make a decision on the new plot?
- Would your grant money be affected?
- Could you continue 'guerilla gardening' on the old plot (plus adjacent) and get most of the benefit of produce without the hassle of trying to recruit more volunteers?
- What possibilities for more volunteer help can you think of?

Paperwork ideally should go in around 1 Oct with four weeks to pay the rent, which would be about £70 extra.

I've checked with the grant holder, and they are keen to support the move.

I'm going to talk to the site committee about their thoughts e.g. using the plot for soft fruit & maybe seedling etc. propagation for the whole site community?

This might lead to having more plot holders actively supporting the shared community project.

Also, I am hoping the site committee might be more open to wider publicity for the project, helping to attract more volunteers with various skills & interests.

Nancy Reading wrote:
- How can you design the new plot to be more resilient/less work (maybe permies.com can help with ideas!)?
- You'd have to change your thread title

Setting up rainwater harvesting is a high priority.

Leaning into popular perennial veg would be helpful, although tree kale is the main obvious option there.

More direct sowing, less transplanting.

And a new thread!

Nancy Reading wrote:
Sometimes making a SWOT analysis or forcefield diagram (see https://www.tsw.co.uk/blog/leadership-and-management/force-field-analysis/ for example) can help firm up ideas as to what the best decision may be.

image from tsw.co.uk

I suggest if you do try one of the decision tools, you don't do the analysis by yourself - try and get the allotment committee, some volunteers and other stakeholders involved too then you will get ideas you may not have thought of.

Good point.  The grant holders are going to briefly discuss the idea on Wednesday, and I plan to talk further to them & the site committee at the weekend.  

The main threats I can see are, over-committing risking burnout, and attracting .. disruptive? .. interest to the allotments site.

So, lots to think about relatively quickly!  Thanks for all the helpful questions!