I’ve been a plot holder for just over nine years now and I still
feel like I’m learning it all, and still have so much to learn. My plot evolves
every year as I choose to do new things, or set aside new areas. For the last
two years I have had a rotting wood pile under a tree for the wee beasties,
and this year I have installed bug houses and a frog shelter (the grass
collecting bucket from my manual mower). As B*xit moves ever closer (ugh) I am
getting more determined to grow more food. I don’t want to leave the Eu and I don’t
want to pay stupid money for food. I want to be more self-sufficient and
actually have good, reliable, heavy crops. I need to up my allotment game.
So I’ve been thinking about the wasteful things I do.
Plastic waste is a big issue right now, and rightly so, but I am guilty of
using and relying on it. GUILTY. It’s just so cheap, easy, accessible, and
hardwearing. I want to move away from single-use plastics on the allotment but
it is taking a lot of thinking about and planning.
Every year we grow peas and beans, and we attempt varying
brassicas. All of these things are grown up or under pea netting – which we buy
for a pound a box on the high street. I still have four unopened packets in my
shed. I hate the stuff; it tangles SO easily and rips easily, and once it’s
been used, it is quite hard to untangle it and reuse it. It is easier and less
stressful to just nip to the shops and buy another box. We have also had to
untangle wee birdies from it, so it is not wildlife friendly either. I also use
tarpaulins to cover the beds when I’ve dug them and some of these are getting
old and tatty, and are starting to fray so there are bits of plastic tarp strip
in the ground or the compost bin. The rubbish bags we use in the shed are plastic
(generally second or third use, but while I reuse bags for rubbish bags, it is
still plastic going to landfill). Plant labels I tend to keep and reuse as I grow
the same things year on year. I recently used a plastic plant label to mend a
(plastic) bird feeder that the squirrels have ravaged.
I buy lots of seed, mealworm, and fat balls for the birds,
all of which are packaged in plastic. I try to reuse the fat ball tubs as water
bowls or mint growing tubs, or as storage in the shed. I have been buying 20kg
bags of seed from my old job and then storing that in fat ball tubs (mouses (and rats) know where I keep the food…), but
it is still a lot of plastic.
I generally grow straight from seed, and any pots or seed
trays we use (plastic) are years old and get reused year on year. I don’t think
we have a lot of plant pot waste as they get taken back home to be used again.
How easy will it be to reduce allotment plastic? I think not
very. I think a lot of it will require financial input which isn’t easy, and a lot of forethought. I plan
and intend to start buying rolls of square metal mesh to use as caging, to make
sturdier, permanent veg protection. Bees will be able to get in through the
gaps but the pigeons won’t, and birds won’t get their feet stuck in the mesh
when they land on it. Rolls of metal mesh are not cheap and I need to do some
basic planning work to calculate how much I need and making the wooden frames
for the covers. I’d like a series of dome cloches – simple timber rectangle
bases with domed mesh attached which can be lifted over crops.
I think a lot of it will come down to attitude. Bird seed and fat balls etc can be made at home, but it’ll be more inconvenient as I’ll
have to find a no/low waste store, and my nearest one is a few miles away, and
then I’ll have to make the fat balls. I need to get into good habits and really
think about what I’m doing, why I’m doing it, and why I’m trying to do it a
certain way. Lots of the regional Wildlife Trusts sell bird seed, so that could be an option.
This year, I want to make more permanent structures on the
plot. While I am getting good at bamboo cane & pea netting cages, I know I can
improve and change the way I do things. It’ll make me feel better about my
environmental impact and will go a small way to helping wildlife.
I’ve been reading up about plastic free allotments to try
and learn more, get new ideas and hints, and to encourage myself to go for it. The
general advice is to start small and build up – it can get very overwhelming
very quickly, so I think I will try and aim for reducing one or two things a
month.
Easy switches will be plant labels [links to Woodland Trust shop]; reuse what I have
(plastic), or use wooden lollipop sticks. Years ago I made some Fimo plant
labels, some of which are still going strong. I’d like to make more of them as
they are hardwearing and look pretty ace. I have decided to not use the pea
netting anymore, even though I have some new boxes in the shed. I think my
biggest struggle is going to be bird seed, and larger things I buy in such as
compost/soil improver (my home compost is not enough to supply the plot!),
grit, gravel, and chippings. There are often lots of little bits of plastic on
things too which are unavoidable as a consumer – the ties used to attach labels
to things, or ties used to keep planks of wood together. I’d rather buy fat
balls in tubs instead of bags as I can reuse the tubs, but even they have a
little bit you have to break off the rim to open it, which gives another
slither of plastic to be disposed of.
What other tips and hints are there to reduce plastic waste
when growing? I have been reading the following to get started:
Abingdon Carbon Cutters: http://abingdoncarboncutters.org.uk/abingdon-cuts-plastic/plastic-free-gardening/
My Productive Backyard: http://www.myproductivebackyard.com.au/how-to-grow-2/towards-a-plastic-free-garden/
