The Last Hour on the Plot (gouache style)

An allotment is a plot of land rented, usually from a local council, for growing fruit and vegetables. Their roots lie in the nineteenth century, when land was set aside for the labouring poor, and the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 required councils to provide plots where there was demand. A full plot is traditionally measured as ten rods, roughly 250 square metres. Many sites have waiting lists, so half plots are now common.

Summer evenings on the plot are mostly about water and picking. Watering in the evening or early morning means less is lost to evaporation, and it's better to give the roots a thorough soak every few days than a daily sprinkle. Climbing beans sown outdoors in May or June need picking every few days once pods form, because beans left to mature slow the plant down. Net cabbages against pigeons and cabbage white butterflies, and check under the leaves for caterpillars from June onwards.

Cabbage leaves fill the foreground, climbing beans rise behind, and a small plum-coloured shed sits among them in evening light. The title says it's the last hour of the day, when plot holders tend to arrive after work. That hour was chosen because the plot feels most lived in then, with the day's growing done and the watering still to do.