Tuesday, January 14, 2014

It all adds up

The seed orders have gone in, mostly to DT Brown but also a minority to Seeds of Italy.  I've also ordered replacement Strawberry plants (Marshmello) from Marshalls.  After last year's debacle I'm moving the strawberries out of the allotment to the garden at home where I can keep a closer eye on them.  Marshalls had a 3-for-2 deal on them so I'm getting 30 plants for the price of 20.

But it does all add up.  I'm not sure whether this is wise but I'm trying to keep track of costs.  So far this year, and it's only the 14th of January, I've spent £71.87.  And, to heap further pain on this, yesterday the notice of rental costs arrived from the Council.  It's a VERY steep £160 this year.  Ouch.  there's a lot of unrest and discontent in Sheffield about this.  We're seeing the legacy of many years of under-management coming home to roost, with big 'catch-up' rent increases all happening in a couple of years.  We do also seem to be paying towards the very top end of the range of costs.  The one bright point in this is that I see I qualify for a 25% discount on account of being over 60.  Every little helps!!

6 comments:

mccardey said...

Are you into seed-saving at all? We've (finally) bought a garden and heritage seeds and seed-saving are going to be a big part of it.

PS: Your blog is delicious. It kept me going during my gardenlessness.

Tanya. said...

Wow..that's a lot of rent...how big are your plots?? Does this include insurances and water?? There are no concessions on our rents but it still works out at less than £1 a week for our plots and that includes all insurances and running mains water.

Nutty Gnome said...

There's been a lot happening on yon allotment whilst I've been AWOL Woody - looking good! How's the wine coming on? Need a tester?!

That book looks good too...might just pop over to amazon and see if i can't bag a bargain!

Nutty Gnome said...

Well you've done better than me on seed ordering - I've done bugger all so far!
By 'eck that rent rise is a bit steep...bit like your plot really! :-P

mccardey said...

I'm not sure where you are exactly, but I'm sending best wishes to you, your loved ones and your allotment re: the flooding. We're hearing about it in far-off Australia.

Gordon Mason said...

Hi All. Apologies for being slow in replying. Let me try to cover everyone in one reply:

Mccardey - yes, I do some seed saving, mostly of beans. Other stuff tends to become a bit cluttered and get in the way until eventually I lose patience with it all and hurl it out! Thank you for your kind words about the [under-posted] blog.

Tanya - it sure is a lot of rent. Not hard to see why people are so unhappy. It does include water but not insurance (although I think that comes as part of membership of the allotment society ( a much more reasonable £3 a year).

Nuttington - thanks for your kind words. It looks a bit better still today after pruning the blackberries. The wine is still 'maturing' so hasn't had much call for a tester but I've added your name to the [long] list. At this rate you'll be lucky if you get an eggcup-full! As you say, the rent rise is matched for steepness only by the plot itself. After all this rain I've been expecting to find it all slid down the hill but so far it seems to be clinging on!