I don’t say this lightly: allotments can change your life.
And not just in the obsessive-compulsive way other hobbies do (although they can do that too).
What I mean is that having an allotment can make you healthier, improve your mental wellbeing, change your attitude to the way you eat, and make you fitter. The effects go way beyond weeding for a few hours, and taking home some cheap veg.
This week is National Allotment Week, so let me share a few thoughts on the benefits of growing your own grub.
Since sticking a spade in the ground over a decade ago, I haven’t been to the doctor (apart from that time I fell over drunk and hurt my leg), and haven’t had a cold for more than eight years (although I didn’t escape Covid).
So, what do I put it down to? Is it the exercise? The quality of the food? Or simply just being outside in the fresh air? Could it even be coincidence? I have no idea. But, I feel something is working.
Pushing 60, I’m healthier, have more energy and am happier than I was 20 years ago.
Better flavour made me an obsessive grower
There is something else to consider. The food is far, far tastier that the chemically-enhanced produce you buy in supermarkets. I know this is one of the boring things that allotmenteers always point out, but it’s true, and can’t be stressed enough.
A fully ripe tomato picked from the vine and eaten straight away is full of a complex sweetness and flavour that makes commercial produce taste like pellets of turgid water. And that’s not surprising.
Supermarkets, when sourcing food, don’t primarily focus on how good it tastes. They want it grown quickly and at the right price point. Flavour takes a back seat.
It is flavour, rather than health benefits, which made me an obsessive grower. Once I realised that this is how food should (and used to) taste, I started to expand out of the allotment.
I began beekeeping, and now have 12 hives, which, at the moment, are up the glens making heather honey. I bought a greenhouse for my garden to grow tomatoes, chillis, grapes and herbs. Then I got some free-range, organic hens which produce eggs with proper yolks. I also started brewing beer, baking bread and fermenting sauerkraut.
Each step justified itself when it came to quality.
My only failure was making wine. I haven’t given up on it yet but, in the meantime, it is still shop-bought.
Even the kids, who were teenagers when I started this, could immediately see and taste the benefits, and they’ve all grown up with a keen passion for food and its role in health.
Badger your council for allotment space
Hopefully I’ve persuaded some of you of the benefits of growing your own. It really is a no-brainer, especially with the cost of living crisis. The only thing that you’ll need (apart from a plot, of course) is lots of time, commitment and willingness to put in some hard work.
You can start growing veg just about anywhere – in your garden, on your balcony, or even on your windowsill
Now, for the bad news. Allotments are rarer than the teeth on my hens. My plot is one of eight, and none have changed hands over the last four years. Yet, every week I receive an email from someone inquiring if there are any available. There could easily be a waiting list of 50 to 60 people, but it has been closed due to oversubscription.
The Scottish Government asked councils a few years ago to source allotments for the public. A great noise was made by local government, but progress since has been painfully slow.
If you want an allotment, and can’t get one, badger your council. Tell them to get a move on. Ask them why it is taking so long, especially when the cost of food is rising so quickly.
In the meantime, you can start growing veg just about anywhere – in your garden, on your balcony, or even on your windowsill.
Give it a go. It may just change your life. And make you healthier. And happier.
Derek Uchman is assistant group head of production for DC Thomson
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