Gardening Blog
Allotment Diary
March 12, 2008: dig for victory
Fight the credit crunch and food miles - get an allotment says Terry Walton
Batten down those hatches, stormy March weather is about. What a wild couple of days - it's very fortunate that the ground is mostly empty with no crops to tear apart.
All the little plants are safe and snug in the greenhouse with the exception of the broad beans, but these are protected by the cold frame.
Despite the wild weather, I still take my daily constitutional at the allotments, maybe only an hour, but I need that daily fix. Just observing the plot under all weather conditions is a joy to behold and part of my memories of this ever-changing piece of paradise.
Thank heavens for my large greenhouse as a bolt hole from the extreme elements. It is always cosy and warm in there and there is always work to be done.
The chrysanthemum stools, brought into shelter last autumn, are throwing new life and there are strong, sturdy shoots ready to be released from their 'parent' and to start a new life of their own. A sharp knife is the right implement to carry out this separation and a 'new baby' is born.
The lower leaves of this new cutting are trimmed off and a sharp cut is made just below a leaf node. This will prepare a clean area for new roots to emerge. Pop this newly cut edge into a dip of rooting compound then plant into a three pot and they're on their way.
Over the last few months I have been involved with another local allotment that has been served notice to quit by their landowner. These allotments have been in existence for over one hundred years. Many of its members have tilled that land for nigh on fifty years.
To lose part of their life in this unkind manner is like an amputation, which will bring a great deal of pain and you will lose something that has served you usefully.
They are fighting to reverse this decision within the legal rules and they are showing dogged determination to stay.
Too much allotment land goes under tarmac and concrete and the growing pleasure and social interaction is then lost to the community.
During the Second World War there were one-and-three-quarter million plots in the UK as the dig for victory campaign swung into action. This dropped to a million plots in the mid 1950s.
The requirement of land for houses and the change in gardening culture meant that by the early 1990s there were only 400,000 plots left in use.
The worm has turned and in the twenty first century there has demand has soared for a piece of ground on which to grow your own. Allotments up and down the country are full and there are extended waiting lists.
To quote a person more famous than me ‘I have a dream’ that by 2020 there will be again over a million plots of allotments in use again.
There is a steady increase in food prices and a substantial move to protect the environment. No more flying food halfway across the world when it can be grown in season on our own doorstep.
The way to combat both of these conditions is to go and get an allotment!
More from Terry
- March 4, 2008: mad March roars in
- Feb 27, 2008: why I went organic
- Feb 20, 2008: topsy-turvy weather keeps the wildlife guessing
- Feb 12, 2008: I don't believe it
More on allotments
More on growing vegetables
Gardening chat
Terry Walton is a regular contributor to The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 and has written a book called, My Life on a Hillside Allotment, published by Bantam Press at ?12.99. The book is available from Amazon.
