Allotment Love! National Allotments Week 2012 (6-12 August)

Have you got room to print a full essay?

What it means to me, Excitment and the antispashion
Of what will grow.

My allotment offers me another place of tranquility and calm, the other being my garden. I rarely see my allotment neighbours. It looks over the fields, down towards the river, offering the most spectacular sunset when the weather has been good. I know it's only a half plot, but I wouldn't swap 3b for the world
Just don't ask me this question in March or was it April, when hailstones the size of gobstoppers were pelting my head and back, whilst I tried to plant lettuce. The answer would be very different

I could give you four years of my life in print from our allotments association web site but it's maybe because I'm mad. . I'm fighting the fight of my life for my allotments but in truth, the real issue was initially unfairness. All I asked was that the rent for half plots should be half the rent of a full plot. It was downright vindictive to leave half plot rents the same and instead to increase full plot rents to then become twice that of a half plot and to lie about the reason for that increase in an equality and Human Rights Impact Assessment. When Council officers then downright lied and said our plots were twice the size of plots in Edinburgh and Glasgow when that was not the case and they didn't even know the size of our allotments, that made me even more determined.

Are my allotments worth it. You can bet your life on that. It doesn't matter what is going on in my life I can lose myself there. I've had a fascination with growing from the time I was three years old thanks to the encouragement I got from my dad who was an accomplished producer of vegetables, a skill shared with him by his own dad when he was a boy. My own sons,now adults aren't interested, they grew up in a different climate with cheap(ish) food in supermarkets a way of life. However, my youngest grandson, who was born weighing less than three pounds and is now 5 years old is showing the same symptoms his Granda did when he was a nipper. Trying to dig a telephone pole out of a corner of the garden with a tea spoon and absolutely loving it at Granda's plot where he is being shown the ropes. Who wouldn't fight for that?

Why I think allotments are worth fighting for.

Allotments are green oases in the busy world we live in. They sit hidden, tucked behind forgotten corners of streets, and provide the breathing space that humans need.

They are vital as social spaces for the conversations and friendships that build up. On an allotment your age, sex and colour isn’t an issue. What you grow there is! Everyone can bring something to an allotment. Even newbies with no experience of gardening bring enthusiasm and an interest that can re-ignite the allotment spark for those tired of the endless fight against slugs and bugs.

An allotment lets you connect with nature and understand what food miles are really all about. An allotment will help you realise why food should be grown for taste rather than the ability to travel 6000 miles in an unripe state.

Allotments improve lives by bringing peace and tranquillity to those who use the allotments and those around them. They improve communities by breaking up the monotony of housing with a colourful patchwork of sheds and swathes of green crops. They are vital to the insect population in the UK and create wildlife hotspots for more exotic creatures with fewer legs!

Allotments should be available on prescription for the exercise and healthy eating they encourage. For the lonely they provide something to occupy empty hours and provide instant new friends. For those who live in tiny flats or houses with no gardens they provide an essential chance to connect with soil. Everyone grows on an allotment.

They are an education for all: from the very young to the old. There is always something interesting to discover on allotments from the secrets of the old timer’s achieving new potatoes in April, to the best recipe for rhubarb jam.

Allotments are well worth fighting for.

Quite simple... its my 'time out'. A restorative, calming and ever uplifting place to chillax! Besides all the obvious reasons, such as great exercise/freshair/rewarding hobby/cost-effective way of filling the family with delicious, healthy fruit and vege. It is a great educational experience for the children, who at 7, 10 and 12 know the basics of growing and are developing a passion for the allotment.
Allotments are a life-enhancing experience which you can't appreciate unless you have one, therefore, I vote for all families/households to be offered a space to grow, especially if without a decent size garden. There is plenty of evidence out there to suggest they can help improve a sense of well-being and quality of life I LOVE MY ALLOTMENT!!!!

i LOVE my allotment, i can go there after a stressful day at work and forget about the world, its a tranquil oasis in the middle of a busy city. My plot is at the top of the site and I can just stand and look down the site at all the different structures and ecentrcity of different plots and just relax and breath in. Allotments are so important they bring different people together who would probably never had met and create a community within the local & wider area. Ironically when I was a lot lot younger my dad had a plot on the site I'm now on, and I was never happy about accompanying him there, now I cant wait to get there (he'd be laughing at me now although I hope he'd be proud too) and its surprising what i must have learnt from him without realising, thanks Dad x

the allotement is gentle exercise,fresh air,friendship,share/swap anything spare,help others,completely chill and relax,eat out,listen and see nature,as well as growing your own,both veg and flowers together with the various challenges that come along,it's great to watch plants develop from seed to eating,the taste is so superior to the supermarkets,things do not always go as they are planed,but try and take it away from me,the joy of things grown by ones self makes nice gift as veggie boxes,i could go on,YES i love my plots,and hard work never realy hurt anyone,

The most important thing I've grown on my allotment is my confidence ........Since I've had it I've achieved so much through getting to know the other plot holders and also the grapes on this forum .

Why did you write your piece in he third person? Beautifully written btw!

My allotment is my little piece of land where I can grow my own food. I can grow what I want where I want and I can learn, chat, laugh and share my produce and my stories with wonderful like minded people. I can lose hours and hours pottering about and I love it.

If you don't have one you may never understand!

Cos I don't like writing 'I' a lot. I really don't. I find... Oh wait I am now.

I love my allotment - it is a place that rewards hard work - you can see where you have been and what you have done, which is enormously satisfying. When so many of us have jobs where nothing much is created or produced, it is good to have something you can point to and say "I did that - with a little help from Mother Nature". It is a great way to mark the passing of the seasons; even though my plot is in the middle of the city, like so many others around the country, the birdsong drowns out the traffic noise. I see the first green shoots of spring, the blossom on all the fruit trees on the site, the birds preparing their nests, we had a vixen and cubs under the big shed this spring.

It also hosts a wormhole in the space-time continuum - I am not sure how Einstein would explain it but time moves much more quickly at the plot. You glance at your watch and you have been there 2 hours ... and it feels like 30 minutes. Just a lovely peaceful place. And the most productive exercise I take!