plot life

[brommers]

hello there everybody, I hope you can all help me, I'm 35 and am currently in my 2nd year of a photography degree course at the university of central Lancashire, I have been taking pictures of an allotment near to where I live since January (near moor park in Preston)and I am hoping to produce a book of images and some local recipes, as an assignment essay I am looking into the benefits of allotment holding, not just the fresh veg etc but more the benefits that other people may not think of such as mental health, exercise, social side for example and would love to hear your thoughts on the subject, do you think allotment holding is getting more popular,why are their existence in towns important, did you acquire your plot after a lengthy wait on a waiting list, did you acquire your plot quite quickly without a wait, has your plot been handed down to you, do you share your plot with family or friend or do you prefer to work alone, any thoughts, stories, advice would be very much appreciated and if you have any recipes you are willing to share then I would also be delighted to receive them, thanks for your time - Sarah

[brommers]

[hemajo]

What a great topic to choose for your assignment :)
I don't actually have an allotment - I do my veg growing in my back garden.  My sister and her partner are very active in their allotment - they have a web-site, and lots of social activities.  I think there allotment society is in the process of developing an area into a woodland.  It certainly is giving my sister exercise!  Also, they want to be organic - so growing their own veg helps this along. 
I am sure you will get lots of helpful info here - it is a great web site.

[Vez1]

I took on my allotment in April with the hope of getting out more. I suffer with agoraphobia and anxiety and very rarely got half way along the street. When I first started I used to get a lift along even though I can see the plots from my house. however with time I started walking along by myself and spending hours and hours there.
It has been a god send and I love growing my own fruit and veg too. I took on a second plot on our site and now spend every available minute there. It has also helped me take on other challenges such as going to the supemarket myself, I even went into our town centre a month or so ago with my sister, something I had not done for around 5 years.
Pm me if yo want any other info. :)

[Hot_Potato]

Vez1 - just want to say a big 'well done' to you after reading your post...I don't know anything much about agoraphobia altho have experienced severe anxiety myself....think you've done 'wonders' for yourself in taking on an allotment and slowly, slowly getting yourself back into a situation whereby you can now 'cope' with occasional visits to the supermarket and even the town centre....

Hope you go on enjoying your allotment(s) for a very long time  :)

Sarah.....agree with hemajo - what a lovely subject you've chosen. Enjoy all the 'investigating' but why not take one on yourself, then you can write of your own 'first hand' experiences......they're very addictive and soooo good for you in every way!

[windygale]

Hi Sarah, I agree with everybody, why dont you get your own allotment and start growing yourself and enjoy all the benifits, fresh food, freshair, exersice, the interaction with other gardeners, i took up gardening because i'm on income surpport and not having much money, due to a badback, being on loads of painkillers and putting on loads of weight, doctors advise,
after time i started to enjoy myself so much, i decided to take up a basic gardening course and now a RHS gardening course to learn why thing went wrong, how plant grow, and how to get the best out of my little part of wiltshire, i found it easy to get my plot, 3 plots empty, but great fun competing with others, i have my own plot but three plots share here,

VEZ1 here's a pat on your back, WELL DONE YOU, my OH suffer's with the same things and we know what you go through, keep it up, but she cant even go our daughter's new home to see how she has it, things get hard when our granddaughter says nanny come over and see my new bedroom,  :'(
windy

[Vez1]

Thank you hot-potato and windygale. It is hard my little brother used to wonder why I never visited him in Aviemore, i can do that occasionally as I seem to relax up there. But he now knows why I struggle, my nephew who is 2 hasn't really noticed yet as i look after him here while my sis studies for her nursing degree. My friend's little girl who is now 8 used to be scared there were monsters under her bed, so my friend walked her round the house ans showed her that there were none, sh turned round and said " Why don't you take auntie verity out and show he there are no monsters?".
I love my allotment and has given me a lot of the confidence I used to have, i hope your OH makes progress but it is hard. I have had to do this at my own help and without NHS help as waiting list is so long, but I have a great GP.
The bonus is since I took on plot I have also lost weight.
If your OH ever needs someone who understands er predicament just get her to email me. :)

[dirtyfingernails]

Hi Sarah, what a great topic, thought I'd share my own story as I've developed a very emotional attachment to my lottie!

