Is the revolution over?

Tags

Alan Titchmarsh, allotments, Gardeners' World, grow your own, River Cottage

Borlotti beans

Over the last ten years or so a phenomenon has taken the garden world by storm. Nobody could have predicted back in the nineties that growing your own fruit and vegetables would be so big. With so many magazines and books devoted to the subject it’s hard to remember what gardening was like before. Of course, there were people growing their own before it became the trendy thing to do, then, for a whole host of reasons, a new generation was inspired to pick up their trowels and start growing. The problem with anything that becomes trendy though is that it can fall out of fashion just as quickly.

I’ve been wondering about the whole grow your own thing for a while now and whether the bubble has burst. I loved gardening before it became fashionable. I was an incredibly uncool teenager who watched Gardener’s World on a Friday night. As growing veg surged in popularity I was moving around the country from rented house to rented house with no garden to call my own, and with the urge to grow and put down roots of the plant kind getting stronger by the day. When we finally settled in one place it was no surprise to us that there was a waiting list for allotments in our village. Why wouldn’t there be, everyone wanted an allotment. We were lucky, it didn’t take long for us to get a plot but my experience there suggests that the enthusiasm for growing your own food has waned.

The last few weekends when we’ve had dry and even sunny weather, Wellyman and I have been the only people at the allotments. This is the perfect chance to get the allotment ship-shape before growing gets under way. Most tenants are retired and tend to go to the allotment on weekdays. The newest plotholder is a lovely man in his seventies and these guys really do look after their allotments but they were all gardening and growing food long before the recent resurgence. What we don’t seem to have any of are families and those younger people who were meant to have been excited by the idea of growing heirloom carrots and tending a compost heap. They have been there. My neighbour loved River Cottage and the idea of providing fresh and tasty food for her family but, in the end, other commitments were more pressing and she has given up her plot.

I’m lucky, because I work from home I can generally find an hour or so during the day to pop up to the allotment. If it has been wet for days and days and then there’s a dry spell I have the advantage of being able to go and get jobs done. But it has got me thinking, is it possible to manage an allotment when you work full-time and have other responsibilities or are allotments mainly the preserve of the retired? Has the generation swept up by the ideas of their own bit of the ‘good life’ realised that juggling jobs, families and other demands on their time aren’t compatible with maintaining an allotment.

Alan Titchmarsh wrote recently about the accusation that TV gardeners have made the whole subject appear too easy and have lulled a whole group of people into a false idea of just how much work is actually required. Unsurprisingly he disagrees. He believes it has more to do with people being used to instant gratification and not being able to see things through. This is an opinion shared by many on my allotment site who have seen people come and go. Certainly when it comes to cooking, if you look at the vast numbers of recipe books sold every year and the almost wall to wall food programmes you’d think we’d have a better relationship with what we eat. And yet it seems many watch these programmes whilst eating ready meals. Perhaps growing your own is going this way too. The idea is very lovely but the effort required not so. There is no denying though that modern life has become much more demanding. The idea we would work a three or four-day week and that technology would liberate us has never materialised. Plotholders do have the option of taking on really small plots on our site but even this hasn’t been enough to make them more manageable.

Squash flower

It was decided recently to set up a committee to liaise with the council and to try to improve the management of the allotments. The idea was to work towards establishing an allotment association. Unfortunately it was a struggle to get four people to be on the initial committee. I put my hand up and looked around at the sea of faces, no one wanting to make eye contact, hoping others would volunteer themselves. The idea that there would be enough enthusiasm and drive to become a self-managing site is rapidly diminishing. The dilemma for my village’s allotments is that we can’t attract and then keep younger plotholders and the older tenants generally aren’t interested in trying to inject some vibrancy into the place. They really want the site to stay as it is. My other allotment neighbour is 82 and said to me the other day ‘I’m not that fussed about the plot this year, my knees are giving me grief but it gets me out of the house’.

