What is an Allotment?

[zornt]

Pardon my ignorance, but just what is an allotment?
From the looks of the pictures it is a gardin or something. Does this refer to a rental area?
Most of the time I do ok with the nuances of the language shift, but this one has mestumped?
Thanks
Jon

 

[xylaria]

It is an area of land that is rented solely for the purpose of growing food.

 

[Mesquite]

It's a small plot of land usually used for growing vegetables on that has been rented from the local council

More details here

 

[British Red]

Usually owned by the local council (State) and rented at a nominal rent (way below market value). Originally intended so working folk had enough land to grow food for their families.

 

[xylaria]

There are various rules, generally the food must not be sold, the size varies but it is garden size. Some you can keep chickens some you cant , they arent really big enough for animals like goats normally. They came about between the wars and during the second world war they were very important at preventing food shoratages.

 

[zornt]

Thanks for the quick informative replies !!!:You_Rock_

 

[boney gumbo mcgee]

Allotments here are generally sized by whats called a pole measurement system, apparently harking back to Anglo Saxon times. A standard allotment is 10 poles here which is roughly 250 metres squared, but you can get 5 poles also. Here in my village a 5 pole allotment costs £12.50 per year which is subsidised by our Parish council. There is currently quite a long waiting list for an allotment here in some parts of the UK.

 

[david1]

Allotments as other have said land for growing on. But they do cause all sorts of problems..
Allotment envy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01q9d8b

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Note: Allotments are not limited to the UK. In the Netherlands, where high density living in apartments is more prevalent than the UK, Allotments are very popular. The Dutch call them Tuin, which translates literally as "Garden". They tend to be stricter and more regimented than UK allotments, and also a lot more expensive, we used to pay several hundred euro. The Dutch also tend to use them slightly differently. While many will use their Tuin to grow vegetables, flowers are more likely. They really are just gardens, more than the food production garden that they are in the UK.

Finally, a bit of allotment trivia. Einstein used to have an allotment/tuin when he was living in the Netherlands, and he got a letter from the Allotment society asking him to either tidy his tuin, or to vacate the plot.

Thank you for reading Julia's late night obscure trivia forum posts, I'm available for pub quizzes and other trivia events

Julia

 

[TarHeelBrit]

Usually owned by the local council (State) and rented at a nominal rent (way below market value). Originally intended so working folk had enough land to grow food for their families.

Also somewhere dad can escape to when mum is nagging his head off.

 

[ged]

... Finally, a bit of allotment trivia. Einstein used to have an allotment/tuin when he was living in the Netherlands, and he got a letter from the Allotment society asking him to either tidy his tuin, or to vacate the plot. ...

Actually the plot was in Spandau.


http://www.cityfarmer.info/2008/12/07/einstein-scolded-for-not-weeding-his-allotment-1922/

 

[Quixoticgeek]

I stand corrected, I knew he had an allotment and got a letter asking him to tidy it up, couldn't remember where it was.

J