THE DARK SIDE TO THE ALLOTMENT PLOT / EMMA'S ALLOTMENT DIARIES

Hello everybody, welcome to my allotment diaries. My name is Emma, these are my allotment diaries. This is my first allotment plot, second year now. I can't get my coat off. Oh my god, so, excuse the face, no make-up, nothing, because I was only going to pop down here today. I saw that it was raining a little bit, and I thought, oh great, no one's going to be here, I can get on with some jobs that I'm a bit, like, I'm not very good at, and I don't like other people watching me. And then on the way here, it absolutely poured. The heavens opened, and I am drenched. The kids are drenched, but it's stopped now. And actually, it's just quite nice to get out of the house for a little bit, even if it is soaking wet. But I did not think it through. I don't know what to say, I don't know why I'm even trying. Right, I came here today to do a couple of jobs. I need to check on my sweet peas first, and make sure that they are okay in the ground. So let's go and do that, and see if my makeshift cold frame survived. Because if it did, guys, this is a really great, cheap, easy way of making your own cold frame anywhere. So I'll be your guinea pig. As usual, I'm the guinea pig here. Oh my God, I'm falling into my shed, that's not good. Oh no, I've just broken the window, Tom. Shackley! No, it's fine, I didn't break the window. Right, it's stopped raining, thank the Lord for that. Yeah, yeah. Oh my God, yeah, they're all alive. Look at these babies. They actually look much better now. They look really healthy. I wonder if they need a little bit more water, actually. I might just water them. Come on, guys. Have a drink, have a drink, have a drink. Put your little hat on. Live, babies, live. It's very beautiful here in the rain, I have to say. It is such a beautiful plot. But in the rain, when it's all misty everywhere, and then you get the pops of colours from the daffodils, I'll just show you. Look at that. It's all misty and gloomy, and then you've got these vibrant little pops of daffodils. That's why I was so eager to get these in this year, because I just love them. I love the difference they make to the plot. It's such an easy, quick thing to do, just to plant some bulbs. And then in the spring, you reap the benefits. It's just lovely, isn't it? It's just such an easy thing to do. But yeah, I'm so thrilled with them. It really just perks me up when I come here and see them. Right, in my previous video, I talked about taking on a second plot. I have decided against that now. I think you guys are right, there is so much more that I can do with this plot. And I think I just need another year, or even two years, just to get my head around it. I think I just got a bit overexcited with the prospect of being handed one. Like, basically just literally being handed a plot. Are you alright? Oh, we found the roof! The back of my plot still isn't done, so I'll just show you roughly the back of the plot. So I made the teepee thing for the kids, so that's okay. But then I've got this fence of blackberry bushes that I had to dig up when I first got the plot. And under here is rubbish. So today I'm going to try and bag up this rubbish and take it to the dump at some point. But I want to get it all bagged up because I just hate looking at it now. I'm just sick of it. I feel really annoyed about it actually, because it's not actually my rubbish. It's rubbish that was here when I took the plot on. So I feel a little bit annoyed that I have to get rid of it. But I will, because it's my plot and I love my plot. Right, let's have a look what's under there. This is what's hiding at the back of my plot. How appalling and disgusting is this? This is so annoying, because this is now my property. Even though I didn't bloody cause the mess, it was on my plot when I did it under the blackberries. But I'm now responsible for getting rid of all this, which just seems really, really unfair. But I'm going to try and bag up as much of it as I can and just get it to the dump whenever I can really. But it's annoying, isn't it? Such a rubbish job, because it's not my bloody stuff. So I feel like I'm spending an entire day at the plot trying to clear somebody else's rubbish. And I won't go on about it, because you know, I don't want to sound negative. But it is one of the downsides of having an allotment, is that it is your responsibility. And the council don't really do anything to help. And yet it is your kind of responsibility. You have to keep your plot nice, and get rid of any rubbish, even if it's not yours. So one thing to think about if you get an allotment, or if you're thinking about it, is just to bear in mind that it is all on you. And it's not always fair. There we go. Look at all this that I'm finding. Cans of beer. Slug pellets. So many of these. So many bottles of these I found. Slug killers, which you shouldn't even really be using on a bloody allotment, should you? Because they kill everything. Not just slugs. That's awful. I think it's worth documenting this side. Like I said, people don't talk about this side of an allotment. They just talk about the fun, and the growing, and the digging, and all the weeds being the trouble. Actually, I find a lot of the time, rubbish is the bloody trouble with allotment plots. There's so much plastic. I'm always digging up plastic, even now. Bits of broken glass, cans, bottles. You name it, it's here. Look at that. It's just an absolute... It's just disgusting, but... I guess a positive way of looking at it is that it's not my mess, but it is my planet. So, I'm helping the planet. Right, I feel good, because operation clean up the bloody plot is well and truly underway. I've got some black bags ready to go to the dump now, and I just feel a bit better. I've been hiding that bit at the back of the plot for the longest time, just because I don't know what to bloody do with it. It's so disheartening to look at a pile of rubbish every day, when you're working so hard to get the plot in a good condition. I am a bit annoyed about it, but like I said, the positive way of looking at it is that it's not my mess, but it is my planet, and I want to do my bit. I wanted to take an allotment plot on and look after it, and that is just what comes with it. Just bear that in mind, I would say. It's been a long time since I've vlogged, and I'm pretty sure I just said that. There you go, they don't seem to care that it's absolutely pouring now. Hopefully this is just a shower and it'll stop in a minute, and I can just get out and bag up the last bits of it. But, yeah, thank God for daffodils, eh? Thank God for daffodils. It's getting dark now, there's lights on over there. I've never been here when it's been this dark before. Anyway, this is what I'm left with now, and I'm happier with this. And the reason I'm happier with this is because it's actually nature. It's like blackberry bushes. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to clear this to the back, because I don't mind having blackberry bushes stacked up, because it's nature. I know it will decompose, and also makes quite a nice fence. And this is going to give me so much more space once this is cleared. I don't mind it if it's like nature, things like that. It's when it's plastic and glass and stuff, which is still a bit under there, but I'll separate it into another pile. Oh God, the rubbish on allotment plots. Seriously, someone needs to do a vlog on that. Oh, I am. This is like back-breaking work. I haven't done this work for over a year. My back is killing me and my leg is killing me. I'm going to have to go in a minute. I'm only 33. Knackered. Just clearing the alley. Ah! Can't answer that question. Can't do bloody anything. Probably one or two bombs coming under it. Bloody hell, can you imagine? Oh God. Guys, sorry, I've got biscuit around my mouth, because I'm trying to stuff like a biscuit down my face, because I'm so knackered. Look at the state of me. And look at my coat. Just a little tip for anyone out there. Don't buy a white coat for the allotment. It's just not a good idea. Right, it looks like this now. This is after about an hour's work. That's all we can handle here. It's going to rain again in a minute. I'm happy with it. I think it's going to give me a lot more space. Thankfully there wasn't too much more rubbish under there. So what I'm going to do is cover it back up. What I'm going to do is try and cover it back up and come back another day and just keep clearing it. I am quite happy with it now. It's just such a weight on my mind. I just hate rubbish so much. And it was quite nice to get the back of the plot a bit clearer as well. Because I have got loads of space here. I've got all this down here, obviously, which you've seen a hundred times. But then I do have quite a lot of space down here, which I'm just not using. So rather than take on another plot, I will try and utilise it. Right, a bit of a weird vlog today. But I think it's important sometimes to talk about the realities of having an allotment plot. I will see you in my next video, guys. Please subscribe if you're new. And I'll see you next time. Thanks for watching.