I don’t know about you but it all makes my heart sink. I’d love it if there were people who wanted to put up a polytunnel and introduce an allotment show but ideas like this are greeted with complaints about people trying to change things. It will certainly be an interesting year for my village allotment. I’d love to hear your thoughts. What does your site do to attract and keep new tenants?

Saving our Allotments

Tags

allotments, Farm Terrace Allotments, Watford

Farm Terrace Allotments ( image courtesy of Sara  Jane Trebar)

I wrote a while ago about my allotment and what it means to me. Shortly after that it appeared that there would be large hikes in the rent and there was a worry that the site might be sold. Whilst the management of the site is undergoing some upheaval, rent rises have been put on hold and selling the site is not on the cards. It’s a different story for the allotment holders of Farm Terrace Allotments in Watford, though.

In June 2012, the mayor of Watford Council, Dorothy Thornhill, wrote to allotment holders telling them that they were considering selling off the allotment site for development in conjunction with other land. The developers would build 600 new homes, with about 60 of them on the allotment site, and retail space and, in an agreement between them and Watford Council, potential profits would then be used for the regeneration of Watford General Hospital. Six months later, the council voted in agreement of the proposal. It was suggested that allotment holders at Farm Terrace would be offered plots at another site some 2 miles away.

It’s a sad story but, unfortunately not an uncommon one. Land is at a premium, especially in urban areas where there are pressures on any space that is not already built on and, as green spaces go, allotments seem bottom of the pile when it comes protection from development. When it was announced that the current government planned to sell off our woodland in an attempt to raise money there was an enormous outcry. How could they even think of it? The resulting campaign was so successful the government backed down. I imagine if they tried to do the same with our parks the nation’s response would be the same, so why don’t we all get behind the plight of threatened allotments in the same way? Well, maybe because we don’t all have one or because we aren’t interested in gardening or that the issue is very specific to a particular area and doesn’t then get national coverage. The situation with Farm Terrace though, is symbolic of so many other problems facing our country that it should be of interest to us all.

Allotments really are a unique part of our heritage. I would spend childhood holidays travelling the long journey from the north-east to Cornwall with my nose pressed up against the window watching in fascination as the allotment sites whizzed past. The little worlds that were created, with their sheds and crop protecting contraptions, intrigued me so much. Then there were the days spent at the allotment of a friend and his dad. I can still see us playing in the greenhouse with that warm, damp air and the smell of tomatoes that was so potent. Why allotments are treated with such disdain by councils, politicians and developers I don’t know? We’ll give dreadful pieces of architecture that nobody likes listed status, protecting them from the demolition team, and yet small patches of land, vital bits of green space that give people a sense of belonging, that give them the opportunity to grow their own healthy food and to get fresh air and exercise while doing it don’t matter. I know, instead we’ll build yet more ‘homes’ that are so poky and unattractive and have no outdoor space of their own, oh and I’ll throw in yet more shops because we really need more of them.

Farm Terrace Allotments (image courtesy of Sara Jane Trebar)

We do need good health care facilities and providing them isn’t cheap, so when businesses step in and say they will contribute to these costs it’s no great surprise that our leaders have jumped at the chance of this private investment. The problem is it does leave us exposed to those with the power and in today’s world this is big businesses. These companies deal in the realm of profit and loss and the problem is not everything in life can be measured in these terms. Libraries are closing across the country, deemed not to be not worth the expense any more, and yet what could be a greater expression of a civilised society than these places of learning and their resources that are free to all. For me, allotments too are a symbol of a society that understands and appreciates what makes for good and happy lives. To allow allotments to be concreted over when the government is constantly going on about the need to eat healthily and tackle obesity is like selling off school playing fields but spending billions on hosting a huge sporting event.

Allotments should not be treated as if they are just another scratty piece of land ripe for development. They deserve to be protected as part of our cultural heritage and also for what they give to people today and for future generations. Who knows how climate change will affect our food supplies but with so much of it now imported and worries regarding food security for the government and councils not to recognise the true worth of these plots of land is yet another mixed message in today’s confusing world.

