An Allotment??

Well the blog has been sadly neglected as of late.. but I will try to get us back on track.

After much lengthy discussion, the family has decided we would like to get an allotment.

What is an allotment you say?

I found a very good definition, with historial reference, to explain what an allotment is.

What is an allotment?
For the benefit of any foriegn readers, an allotment is a plot of land made available by the local authorities for a small annual rent. This is an English custom that dates back thousands of years to the days when the principal landowner was the Church. In those days, the land was made available to those that needed it in exchange for 10% of the produce, known as a tythe.

The traditional measurement of land in England is the acre. One acre being roughly the amount of land a man with a team of oxen could plough in a day. The acre was divided into quarters called roods, the measurement of which is ¼ chain wide, (1 pole) by 10 chains long. The 10 chains length was considered the maximum practical distance for ploughing and became known as the furrow-lengh, furrow-long or furlong. Remember, in those days the plough could only work in one direction and the ploughman had to lift the ploughshare up while the oxen pulled it back to the beginning ready to start another furrow. The chain also just happens to be the length of a cricket pitch.

That was rural life in the dark ages. In more recent times, successive wars created food shortages in the towns and cities and several laws have been passed to force the local authorities to provide land at economic rates wherever there was the need. As city dwellers lacked the teams of oxen, the rood (¼ acre) was divided into quarters to make a piece of land of 10 poles. This was considered enough to keep a family of urchins full of greens. Nowadays, these plots have been further reduced in size to 5 poles.

We have made enquiries at our local allotment site and hopefully we will be able to meet with them next week to get our very own plot!