Teaching my grandmother to suck eggs?   Our allotments are oases of peace and harmony - but also dangerous places.   Broken glass, rusty nails, thorns, sharp tools, strimmers and lawnmowers, petrol, poisonous plants, chemical poisons, flame-throwers, barbecues etc, etc.

I'm sure we all use our common sense over the dangers, especially if we have our kids working/playing on the plot (but before you nod your head sagely in agreement, have a look at the 465,000 accidents in the garden, in 1996 alone).

Rather than restate the "obvious", I've tried to collect a few things I needed to be reminded about, or didn't know at all.   In no particular order:-

• Animal dung is an ideal vehicle for passing on tetanus (more info) - and every time you add some farm manure, you may be adding to the risk.   Are your anti-tetanus jabs up-to-date?   We should all be having regular boosters to maintain immunity.
• If your allotment site is "unofficially used" by local kids, when nobody is around, be aware of the possibility of needles or other drug paraphernalia.
• Blunt tools can be more dangerous than properly sharp ones - you have to use a lot more force, and that's when they slip.
• It's the easiest thing in the world - we stick bamboo canes into our beds all the time; and then bend down to pull a weed out.   Avoid nasty accidents - stick a cork, a film canister, a yoghourt pot - anything, as long as it stops you poking a can into your eye,
• If you don't KNOW it, don't eat it.   Some plants are poisonous, or irritants to the skin - more information from the BBC, and the Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System.
  • Some we know - eg foxgloves, laburnum, and others.
  • Some are a surprise - sweetpea seeds?   They're not a pea, despite their English name!
  • Some of our vegetables - rhubarb leaves and the above ground potato plant come to mind.
  • Wild plants of the Umbelliferae family (the hogweeds, cow parsley, and others) have a very irritating sap which makes the skin ultra-sensitive to sunlight, causing very painful and potentially disfiguring blistering and rash.   Parsnips are in the same family - people lifting parsnips on a sunny late spring/summer day have had the sap react on their skin also - nasty, painful and disfiguring.
  • Given the immense fuss about ragwort (it has its very own Act of Parliament), it gets its own little paragraph here!   Because its habitat includes grassland, horses and cattle can be poisoned if they are fed on badly managed pasture, or on "dirty" hay.   Don't fall for the hysteria, but do your bit to keep it under control - weed it out before it sets seed!   It is recommended that one wears gloves when handling the plant - seems a bit strange when I handle groundsel and comfrey (they have the same set of poisons!) all the time, but I had it drummed into me as a child, so I take the precaution!   More information here, and here.
    
  • Putting these plants on a compost heap is not a problem (except for potatoes - for different reasons) - the chemicals break down in the composting process!