What else is different between Spain and the UK for allotment growers?
• Many agricultural areas have red or light grey clay soils. The former can bake rock hard during sunny spells all the year round unless irrigated and worked. The grey soils remain more open and have a greater water holding capacity. This enables crops such as squash and melons to be grown without watering after sowing even under the Spanish sun. • If one takes over a new allotment the soil will normally require a major initial improvement because the traditional annual manuring to lighten and enrich the soil stopped 10 to 20 years ago when the keeping of working mules and donkeys and oxen ceased and the flocks of sheep and goats declined exponentially. Chemical fertilizers became the norm as villagers became wealthier but are now becoming overly expensive in relation to the prices they can get if crops are sold. • There are fewer types and varieties of seeds available and very few sparsely available seed catalogues for amateur gardeners exist. Traditionally Spaniards grew few types an