I took on the plot in June and as my OH showed no interest  ::) invited my mum and sister to share it with me. it's really brought us closer together and has given my mum something to focus on (our dad died 3 years ago but she's still finding it hard as they were together for over 50 years), we often have a laugh up there saying "I wonder if Dad can see us now, up to our armpits in mud he'd think we're mad!".  Mum's face lit up the first time we went to the lottie, she suddenly remembered that her dad had had one during the war and that he'd tried to get her to work on it but she wasn't interested!

I think it's also helping me to deal with being childless, in some way I'm putting some of my redundant nurturing into the soil and plants, if I'm feeling down and go to the lottie, after just a short while my spirits lift.

We're really proud of what we've achieved and call it our "womens collective lottie". We're just about to get a shed and might even paint it pink

The social side is also lovely, sometimes we do more chatting than working but that's what it's all about. And then of course there's all the lovely veg to eat!

good luck with the project, perhaps you could post the results on this site?

[tim]

Growing veg is in the blood. Takes planning. But you can control it.

Growing children is different!

[ellkebe]

Vez1 - to echo everyone else - well done you  ;D  You and yours should be very proud of you.

Sarah - I took on an allotment in May, partly to get access to organic fruit and veg without having to pay the earth, and partly to encourage my son to a) eat more (not really working yet  :( ) and b) get his hands dirty and stop worrying about bugs (making progress here  :) )  Love the community feel but also the isolation when you want it. Lots of exercise (though perhaps on a fairly restricted range of muscles judging by my aches and pains!) and fresh air - my own appetite (unhealthily small) has certainly improved since starting.  I've also counted far more different types of wildlife over the last few months than in my small city garden over the last two-three years.  What else?  The exhileration of watching plants grow, the satisfaction of serving them up - even a certain smugness over knowing you've faced the failures stoically, and will be back for more next year  ;D
Great project - I'm sure we'd all love to see some of the images. Keep us posted.

[EmmaLou]

I took on my allotment this year due to similar reasons as ellkebe. I also believe it is very healing to the mind and body - as long as you don't over do it! ;D

I actually got into gardening 3 years ago after being fed up with my IT job and taking loads of time off work due to stress. I trained on the job and got an NVQ in Amenity Horticulture.

Before I started gardening I had been told that I would probably need fertility treatment if I ever wanted to have children (I suffer from polycistic ovaries). As it was, I actually conceived naturally and I am sure it was to do with all the fresh air and exercise I got from gardening. I now want my daughter to benefit, so I am extending my knowledge to growing veg and fruit and hopefully it will get her involved. My garden at home was too small so I got myself an allotment. I love it!

[Mothy]

It's great to hear that other folks are finding their plots therapeutic!!

I started to clear my Father-in-laws plot between Christmas & new year as it had been neglected for about 3-4 years due to his failing health. Last year he had a kidney transplant and was finding his recuperation slow, at times he was a shadow of his former self. I hoped clearing it would give him the will to grow stuff in his greenhouse for me to put in.....it certainly worked! As soon as he was able he was there with a spade digging alongside me, short spells at first, getting longer as his health improved. Now we share the work and the produce between us. I feel fitter than I have for ages, we all eat lots more veg. Our 2 1/2 year old little girl Mia will eat anything if either Daddy or Grandad has grown it!! And 7 month old Thomas loves our pureed carrots.

I've gone from being a guy who would only garden out of necessity, to an allotment addict. Plans for more fruit trees, more raspberries, more water butts etc etc.

Sarah, I would recommend it to anyone....you should try it as mentioned in some earlier posts!!

[ChrisH]

I think allotments are becoming more popular as well as growing Veg. No waiting list for me as it is still in my grandparents name and my grandad first took on the plot, then my dad started to help out when I was knee high to a grasshopper  ;D and I have been involved ever since. The last couple of years it kind of went a bit wild with grandparent being ill and my parents but I just started it again this year.