I hope so much that the action group that has been formed to save the Farm Terrace Allotments can find some way to halt the destruction of their much loved plots. If you’d like to find out more about the allotments, the story behind their campaign and to sign their e-petition please go to www.farmterrace.btck.co.uk.

Book Review – The Perfect Plot, Starting an Allotment from Scratch

Tags

allotment association, allotments, community gardens, Simon and Schuster, The Perfect Plot

Are you on an allotment waiting list? Have you lost hope that you’ll ever have your own plot? Are you thinking of starting a community garden but not sure where to start? Well this could be the book for you. An inspiring story of a group of people from a village in Devon who started an allotment site from scratch, it takes the reader through their journey from finding the site to it becoming a patch of fruit and vegetable abundance.

Most people with an allotment and certainly those on a waiting list have heard that councils have an obligation to provide an allotment site if at least 6 people request one. I had begun to think this was just an urban myth, as I’d never actually come across anyone who had managed to get their council to do this. It is, however an actual piece of legislation from the Small Holdings and Allotments Act (1908). Using this nugget of information a resident from the village of Cornworthy wrote to his local council asking if they could look into providing some land for allotments. Maybe he was lucky there were 2 councillors who loved gardening and were inspired by the idea. What follows is a tale of ups and downs, set backs and inspiration and ultimately a brand new village allotment site.

The book covers how to set up an allotment association, what grants might be available to you and how to go about applying for them. Even if you have a plot on an established site there are ideas in this book that could maybe make your site a more pleasant place to be. I’m particularly envious of their community shed and their composting toilet. I never thought I’d say I was envious of a composting toilet but my own allotment site has neither facility and it is frustrating to need the loo or have nowhere to shelter from downpours.

The Perfect Plot is full of advice and stories from the individual plot holders, describing what to grow and what problems you might encounter. It also takes you through the process of making the plot sustainable with the committee members applying for grants to drill a borehole and install a solar powered pump and construct a straw bale urinal and composting toilet. I had never realised that such grants were available to allotments and after some digging around, if you pardon the pun, it seems there are a lot of opportunities for funding especially if you are starting a community garden.

Within 9 months of the initial letter to the council the allotment site was up and running and 2 years later with the bore hole drilled the site was fully sustainable. It is such an inspirational story of what can be achieved in a short space of time and how much the allotment has contributed to the village and community.

The Perfect Plot is now available from Amazon and all good bookshops.

Thanks to Alice at Simon and Schuster.

What a difference a week makes

Tags

allotments, emptying compost bin, RHS Wisley, spring clean

The first daffodils in my garden

Who’d have thought it, such a beautiful weekend of weather with warm spring sunshine and still only February. Last weekend I was wearing snow boots and several layers for our visit to a frosty Wisley and it felt we were still in the grip of winter. A week later and it was warm enough for just a t-shirt. Of course the vagaries of the British weather mean it could be snowing again by next week but the recent dose of sunshine has put a spring in my step and I’m feeling positive that we’ve turned a corner now.

Such great weather coinciding with a weekend and at this time of year is a rare thing so I jumped at the opportunity to get Wellyman’s help to cross some jobs off my ‘to do’ list. Of course things never run completely smoothly and on Thursday afternoon it felt like it was going to end up being one of those frustrating weekends where no matter how much you try you never actually get anywhere.

The newly edged garden path

A path in our front garden is edged with those half log rolls you can get from most garden centres. This was the most aesthetically pleasing option we could afford when we first moved here and seemed to fit with the idea of the cottagey style garden I wanted to create. Unfortunately, even though the logs are treated with a preservative they have only lasted 4 years before starting to rot. They were looking scruffy and they needed replacing before the plants start to grow so I knew I needed to do it soon. Last weekend we had measured up and purchased replacements and then on Thursday I discovered we’d bought the wrong size. This was, of course, after I’d started pulling the old ones out and generally created a bit of a mess. Fortunately, our local garden centre said that we could just pay the difference and get the other size but I was rather frustrated that I couldn’t see any progress for my effort and concerned that the sore elbow I’d had for a couple of days was now very painful.

