As Britain is hit by yet another storm, the allotment lies half flooded with the other half saturated. Any additional rainfall will surely put our plot entirely under water yet again. Forecast is for a month’s worth of rain over the next few days – I am seriously considering opening my plot as a boating lake. It’s frustrating because we have still been unable to finish digging over the plot or completing any number of the winter jobs.
Over the last few days, despite the horrendous weather, I have seen several hints of spring. The blueberry bish has started to open it’s buds, the primroses are flowering, the daffodils are growing and the trees seem to be waking up from their winter slumber. Speaking of trees, Steve appeared from a market with five Apricot trees. I have wanted an apricot tree for years as my husband adores the fruit. We know that it is possible to grow apricots on site because someone down the other end has managed to over the course of several years. Kindly, Steve has let me buy one of his trees which we will plant on the left side of the plot, well away from the stagnant water.
After debating most of the winter and frustrated with the amount of flooding on the plot throughout the year, I have asked to be put on the waiting list for a half plot, one that won’t flood and is preferably near our main plot. I know the planting I have done last year will have improved the flooding but it hasn’t made enough of a difference yet. Without buying tons and tons of top soil or converting the plot to raised beds (both extremely expensive and time consuming), we will have to wait for the trees and willow to mature more. This may well mean several more years of flooding which we will put up with providing we can still grow some crops elsewhere where the flood risk is significantly lower.
Our plot is one of the lowest on site and as a consequence, it floods every heavy rainfall. This winter has been particularly bad but we still lost large parts of our crops due to flooding last spring. If anyone has any bright ideas on how to limit the flooding, we would be extremely grateful to hear them!
The Good Life Crewe 
The flooding is a nightmare on our plot too, we ended up swapping sides to a better drained one but it is still absolutely sodden. We dug small temporary channels to drain ours into the dyke at the end of the plots last year, but that only works if there’s somewhere for the water to go. It’s lovely that you’ve got a long term plan, good luck!
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Unfortunately, there is nowhere for the water to go after it reaches my plot! We have an underground river running beneath part of the site and due to the extremely high water table, this part of the site always has a tendency to flood
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That’s a shame, I think we have been particularly unfortunate with the weather this winter though.
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Definitely agree with you! There have been plots which I have never seen flooded, absolutely covered in water. However, our plot has always flooded every year to a greater or lesser extent
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