I prefer to work alone as its good to get some peace and quite at times. I think it also help reduce stress as I always feel better after being down the allotment.

I also have a veg patch at my grandparents that I do and will most likely being doing my parents next year so we always have veg from them.

For the receipies try http://www.recipes4all.co.uk/index.php and the receipies section on the site.

[hawhaw]

I suffer from depression and although we've only had our lottie for a couple of weeks I can already feel the benefits.  The 'norm' is usually one or two black days a week, since having the allotment I haven't had one, depending on the weather I try and spend at least 1/2hr a day there. It forces me to get out of the house and makes me feel useful, if I can hand pull a row of weeds then it's easier for my OH to dig. I'm not stable enough to go out to work but the allotment makes me feel less of a burden.

[allotmanye]

After having a massive heart attack I had to visit rehab every week for exercise. They kept telling us how important diet was and to eat five portions of fruit and veg daily. I decided then to kill two birds with one stone ( perhaps the wrong phrase to use ) and get an allotment. I have never felt so healthy, I get plenty of both exercise and good fresh food.

My blood pressure is good, my cholesterol is low and I feel fitter now in my mid fifties than I did in my forties and I put it all down to having my allotment ( and giving up smoking )

My Doctor was so impressed he has let me recently put leaflets about our site, telling of the advantages of having an allotment, in the surgery waiting room.

[allotmanye]

Am sure your niece will make a full recovery, at 29 not something you expect to happen is it?

The health benefits of being in the fresh air and exercise are well known,why on earth would you doctor not want to promote this. It could possible lessen his workload and save the NHS some money.

Perhaps we should make having an allotment compulsory

[hemajo]

Our docs surgery are really not keen on posters promoting our gardening endeavours and I wrote to the practice manager about this as we wanted to promote the allotments.  they never replied so I went in with my poster and told them I thought that morally they had a responsibility to help  :)

It is very disappointing -  have you asked any of the actual medical staff?  Sometimes the admin in health centres doesn't necessarily represent the views of the medical and nursing staff - might be worth approaching the practice nurse -  nurses are (meant to be) into health promotion.

Hope your niece makes a full recovery. 

[fbgrifter]

Just like monty don, i took up gardening to help with depression, and its been a fantastic help as you are always forced to look to the future (planning for next year) rather than dwelling on the past.  when anything does fail, it's "oh well, it'll be better/different next year!

Your project reminds of the book Allotment Folk, have you read it?

[redimp]

My story -

Wanted an allotment for years but took ages getting round to it.  Have a very small back garden but did grow a bit of garlic, a few onions, cabbages and runner beans.  Finally took the plunge about this time last year and applied for a lottie.  Got one (a very big half plot) in January and started straightaway by planting garlic.  I have grown onions, garlic, potatoes, runners, french bush beans, cabbages, garlic, courgettes, sweetcorn etc this year with varying degrees of success.  One (big) reason for having the lottie is I desperately want to get out of the rat race and would like to downshift at some point.  The lottie is practice.  I don't mind working alone or with others - I would like a bit more help as I seem to be doing most of it on my own and I have a demanding job (I am also the only breadwinner in the family at the moment)  Most of the time the weeds appear to get the better of me and I have had my battles with bugs and pests this year.  No regrets though - stil one of the best moves I ever made.

[terrace max]

A few years ago I gave up a successful career as a somethingorother to raise children, fruit and vegetables. Being close to the source of life has makes me happy. Status and wealth, even in small amounts, made me lose the plot.

Tim says gardening is in his blood. I think we're all just bits of nature. Not above it, or below it - but the same stuff. And that's why gardening works for all of us.

[Mothy]

Redclanger, I hope you manage to leave the ratrace well behind!!

I would buy a smallholding if ever I had the chance, keep hens etc and grow all I could in Polytunnels and the ground. Being the main bread winner and having young children stops me for now, but one day....?

Got to dream!!