Scroll forward 4 days and not only is our path now all neatly edged and looking tidy but we now have a new path at the allotment, where Wellyman removed the turf. We laid down some membrane and even found some piles of chipped bark by the side of a local road which we bagged up and then used to cover the path. On a roll, the compost bin was emptied and spread on the beds at the allotment. The fruit bushes were mulched with manure and the final patches of green manure were dug in. I even planted up some shallots.

Pulmonaria 'Blue Ensign' now flowering in my garden

Back at home I cleaned out my shed. All those bits and pieces I had moved into the shed last autumn for protection over winter, such as my hosepipes and garden table and chairs were brought outside. We’ve used all the wood now so that has freed up some space, so that I can now actually walk into the shed. It had got to the point where I couldn’t get any further than the door. We even made a trip to the tip to get rid of some detritus that was lurking behind the shed.

I do have to say that I couldn’t have done half of this without Wellyman’s help this weekend. All this and he still managed to put in a great performance at his piano teacher’s soiree for her adult students, despite being worried his hands were too sore and blistered to play. My elbow was painful all weekend and after all the exertions we are both making groans and grunts when we get up off the sofa, well to be honest whenever we move. It was a very satisfying weekend despite the aches and pains and both the garden and plot look good for their early spring cleans.

Trying to be Organised

Tags

allotments, Growing Celeriac, organic gardening, seed sowing, verbena bonariensis

I’m a list maker. Not as bad as my mum who writes everything down on Post-it notes, which are stuck all over the house but a list maker non the less. Last year, however I didn’t have enough lists. It was my first year with an allotment and I spent most of my time feeling overwhelmed by the jobs to do. I always felt I was playing catchup. I would pick up a book or magazine and read that I should have pruned my gooseberries months ago or given my roses their high potash feed. It’s not that I’m short of information, far from it, my bookcase groans under the weight of gardening books offering tips and advice. The problem is finding the relevant bit when needed and having to wade through lots that I just don’t need for my own garden. So this year I decided to draw up month by month lists of tasks to do that were relevant to my own garden and allotment.

2012 will be the year my roses are pruned and fed at the right times, the year I don’t forget to sow the Antirrhinums in early March and the year I achieve some sort of successive sowing. Well that’s the theory anyway.

Confined indoors over the last week or so by the cold weather I went through my gardening books and created a tailor made to do list. I now have 2 sowing lists, one for the veg and the other for the cut flowers and a list of tasks to do, such as pruning and feeding. Suddenly everything seemed clearer and less daunting. Would it be taking it too far to get them laminated? Mmmm probably, although it won’t be long before they’re covered in muddy finger prints and water stains.

Buoyed by my feeling of organisation and the relatively mild weather I tackled the first job on my list for February, feeding fruit. Now is the time to give your blackcurrants, gooseberries, raspberries and strawberries a sprinkling of a balanced fertiliser. I use one from the Organic Gardening Catalogue.

Then it was time to prune the autumn fruiting raspberries cutting last year’s growth down to the ground. I can already see new growth at the base of the plants that will become this year’s stems and hopefully by August they will be groaning under the weight of fruit.

Back at home I filled a seed tray with 50:50 multipurpose compost and vermiculite and sowed some celeriac and Verbena bonariensis. You could use a special seed compost but I don’t really have the space to have different types of compost. I find a good quality multipurpose compost such as New Horizon mixed with some vermiculite works well for me. I haven’t grown Verbena from seed before, I normally buy them as small plants and once in the garden they do self seed but I find the plants you get from these seedlings are often quite spindly and never really bulk up like the ones that have been raised under cover. I collected some seed at the end of last year so I thought I’d see if I could get some earlier plants from starting them off indoors. I just used one half tray for both seed types. Dividing the tray in half and being careful where I sowed I find this works when space is limited. I only want 9 celeriac plants for the allotment and although I sowed more than 9 seeds in case some don’t germinate I couldn’t devote a whole tray, even a half tray to just celeriac.

