Gardens and Allotments

[paul mann]

Wee can mind when iverybody had a garden or allotment? Tetties and cabbage were popular - somebody wrote a book aboot leeks - and soot could get rid of catapillas. Ah divvent mind tomatoes though, they mighta been a bit exotic.   

[Canny lass]

I can't remember tomatoes either. I can't remember ever seeing a greenhouse. Plenty of Coldframes though for propogating bedding plants. We grew, as well as leeks,potatoes and cabbages, sprouts, peas, onions, carrots lettuce and radishes. On the floral side it was margarits, asters, chrysanthemums and lupins. (The latter grow wild here and are classed as a weed)!  Some plants were Always left to go to seed for planting the following year and All garden waste was composted to improve the soil. No garden centres in those Days!

[Maggie/915]

Ah happy memories.

Garden vegetables grown in the back garden.

My folks also had pigs and chickens not in the back garden.

Produce shared with neighbours.

A life well lived here in our little town .

Deliveries to the door , vans or horse and cart.

[Vic Patterson]

We still have allotments here, they are about 7-8 miles out of Town though! I still plant in my back garden but only have a short growing season so its spuds, peas, turnips and carrots. (it will be a while yet before planting for this year)

Maggie we also kept pigs and chickens in dad's allotment, neighbours used to keep their tettie peelins for us to collect, wasnt much fun muckin them out, dad kept the garden at home for the veggies, and a greenhouse! first thing after work he'd go down to the greenhouse with the salt pot. He'd then pull a radish or parsnip and out with his trusty pocket knife.

I have some cine of Granda dibbling a hole and the bairns following popping in the spud and the next one cover it over. Watering and weeding were just part of your duties! (would that be cruel and unusual punishment today)

[Symptoms]

My Dad had an allotment which backed onto our back garden in East Riggs ... the back garden was separated from the allotment by a high & thick privot hedge (this hedge also made a great vertical trampoline - run, jump into it, bounce back);  access to the allotment was via a shed with two doors ... oh, and the shed was made from asbestos!!!! - I helped my Dad build it.  According to Google Earth these allotments have now been built over (Windsor Court).  My Dad grew all the usual suspects, but he was a very lazy gardener; dig a hole, plop it in was his technique - no double digging, no tattie tenches for him.  Funny thing was it was very productive.  We also kept hens.  Two doors down from us was Matty Binks (the plumber ... he also had a shop on Front St East I think) ... he has a greenhouse and grew toms.  The woman who lived three doors up from us (I can't recall her name) also had a greenhouse but she grew grapes - yep, grapes in Bedders in the 60s, I also have a vague recollection that she might have been the freeholder of the allotments.  The Cut ran down through the middle of these allotments ... a compacted earth path that ran from the back of the Council Offices to Acorn Avenue.  I've got some of my Dad's 8mm film (now on DVD) showing some of us lads riding my motorbike on the allotments and also featuring our hen races (dangle worms before the hens an see which one runs the quickest) ... I must be about 14 years old.