Feb 9, 20215 min read

Why I decided to take on an Allottment plot and a nursery plot.

This is a question I get asked quite a lot is you have a garden so why do you need an allotment??!!

So I decided to write a blog post about what and how I got my allotment plot. I will start at the beginning I really wanted to grow my own food. To be honest if Neil my husband hadn't said look I will get you some plants to look after and see how you like it, I would never have begun. I suffer from low self esteem & low confidence so to take on something new and the thought of me trying to grow a plant from scratch filled me with fear and self doubt.

But something changed in me in 2019 , I decided that i was going to do it. i was going to make 2020 my year I took the plunge and started gardening. I am a nursery nurse and i work term time so when I went back to work I had all these ideas for growing food and teaching parents how to be self sustainable and help families to be able to grow their own food at home. I also wanted to teach children where food comes from and to help look after plants and the environment. Which is still part of my goal and to achieve this.

My boss loved the idea and wanted me to revamp the garden and add some growing areas which is still a work in progress as due to funding and the corona virus has put a hold on to this but we will get there and get our allotment growing area this year i hope!

It was then that I met the vs chair at my allotment who came into the nursery and was looking for a school or nursery to work with. We began to work with the local allotment and the children were visiting the allotment on a weekly basis from September to mid October 2019. They got to taste food and see where the fruits grow and they loved it. We were all excited and so grateful to the allotment members for giving us the opportunity to work with them. The allotment committee kindly have given the nursery tow large cold frame for us to plant in. As it was the end of the growing season we agreed to meet up in February and get the plot ready for the kids to plant in.

I was then through working with the allotment members asked if I would like to take on a plot of my own behind the nursery plot. I had been looking to volunteer in a garden to gain experience and the vs chair of the allotment asked me why didn't I come there and be a volunteer and learn. I jumped at the chance even though I had no idea what I was going to do and I said yes and that was the beginning of my journey. I started planning what to grow in the space and made up plans as to what we could do in the plot. Of course I was winging it and learning as I go but that is not always a bad thing.

In February we met and we began to weed and prepare the nursery plot. it was exactly a year to the day this weekend that I prepared the plot with some allotment members and one of my gardening team at work. I then became very ill and ended up in hospital the month of February was terrible and i was told i had the flu and a chest infection ,which is why I became so ill. Now looking back i am a little sceptical that it may infact of been corona virus I had, but I guess we will never know.

Then lockdown hit in march 2020 which meant the children couldn't get to the plot. So i decided as in my mind i thought that they would maybe get to the plot after lockdown or even before the summer break. How wrong was I? But I guess the hope of it kept me going and i set up the plot with help from allotment members who donated their time and or plants to help the nursery plot be set up and running. My husband helped me plant up and secure raspberry canes and through the season I had help and advice from the allotment members.

Which I am so grateful for and I learned so much with setting up these small plots.

I think the reason that people take on an allotment is that its their wee piece of land , its their wee Oasis from the rest of the world. Somewhere where you can go and get away from it all and just sit and be with nature. Or this is the main reason I believe I took it on, I got so much more than a small piece of land when I joined the allotment. I built up relationships with the members of the allotment (socially distanced) and I learned from them, I shared a chat with them and i got help and advice from them. It is like a little community in the allotment as we all support each other and share our plants and knowledge. We lend a hand to each other and help others to do things at the plot. Especially with lockdown it was somewhere that was my saviour as if i was struggling with being in lockdown and i went to the plot and even if it was just me there. I would always come out and feel lighter and that my mood had been lifted. It is so peaceful at the allotment you can just sit and listen to the birds and almost forget everything else going on. Yes I have a garden, yes I could have grew in my garden but I would never have got the friendships the sense of community and the shared knowledge that I have achieved from joining the gardening club. And to be honest the allotment has changed my life in a sense, as i have now started to study horticulture. Due to me achieving what I thought I couldn't and taking on my plot. It gave me a sense of pride and the feeling of accomplishment is amazing. I know I am far from an expert and I am a beginner but I am so glad I took that idea to my boss as its all lead to today and how I am now on a different path. who knows where it will lead. I am going to add some pictures below of the plots and some things i have grown and achieved.

This is part of the Nursery Plot.