Celeriac is another new addition to the allotment this year. Apparently I have to be patient because it is slow to germinate, up to 4 weeks I’ve read. Not really my kind of seed, I like French beans and courgettes which can be up within days of sowing but I love celeriac mashed in Bubble and Squeak so wanted to give growing it a try. It’s strange to think that I am already planning for this autumn by sowing seed for such long growing plants as celeriac but a whole spring and summer will have passed before I come to eat it.

Winter at last

Tags

allotments, seaweed feed, snow boots, Stocks 'Brompton Mixed', Sweetpeas seedlings

Winter at last

Well winter has finally arrived here in Wales. We had some wet snow at the weekend and now we’re being chilled by an icy wind blowing in from Siberia and just as we’re onto our last row of wood on the log pile. Will the cold spell last longer than our wood supply?

Glimpses of sunshine yesterday tempted me out for a walk up to the allotment. It was so cold though I abandoned my wellies in favour of my toasty snow boots. Once at the plot I stood there trying to imagine it in the months to come, blossoming and productive. I do have a fairly active imagination but the cold was so penetrating that it was difficult to conjure up images of swelling peas, scented flowers and juicy strawberries. I was just about to leave when I spotted some flowers.

Winter flowers

Back in the summer I had sown some biennial Stocks, the Brompton Mixed variety. With the mild autumn the plants grew well and I planted them at the allotment ready for picking flowers in the spring but by the end of October they had started to flower. The flowers, however didn’t resemble those on the packet. They smelt amazing though so I wasn’t too bothered. I was able to pick a couple of stems every week right up until Christmas which felt strange but then it was very mild. So I was completely surprised yesterday to see the plants still flowering despite recent hard frosts. The plants are covered in flower buds as well so as soon as the weather becomes milder I should have quite a good supply. I am intrigued though as to what they are. Does anyone know what type of stock they might be?

This is what my stock flowers should have looked like

The Sweetpeas I sowed last week are starting to germinate which is very exciting. Once they have all germinated they can go into a coldframe. I prefer to grow my seedlings quite hard. I don’t have the space to mollycoddle them anyway but I want good strong plants and too much warmth will only encourage soft, sappy growth.

Sweet peas germinating

There was a time when I got excited by shopping trips for something sparkly for a night out but now a morning at the garden centre is just as good. On Saturday we called in to see if they had any shallots yet. They did so we picked up a packet and then I remembered I wanted a pressure sprayer so I could easily douse my plants with seaweed or tomato feed.

My new piece of garden equipment

I spent last summer using a tiny hand sprayer that I bought for £1 in Ikea about 12 years ago. It wasn’t the best tool for the job, ok for the odd house-plant, not really suitable for an allotment. It took forever and made my hand hurt, so I thought I should spend some Christmas money on something that would make my life that bit easier this year.  Wellyman went off in search of a sprayer whilst I got distracted by seeds (I really don’t need any more seeds!!!). He came back triumphant with a 4 litre pressure sprayer which should be the perfect size. The only problem with gardens and allotments is that they do generate quite an amount of stuff to store. Of course I can’t actually get into my shed ( see my previous post ‘I need a substantially bigger shed‘) which is bursting at the seams at the moment so my downstairs loo is currently acting as shed overflow with an increasing stash of garden paraphenalia building up, including my organic fertiliser order, weed membrane kindly donated by a friend and now my pressure sprayer.

Allotments – The Good News Stories

Tags

allotments, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, Landshare, National Trust

Produce from my plot - just to show I didn't just grow flowers!

