Читать книгу The Allotment Book - Andi Clevely - Страница 44

Looking after a plot is often a family activity that can be made more appealing to children by creating one or two areas especially for them. While you might feel that a small lawn and its attendant mowing is a waste of space and effort, other places for play will often fit in unobtrusively.

▸ Perhaps the most popular piece of equipment is a swing, easily made from a strong board, old tyre or special rubber safety seat suspended on lengths of rope from a tree branch. Ropes on their own or a rope ladder may be suitable, but check for wear once or twice a year.

▸ Younger children might prefer a sand pit, made from a sunken rigid pond liner filled with clean silver sand; when no longer used, the sand can be incorporated into potting compost, and the pit transformed into a pond.

▸ If fires are allowed on site, construct a simple fire pit for those end-of-day family gatherings. Excavate a circular hole a spit or so deep and line it with 3–4 courses of bricks to form a neat ring wall. A fire of wood offcuts and dry prunings will make a safe fire, where you can bake some of your own foil-wrapped potatoes.