Smoke gets in your eyes
Down at the allotment we have been having trouble with the neighbours. It's the age-old problem that has caused fractious relations between gardeners and their neighbours since forever: the bonfire. Gardeners need to burn their rubbish. Bonfires produce smoke. And anyone unfortunate enough to live downwind of that smoke usually finds the experience distinctly unsettling.
(Perhaps the eviction of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden had nothing to do with apples and snakes, but an unfortunate misunderstanding concerning the burning of some autumn leaves).
Most of the time you can get away with it. With a bit of sensitivity - waiting until the wind is in the right direction, only burning the stuff when it is good and dry - it is possible to have the occasional bonfire without sparking off civil war.
On the Bromyard allotments, however, it has all gone a bit far for that. There is a new block of flats just across the road, and they have been getting very narked at the smoke coming their way. Voices have been raised. Threats have been issued. It has all got very nasty.
It is not nice of course having smoke blowing in through your bedroom window. But the allotments were there long before the flats were dreamed of. Are they telling us that we are going to have to run our allotments without ever being allowed to burn our old prunings and cabbage stalks? Are these people for real?
I can foresee the next complaint. Every spring I go to a nearby stables and stock up with horse manure for the following year. What with the noxious smells, the environmental disturbance and the health risk, I expect to be on the receiving end of a restraining order before the year is out...
Consider yourself fortunate that you have not yet been turned into a block of flats yourself, In Redbridge the Council is trying to sell off a number of allotment sites for redevelopment, there is a huge campaign against this, and forced the Council into "The Great Conversation" a borough wide consultation to see how they can finance an unrealistic Capital Programme.
Posted by: Barry Fleetwood | 02/04/2008 at 02:07 PM
Allotment rubbish does NOT need burning which is just an outmoded and environmentally questionable method of disposal.
Posted by: N Davis | 02/04/2008 at 02:13 PM
allotment rubbish does NOT need burning which is just an outmoded and environmentally questionable method of disposal. Furthermore if your horse manure is still stinking you definately should'nt be using it for growing foodstuffs. All in all Valentine, you're pretty ignorant, does your employer know ?
Posted by: N Davis | 02/04/2008 at 02:13 PM
Cabbage stalks do smoulder rather than fire immediately. There is no need to burn rubbish. Recycling facilities will be available either by a wheely-bin collection or at the local tip. OR, let the allotment holders have a whip-round and buy a shredder.
Posted by: Roy G | 02/04/2008 at 04:55 PM
I think you have a really unreasonable attitude towards your neighbours. They don't deserve to have smoke billowing through their windows just because you lived there before they did. What kind of argument is that? If people on the other side of you were having rave parties ten years ago would that make it ok if they kept you awake all weekend with blairing music. You live in a city and you need to be aware that other people live there too.
Posted by: Mr Nasty | 02/04/2008 at 07:02 PM
Think..."Compost heap"...although people do get carried away with that, too. Burning just ticks off the neighbours.
Posted by: Kathy | 16/04/2008 at 06:20 PM
Well, that sparked off a debate, didn't it? In response to my critics, I DO have a compost heap, and only burn stuff about once or maybe twice a year. Some things have to be burned because they are diseased, and you do not want to put them in the compost heap. Putting potato haulms with blight in a municipal heap is just plain selfish. Others things, like Brussels sprouts stalks, take too long to rot down.
As for N Davis's comments about smelly manure, I feel I should point out that my original remark was a joke. Please try and keep the abuse to a minimum.
Yes, bonfires can be annoying, and a considerate gardener only has bonfires when the wind is in the right direction, and makes sure that they bonfires are not too smoky. But I believe it is going too far to say that the residents of a block of flats who have only been there about 12 months can dictate to the tenants of allotments which have been there for more than 100 years about what they can and cannot do.
Posted by: Valentine Low | 22/04/2008 at 09:22 AM