What a difference two years makes?

For many years we have tended our allotment plots amid a sea of weeds. Plots to all sides of us were overgrown and each summer deposited tons of weed seeds onto our plot. Besides tending our own plots we had to hack back an area around the perimeter so that the Japanese knotweed, docks, thistles, bramble and rose bay willow herb did not swamp us. This did not however, stop the clouds of seeds blowing over on even the most gentle of breezes.

Suddenly interest in keeping an allotment grew as publicity of the benefits increased through TV and magazines. Now most sites in Wakefield are fully tenanted. All the plots around us are cleared. The weed seeds still in the soil will no doubt keep us busy for some years to come but hopefully will be less of a problem.

The short piece of video below shows before and after photographs of the area around our plots. The befores were taken in 2004 and the afters in 2006/7. It just shows what a difference two short years can make.