I’ve been alerted to the story of Jim and his allotment by allotment 5 1/2. It’s a story I’ve been following for the last couple of months as 5 1/2 has kept the world updated. In summary, the story goes like this…

Jim is 76 and has been allotmenting for many years. Last year he put up a plastic greenhouse so that he could extend his growing season. All sounds perfectly reasonable doesn’t it?

Except the parish council have just served Jim with a notice to quit his plot because they don’t allow plastic greenhouses on their allotments!

This is ludicrous in a number of different ways:

1. An allotment is not a show garden. It is a place for growing food. It doesn’t need to look pretty – it should be productive.

2. A poly tunnel extends the growing season which allows Jim to eat more fresh veg for longer and provides him with more physical exercise – two things we all need lots of.

3. Plastic greenhouses are not a nuisance. There are loads of dodgy plastic greenhouses on my allotment, Some people have even built greenhouses out of spare double glazing windows! It doesn’t spoil my enjoyment of allotmentering and does not produce too much (if any) noise.

4. Jim has the full backing of the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners who say that the council have no legal right to object to his greenhouse (the council disagrees with this point).

5. Jim is 76 and enjoys allotment gardening. If he is kicked off he is unlikely to find a new allotment and start again. What positive purpose does this serve?

There is a website in support of Jim here.

If you are a facebook fan then you can join a group to Save Jim’s Allotment (I have!).

So thanks to 5 1/2 for sharing this with us. Having an allotment is hard enough, especially when slimy good for nothing creatures try to spoil all of your hard work. As for the slugs…