Following on from my last post about how difficult it is to get an allotment I thought I would write about the organisations and individuals that are trying to do something to provide land to those who want it. Whilst local councils and central government might not see the need for a new approach to allotment there are fortunately others who do.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, TV cook, author and promoter of all things foodie saw that something needed to be done to match the growing demand for land on which to grow. In 2009 he launched ‘Landshare‘ a website which puts people who want to grow their own produce but don’t have the land in touch with people who might have some spare land, or a garden that is too big for them. So far the venture has proved incredibly successful with over 66,000 members. Older people with large gardens that are too big for them to manage any more now have people growing fruit and veg and sharing with them the produce. There are some people who are just too busy to garden who have released part of their garden or some who have fields that are doing nothing and have given these up to allotments.

The National Trust has also joined the fight for more land. In 2009 it announced it wanted to create 1000 new allotments by 2012. They reached this target this summer. Some allotments are in walled gardens, others on vacant land near the Trust’s properties. In Woolacombe, Devon a field owned by the Trust was turned into 50 plots including one for the local Woolacombe Primary School. At Springhill in Northern Ireland a run down walled garden was brought back to life and now there are 27 allotments. Monk Coniston allotments must surely be a candidate for best location and view. Perched above Coniston Water in the Lake District the walled garden was disused until the National Trust received a Lottery grant and there are now 10 plots for the local community to grow fruit and vegetables.

The Trust joined forces with Landshare and available plots at Trust sites can be found on the Landshare website and just because they have reached their target of 1000 allotments they don’t plan to stop there with another 200 planned in the future.

It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that someone saw an opportunity to take advantage of the huge demand for allotments and set up a privately rented allotment company. The New Allotment Company opened its first site in 2010 in Kent. The charge is £150 for a year or you can pay in monthly instalments. This includes water, storage and manure. It sounds expensive and may well price some people out of the opportunity to grow their own. The other downside is that you sign up for 3 years with the opportunity to leave after the first year but after putting in all the hard work of establishing your plot it would be difficult if after the 3 years the rent rose and became prohibitively expensive. However, the plots are pre-prepared so no dreadful weeds to remove and the site provides secure storage, toilets and an all weather shelter and I know from my own experience that those would be welcome additions to my own allotment site.

It is good to know that people have taken on the task of dealing with the lack of land for growing but this should not be an excuse for local authorities to neglect their responsibilities. Politicians like to suggest they are in touch with the voter and listen to what they want but they seem to have some wax in their ears on this one. It would be nice to see a local councillor somewhere in the country to take up the issue of allotments and the lack of them.

Allotments – It’s all a bit of a lottery

Tags

allotments, GM food, peak oil, University of Leicester

My plot when I took it on last January

I am one of the lucky ones, I have an allotment. Not only that it only costs me  £10, I have a standpipe right next to my plot and no charge for the water. I know I’m lucky but I didn’t realise quite how so lucky until a read the recent data from the University of Leicester about allotments.

There are over 86,000 people across the country waiting for an allotment but this figure might not be a true reflection of the number of people who want a plot as several councils have now closed their lists and therefore do not record the numbers of people who do not even make it onto a waiting list.

Using the Freedom of Information Act the researchers discovered there is a massive variance in allotment charges. Runnymede Borough Council charges 55p per square metre, the most expensive in England, in contrast Bolsover District Council charges only 1p per square metre. My own plot is approximately 114 square metres and costs just over 11p per square metre. The average size plot apparently is 250 square metres and costs 15p per square metre.

I don’t yet know how much my rent for the allotment will be for next year but I’m hoping it doesn’t increase by 207%, the amount by which Cannock Chase District Council increased its allotment rent between 2008 and 2011, with rent going from £36.90 to £108.92!!!! Charges this high do seem excessive and against the spirit of allotments. I would imagine these sorts of prices would exclude some people, probably those who benefit the most.

