This is the time of year when a lot of people are told that they’ve hit the jackpot and have an allotment. It’s such an exciting time, and for the first few weeks, it’s easy to get carried away with the romance of an allotment and not think about the practicalities of it. After a few weeks, though, you realize that you need somewhere to store your tools and that your car boot really isn’t a good substitute shed. Now it’s worth checking before you go any further what the rules are about buildings and storage on your allotment.
Some are very strict indeed, not allowing anything at all. This isn’t very fair, and committees can be persuaded to change their mind. Or else, some have communal sheds with shared keys. (By the way, the different kawaii keychains are extremely popular now). This is better and does encourage people to get along well, which is nice. But it just takes one dishonest person on the allotment who keeps borrowing – and then breaking – your tools.
Other allotments only allow storage boxes, which is fine as most people only need these. Check what the rules about colors are, as some parish councils are even prescriptive about the paint or finish that you have on your box. You don’t want to fork out a lot of money for something that you just can’t use. It is recommended to spend enough time checking out the diverse guides and reviews of the outdoor storage boxes to find the really useful ones.
Of course, you might be allowed to have a shed, and there are loads to choose from. But some will just be storing your tools, and given allotments can be quite inhospitable to work on for long periods of time, especially when the April showers come down all of a sudden, you should think about converting a bit of the shed into a seating area.
Find the variant which doesn’t require to be grand: you can just have a stool in a cleared area. Or you can really go to town, use wallpaper on the inside of your shed and have a nice little table and chair to eat your packed lunch at.
Some allotments even install little camping stoves there, but again, do check the rules about storing gas up there and so on. There are so many great things about having an allotment. But having a shed will make your plot even better, and help you spend all the time you need up there.