Of carpets and quangos

It appears that the Lottery-funded and government-funded semi-quango Allotment Regeneration Initiative is closing down soon, at least according to the UK's Horticulture Week magazine...

"More allotmenteers are getting thrown off their plots. This is a good thing, say some, because of waiting lists. Mainly newbies who are giving up, allotment types tell me, such as Allotment Regeneration Initiative, which is closing."

I'm dealing with consequences of such abandonment. Thankfully the Allotment Regeneration Initiative's website has a useful "Restore the Plot" PDF pamphlet, which gives sound and succinct advice on restoring an abandoned allotment plot.

Interesting note in the PDF about the chemicals in some types of cheap carpets, which are used on allotments as weed suppressant material. I can't imagine that the EU's health and safety commissars would allow carpets for sale in people's homes though, where babies might chew on a corner or dogs might lick them, if the chemicals in them were really that toxic to humans or animals.