One of the biggest problems seems to be that this research by the University of Leicester is the first real study into allotments and highlights the difficulty in accessing information about waiting lists, numbers, plot sizes etc. For example, Birmingham has 115 allotment sites but data is only available for 18. When waiting lists are quite long and it takes a long time for plots to be reallocated, many people on the waiting list may have moved or changed their minds and not contacted the relevant person to take their names off the list.

It also seems that plot sizes are getting smaller as councils are dividing up plots. Smaller plots might not be such a bad thing, if it makes them more manageable for people. However, with no data recording this change, councils could use division of plots as a substitute for providing new land for new allotments.

The right for people to have their own bit of land goes back as far as the Saxons when woodland would be cleared for common land. This land, gradually over the centuries, was enclosed by the ruling classes but to compensate tenants were given small plots of land attached to their cottages and this is the first recorded use of the term ‘allotment’. It was in the late 19th century that Government passed the first ‘Allotment Act’ to make it a statutory obligation for local councils to provide allotments where there was a need. Since then the popularity of allotments has waxed and wained but with ever increasing food prices, peak oil, GM food and food related health scares it might be that growing some of our own food becomes a necessity rather than a fashionable hobby.

The benefits of allotments are enormous. There is the physical exercise which also benefits the mind, the fresh air, fresh food with fewer or no chemicals, a great sense of satisfaction and the opportunity to meet people.

My plot at the height of summer

I am a happier person because I have my little plot that puts me back in touch with nature and the seasons. Will there be a day when politicians recognise the importance of these plots of land? Will allotments ever make it into a political manifesto? If politicians really believe in Gross National Happiness then maybe they could set up a taskforce to provide communities with the land they want. It might not make anyone any money but we might be fitter, healthier and happier.

For more information about the history of allotments and anything else allotment related allotment.org is a great website.

Data used is taken from the University of Leicester’s research. For more information about this research go to the University of Leicester’s website.

Book Review – Our Plot by Cleve West

Tags

allotments, Chelsea, Cleve West, peak oil

When I found out I had been allocated an allotment at the start of this year I tried to get hold of as many books about allotments and growing fruit and vegetables as possible. It wasn’t long before I felt I was reading the same information, going over the same ground. Our Plot is something different and I loved it.

The book is the personal story of the author Cleve West and his allotment experiences over the last 10 years. Cleve is a respected garden designer who won a gold medal and ‘Best in Show’ at Chelsea this year. I first came across him when he wrote a gardening column in The Independent but this is his first book and I loved his style so much, I hope he writes more.

Our Plot is less a book about how to grow, as he says, there are plenty of these types of books available, and more a celebration of allotments, the people he has met, the produce he grows and the creativity he can express on his bit of land.

I enjoyed his honesty. He doesn’t gloss over the problems that come with having an allotment; the hard work and time constraints, vandalism and not being able to go out of your back door and pick your produce. He admits there are times they’d rather buy stuff from the supermarket.

The photographs are beautiful with their rich, sumptuous colours and there are some lovely bits of humour in the stories about his fellow allotment holders. The photo of Mrs Luu and her giant pumpkin made me smile (you’ll have to buy the book to see what I mean). My plot is on a small rural site, unlike Cleve’s urban site and I was more that a little envious of the exotic mix of plot holders and produce, the open days and not to mention Cleve’s 4 sheds.

There are sections on wildlife and recipes which add another dimension. Cleve also highlights problems which we will face in the future such as ‘peak oil’ and how allotments could help.

This is a touching, heart-warming book which managed to make me, as a novice plot holder feel better about my first year’s attempts but also has inspired me to keep going. Cleve has captured everything that is special about allotments as he says ‘being there is as important as what ends up on the pate’. This is a must read.

Available now. Go to Amazon. Thanks to Amanda at Frances Lincoln Publishers.

Welcome to the blog

Tags

allotments, environment, Gardening, nature, wildlife

This is my blog about gardening, allotments and nature. I’m passionate about looking after the environment. I garden organically, always with wildlife in mind and hope that through my gardens and allotment I can do something to help the environment around me.

I hope you enjoy reading x