Different times indeed... These days I sometimes think allotments are considered fashion items, hence those incredible rents! OK, I think the one I saw (a few years ago) for well over £200 did include a small shed. But still. It was a bit outside the village, so people will be using their cars to get there - more cost. We used to have an allotment that was about 1.5 miles from where we lived, and we always went there by bike (or handcart for transport - I have a wonderful memory of sitting on top of a huge pumpkin, being pulled along - must have been 4 or 5 at that time). Anyway, unless allotments are truly affordable, only the rich will be able to have one - and weren't they supposed to ensure that the poor could get cheap veg? (Btw, we also had a large veg garden at the house, plus a smaller one behind the shop... No fancy lawn for us - just a few flowers around the edges.)
I think women were suppose to deal more with the results of the gardening, at least that's how it was in our family. My mum "helped" in the garden, of course, especially with harvesting, but it was definitely my father who was in charge. When my mother died, my father learned a lot about the processing, too. Don't think he ever bothered with bottling, but by then we had a freezer, which was a lot easier; and he learned to make jam at the age of 70.