it's fantastic...

[spacehopper]

...that there are so many children here that have access to a plot. with the news recently of youngsters suffering problems due to poor diet and lack of structured activity and play, it's exciting to think of them getting all these things on an allotment.  :)

[spacehopper]

[robkb]

Quite agree! My two are both pretty healthy eaters and like nothing better than playing outdoors in most weathers, but having the allotment this year has definitely added another dimension to this. The look of pride on their faces when they help me dig and pick the crops, and the pleasure they've taken from eating them, is a joy to see ;D

Cheers,
Rob ;)

[sarah]

I agree. I think that when children can see where their food comes from and can take an active role in growing it and harvesting it (and preparing it) they are far more likely to eat it.  mine seem to anyway.

[Heldi]

My son is very fussy and hates vegetables whereas my daughter will try anything.  My son has had loads of outdoor time whilst at the lotty and seems to be developing an interest in growing flowers. He wants his own wildlife garden...so I'm really pleased even if he doesn't want to eat veg  ::)  ;D  He was out with his dad last weekend...he went to Alnwick Garden and brought ME a book home about poisoness plants. Isn't that fab! My daughter loves to sow seeds and was always in amongst the peas eating them. She is very interested in what she can take home to eat. Have to keep a very close eye on her and I've been telling her about some seeds and berries being very bad for her and that they are meant for the birds and the bugs. My son must've been listening don't you think?! 

I think the allotment has been and is a fabulous place for the children. It is so much more than vegetables when you think about it.

[robkb]

I think the allotment has been and is a fabulous place for the children. It is so much more than vegetables when you think about it.

Yep, definitely. My kids are constantly fascinated by the slow-worms they keep finding, the local foxes and squirrels make regular appearances, and every now and then a flock of parrots (I kid you not!) flies past!

Mind you, on the food front they've also loved picking about a million blackberries this year and it was quite an achievement to get any peas home at all - most of them got eaten at the plot as they discovered just how gorgeous fresh peas are ;D

Cheers,
Rob ;)

[Mrs Ava]

Mine are both picky fussy eaters, but are more likely to eat something if they have help sow it, or harvest it.  They both love to be out of doors and I love to listen to them playing games and having adventures in the garden or on the plot.  Number one son is the budding gardener - he loves sowing seeds and looking after them, and this year, both children were completely responsible for sowing and watering the sweetcorn seeds, and they are a huge success!  Can't beat being outside - just love it!

[tim]

Like this??

[robkb]

Absolutely Tim. Your grandson I take it? Looks like he's already following in your footsteps...

Of my two daughters, the eldest is showing quite a lot of promise as a budding gardener - she's great at sowing seeds (well, her fingers are much smaller than mine!), loves watching things grow, and has banished me from 'her' border at home, where poppies, nigella and foxgloves are flourishing :D

Cheers,
Rob ;)

[Heldi]

Caught in the act !  ;D

I hoped my son would start to try vegetables if he had a hand in grwoing them but it hasn't worked. I'm happy he has taken an interest in other aspects of the allotment.  Hens being one of them as well as the wildlife.

Rob I have laughed so much about your parrots flying by. My son is mad about them,he would be absolutely cocker hoop if we had parrots flying over.

I forgot to tell you folks but a while back guess who we had flying over our plot?  Only the Red Arrows !!  We felt like royalty  ;D

[robkb]

Caught in the act !  ;D

I hoped my son would start to try vegetables if he had a hand in grwoing them but it hasn't worked. I'm happy he has taken an interest in other aspects of the allotment.  Hens being one of them as well as the wildlife.

Rob I have laughed so much about your parrots flying by. My son is mad about them,he would be absolutely cocker hoop if we had parrots flying over.

I forgot to tell you folks but a while back guess who we had flying over our plot?  Only the Red Arrows !!  We felt like royalty  ;D

Never had the Red Arrows - they're really impressive aren't they? The parrots are everywhere round our way (SE London) - escapees that have bred successfully, I guess. Apparently they're thugs who are displacing native species, which is a bit of a shame as they look wonderful.

