Reflecting on two years of allotment love and my journey to plot 38a.

Finally over the weekend I made time to visit the allotment and it was refreshing to see a few other allotment holders flexing their green fingers. Since returning home though I’ve spent a little time thinking on both the past allotment year, and our longer term relationship – which does have something of an elasticity to it I have to say.

Weeks can become busy and overly filled for the best planners amongst us, and for many, there’s often too little time to get through all the tasks on the to-do list. Might growing an allotment then at this point in life be a challenge too far? That doubt is always there and frequently I’m reminded of it by the naughty elf sitting on my shoulder. On the other shoulder though

is another more positive elf, one who argues with a tiny trowel in their hand that the allotment is a good thing. “It pays forward in ways you never could have imagined, and brings much more to your table than food alone”, they say.

Holding an allotment was high up on my bucket list for many years. As a youngster I was inspired watching Geoff Hamilton on Gardeners’ World who encouraged those with little space to grow food amongst ornamentals in their garden at home. As soon as I gained my first patch of ground that’s exactly what I did: I grew food and flowers. Being honest, the results weren’t too impressive but it was enjoyable giving it a go and I learned a good deal.

Beyond those early attempts there have been occasional times in my career when I’ve grown produce as part of my work, but leaning largely into the ornamental and sporting sides of horticulture initially, then heritage gardens and landscapes, kitchen gardening has been limited. In recent years though, that inner call to grow my own began to shout louder, the pandemic finally pushing me over the threshold as it signalled the fragility of our food supply chain. It was at that point that I threw caution onto the compost and joined the waiting list at the local allotments.

Being realistic with myself, I didn’t ever think that having an allotment would make us self-sufficient, and now after two years working a half plot I’ve certainly had that confirmed. Put it this way, since taking on the allotment, I haven’t seen a marked decrease in trips to the supermarket as yet! However, I’ve taken pride in putting some safely and sustainably grown food on our plates, and have spent many therapeutic hours pottering on the plot, often with my family there too.

The first two years have flown by with countless lessons learned, and my confidence continues to grow. As hoped the allotment itself has changed a lot, and now alongside patches of food there’s a wildlife area and nectar bank, we harvest rainwater from the shed, and a hand-me-down greenhouse now takes centre stage; we’ve made it our own. Raspberries and strawberries, the first perennial plantings are establishing well, composting has increased and plans are underway for more soft fruit and an asparagus bed for the new year.

Some little corners here and there get out of hand every now and then, but that’s fine, the dense old compost bin still needs clearing and the greenhouse still needs water butts and a decent path made. Inch by inch though, with the support of my good lady the allotment keeps edging forward. 

The first full year (2022) was pretty full on I have to say with too many crops trialled and errored, but it was a productive year nonetheless. This year I’m sad to say, finding time to tend the allotment has been more of a challenge for various reasons, starting well in spring but faltering repeatedly. Out of the window flew full days on the plot, replaced instead by snatched hours here and there – a significant drop of input for sure. The feeling though has been positive, myself having much more of a grip over the plot’s content and destiny.

Yields have been respectable for the reduced range of crops sown, and most of what I aimed to grow has one way or the other made its way from plot to kitchen: potatoes, carrots, courgettes, sweetcorn, beetroot and pears; we even have some parsnips and more spuds on their way for Christmas, and I’m happy with that. We also have some leeks, garlic and spring greens growing away that bring promise for the new year.

Moving from food to flowers, there are other more colourful highlights I must mention. The sunflower seed selection purchased back in spring shone their hearts out in their summer quarters, started as with all others in peat-free compost. We even squeezed in some additional plants grown by a young allotmenteer for charity – they romped away too. I’m pleased to report that following summer, every seed head remained in place until its last seeds were taken, meaning one or two feathered friends will have slept happier with full bellies thanks to our growing efforts.

Beyond sunflowers the true allotment boss Ruth, who’s valiantly danced along with our allotment journey so far (See @allotofpotential on Instagram if you don’t believe me!) invested in her very own Dahlia collection back in spring. The results I have to say are worth a round of applause as they were an absolute delight – both the Dahlias and the dancing! Along with their amaranth and cosmos cousins, the Dahlias were pinched and preened and picked for vases at home, leaving still more for allotmenteers, bumblebees and ladybirds to enjoy too.

All things considered, I sit here now looking back after two years of what could be described as toil and trouble. The graft has given me a few aches and pains for sure, cutting grass paths during this fast growing year has been frustrating and scrubbing veg turns out to be my least favourite task. Oh, and assembling the greenhouse turned out to be a pain in the glass, the pond liner needs repairing and the weather has frequently made itself unwelcome.

On balance though I have to say that the positives so far outweigh the negatives by a long way. The sense of connection allotment gardening brings to others of a like mind and to the earth itself, can’t be underestimated. The opportunity allotment gardening presents to grow food in a more sustainable way and to witness first hand how wildlife interacts with and uses the space too. It’s also worth stating how good it feels to spend ‘down’ time doing something productive in the great outdoors, and in saying this I’m drawn to recall many mellow evenings spent on the plot as the sun dropped below the horizon; exquisite days! (Oh yes – I mustn’t forget eating of the produce too!)

My rented allotment then, our family plot, the one with ‘allot-of-potential,’ call it what you will, has made a positive impact on my family and I. During our time there something has always and will always need tending to, and so there will never be time for idle hands; when I find myself in need of space or a place to de-stress, plot 38a for me has it all. So if you find yourself hovering over whether to take the plunge and join a waiting list for an allotment, then ignore the negative and naughty elf on your and take that step, there is everything to gain.

Allotment Love, by Gary Webb