Thursday 29 May 2008

Starting point















So this is what the plot currently looks like. It's 10 rods. I had to look this up. The Royal Horticultural Society are very helpful on such matters and provided the following information:

"Plot sizes are measured in rods, an old Anglo-Saxon unit so-called because it was the length of the rod used to control a team of eight oxen.

A rod is 5.5 yards (5.03 metres).

A chain = 4 rods = 22yd (20.12m) and is the length of a cricket wicket.

A furlong = 10 chains.

A mile = 8 furlongs.

An acre is the area of land that could be ploughed in a day, being a furrow long (furlong)and a chain wide, or 160 square rods.

Allotment plot sizes are usually five or 10 rods. A 10 rod allotment is 10 square rods in area, 10 x 5.5 x 5.5 = 302.5 sq yd (253 sq m).

In metric units, a 10 rod allotment is one fortieth of a hectare: in imperial units it is one sixteenth of an acre."

Right, that's cleared that up then. For anyone who didn't follow, our allotment is big. Too big for our needs and as you can see from the picture, it is currently in a rather wild state.

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