Cheers,
Rob ;)

[Busby]

Just as an aside really: It always amazes me that so many back gardens (seen from trains) are full of weeds, junk, concrete, old washing machines, etc., instead of being used to healthfully feed the family who own or rent the house. Laziness I suppose.

[robkb]

Just as an aside really: It always amazes me that so many back gardens (seen from trains) are full of weeds, junk, concrete, old washing machines, etc., instead of being used to healthfully feed the family who own or rent the house. Laziness I suppose.

Yes, that is strange. Even when I wasn't a gardener or an allotmenteer I still tried to keep the garden tidy(ish). A bloke two doors up from us lived in his house for 4 years and was never once seen in the garden - the weeds were enormous, and eventually his neighbours got fed up and cut them all down :o. Perhaps these people don't have windows that they have to look through?

Cheers,
Rob ;)

[wahaj]

Just as an aside really: It always amazes me that so many back gardens (seen from trains) are full of weeds, junk, concrete, old washing machines, etc., instead of being used to healthfully feed the family who own or rent the house. Laziness I suppose.

well.....i probably wouldn't label everyone who doesn't look after their garden to be lazy. you don't know anything about their lives. they could be single parents who go out and work and then look after the kids and then cook so they don't get any time. they could be very elderly and aren't able to look after it. or people with disabilities that leave them unable to do gardening.

and also it could be a council estate....where a lot of poorer people live and just can't afford to be going out and buying compost....and seeds and tools etc.

[tim]

Heldi -
For what it's worth - I used to fly with the Arrows. Because we live here!
Caught? No - posed by the grower - No1 Daughter!!

Rob -
Love 'her' border choice.
Parrokeets? Yes - No1 Son is plagued with them in S. London.
G'son? Yes - last but one of 8. Fingers crossed!!

[Hyacinth]

Wahaj, although I agree with most of what you have said as to possible reasons why gardens may be a mess, I've got to comment on this point you make:-

and also it could be a council estate....where a lot of poorer people live and just can't afford to be going out and buying compost....and seeds and tools etc.

For me, my viewpoint is that my grandparents' generation lived in poverty you possibly have no idea of - back to back slum houses, NO Social Security or National Health Service, the Depression....and yet I believe that the pride that was taken by most(?) in washing down their front steps leading dirctly onto the street (or using that red stuff I can't remember the name of)* & keeping their back yards tidy was the norm. Certainly I don't believe there was the litter around - because the poverty didn't allow for the luxury or the litter of consumerism.

As for today's poor not being able to afford to buy tools? The Pound Shop! Wilkinsons!! Never have tools been so cheap, surely. And I'm not noticing the burger places on the estates I drive through closing down....

(mini rant over. lol  ::)

* Cardinal Polish,  was it?

[Robert_Brenchley]

A lot of the people on my site live on Council estates, including me. I know some people are dreadful, but we're not all like that. I think a lot of it's down to increrased mobility over the last 50 years; there's no longer the extended family for support, you don't know your neighbours any more, and some families don't cope without the traditional support networks. If kids grow up in a family that doesn't cope, they won't cope themselves, so it escalates from one generation to the next.

[wahaj]

oh yea.....guys i don't mean to put people in boxes by saying that if you're poor then you can't do gardening.....i just meant you shouldn't just label everyone as lazy if you see their garden as being a mess......you know what i mean? especially without knowing them.

like my situation is that i've lived in this house since 1997 but it's the first time i've touched the garden. not because i'm poor or that i didn't like gardening. i had some personal problems....and basically my dad didn't empower me to be able to do it. i never thought it was possible for me to do anything to the garden....

i mean things are different now and i've got a playground to work on and i try to make it as nice as i can. but everyone has their reasons don't they?

[Curryandchips]

Wonderful words wahaj.  I agree with you, having 'been there' (the council estate thing) :)

[Hyacinth]

Wahaj, my gardening company was born out of precisely one of the reasons you mentioned - elderly people, most with associated health problems, who now can't cope with their large gardens - yep there's a lot of despair and isolation going on behind net curtains :(